The Real Packing List for 40-Something Travellers

I am a chronic over packer – doesn’t matter if it is for a day trip, a road trip, or a long haul flight – I let my mind run rampant with all of the possible scenarios and to ensure I am prepared for worst case scenario, I have a great big pile of ‘just in case’ items.

But as I get older (and perhaps, wiser) I really begrudge lugging around items that don’t get used on our trips. This has forced me to really examine what makes the cut into the carry on and into the checked bag.

For me, it does come down to to WHERE you are travelling as to if the questionable item/s make the cut, such as if travelling somewhere like Italy or the USA (mostly due to the shocking exchange rate on the Australian dollar) where the emergency/just in case item may be expensive or hard to find AND it doesn’t take up THAT much room, it goes in. But if travelling somewhere like Thailand, where often things like toiletries are affordable and easy to find, then it stays at home. The same goes for which clothing to pack and guesstimating how many days it may be between opportunities to wash clothing. In Thailand, you can drop your clothes off to get washed and folded for about $4.50 per kilogram whereas in America it is super expensive to do this – so you have to then weigh up if you want to spend your precious holiday time sitting at a laundromat or if you just take a few extra items of clothing.

In addition to thinking about what you are taking, I would challenge you to think about HOW you take it. For years we would take a small, cabin sized wheely bag and this served us well. But when we travelled to Italy a year or so back, we opted for a Foldie so that we could sling it over our shoulder, rather than having to drag another set of wheels over cobblestone. We each could fit all of our electronic devices, chargers, snacks, and a few sets of undies/socks/clothes just in case our checked bags didn’t arrive with us. It was awesome for throwing over the shoulder but the biggest win was the fact that we didn’t have to try and race onto the plane to get the overhead bin directly near us (IYKYK) and we could stash the Foldies under the seat in front of us. Additionally, we could remove the stuff out of the Foldie, pack it all into our larger suitcase and then only had to focus on one bag. We have continued to do this each trip since and we absolutely love it. And no, we are not getting paid by Foldie, but we would love to! Call us! hahaha

Now, I could waffle on all day about not packing this and packing that etc. but I will keep it simple and in dot points.

Tip 1: get yourself a Foldie.
Great size, never get in trouble by an airline for an oversized cabin bag again, expandable and comes in a range of fab colours!

Tip 2: Consider your destination
Do you really need to pack that ballgown when you are going to Bali? Research your destination climate, look at historical weather for the time of year you are going to get some kind of idea of how hot or cold, windy or wet it might be so that you can pack accordingly. If your clothes get wet or dirty unexpectedly, is it easy and affordable to buy new ones or do you need to consider some spare tops/bottoms?

Tip 3: Have a plan
When we went to Italy, I wrote all of the tours, places, attractions we were heading to each day. I then considered if my shoulders/knees needed to be covered to attend these places so that I could ensure I wore an appropriate outfit on that day, rather than wearing a sleeved top the day before then having to freak out about not having anything appropriate to wear. Check out our previous post What I packed (and wore) during three weeks in Italy in May for more detail around a cool app I used to help plan my wardrobe.

Tip 4: Relax and laugh about it
It is super easy to run worst-case scenario on everything that might and might not happen on your trip. But by weighing up the likelihood of stuff happening (or not happening), considering where you are going to, for how long, and with whom, it can give you the sense of control and calm that you need to pack for your time away. Try not to sweat it, and don’t be afraid to have a good chuckle if you suddenly need the one thing you decided you definitely would not need. Remember why you are travelling and how fortunate you are to be somewhere else in the world.

Happy travels! Let’s go!