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Jamie Ditaranto is a Barcelona-based travel writer who has been crossing the continents with her camera in hand since she was a kid. Here she shares her top packing hacks.
Packing cubes aren’t for everybody, but they should be. In my decade-long career as a travel writer, I’ve used them for every trip, whether I was staying one night or relocating for five months. I’ve heard some of my fellow travelers say that they’re not worth the hassle, or the (minuscule) amount of extra weight and space taken up in a suitcase. Or they say that nothing stays organized for too long, that it all ends up in a jumble, wads of clothes stuffed in the first cube you can grab as you race the clock to check out on time. If that sounds like you, I’m willing to bet that you’re approaching packing cubes all wrong. Instead of packing by category, you need to pack by activity.
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How it works
Most people’s first instinct is to pack their suitcase as they would organize their dresser at home, putting pants with pants and shirts with shirts so they can compare options when getting dressed in the morning. While it’s a good habit for fashion, the strategy does not apply on the road, especially if, like me, you have a habit of stuffing your itinerary with a variety of activities.
When I pack, I think about which clothes I will need for each moment of the trip, and then I assign a packing cube for each. Usually, it boils down to five activity types: casual, fancy, sleep, beach and workout. The last one is for basically anything I might break a sweat in while doing, so gym shorts, sports bras and yoga pants all go into one cube. Usually, if I do decide to make use of a hotel gym, everything I need is already together, so I don’t have to unzip anything else.
I’ll even pack non-clothes items into cubes if they fit the bill for a certain activity. Snorkel mask? Well, I won’t need that unless I’m going to the beach, so I’ll put it with the bathing suit and the sarong. And if I’m going out to dinner later, I’ll be quite thankful that my nicest dress will still be folded neatly and not touching my sandy beach cover-up. When I’m ready to sleep, I grab the one with my pajamas and – wait, where did I put my eye mask and earplugs? Just kidding, you know it’s already in the cube, the same one I’ll transfer to my carry-on personal items when it’s time to take the long-haul flight home.
As a travel writer, every minute is precious when the world is so big and there is so much to see. The less time I spend in the hotel room rummaging through my luggage, the quicker I can get out the door and to whatever adventure awaits me next. This packing cube strategy helps me stay ready, and if you’re wondering which to buy, most will do the job just fine. However, if maximizing space is a priority, compression cubes that pack down tightly are the way to go.