Susan Foster recalls checking into a chi-chi Hong Kong hotel and spotting a group of U.S. tourists in the lobby dragging " enough luggage for three armies.
" Yet for the duration of their trip, Foster says, the tourists appeared in the same outfits.
"If they were wearing the same grubby stuff every day, I wondered what was in those suitcases," says Foster, author of Smart Packing for Today's Traveler. "Obviously they didn't pack appropriately.
"
Foster should know. She has packed and unpacked some 4,000 times over three decades, she said, travelling first as a book publisher and later as a companion to her globe-trotting husband, who worked in international trade.
Some people think packing means dumping half their closets into flimsy bags the night before a trip.
Need encouragement to pack less? Consider last year when governments changed the rules about carrying on liquids, and in the United States alone the number of pieces of checked luggage jumped 20 per cent -- and the number of lost bags increased 33 per cent compared with the August 2005 level, according to a report by the U.S.
Department of Transportation.
"The beauty of travel is that you are on vacation from all the material complexities of life," says Rick Steves, a TV travel host and guidebook writer who lives out of one suitcase for more than 120 days a year. And he means one suitcase, and he always leaves room for small souvenirs.
Based on the advice of like-minded packing experts, books and websites, we've assembled a five-step plan for packing wisely.
1. Plan ahead.
Start thinking about what you'll take at the same time you buy your plane tickets, book the cruise or confirm the availability of a friend's condo.
- Write down everything you think you'll need. Don't just make a mental list -- get it on paper.
It'll serve as a good checklist, and if you're suddenly pressed for time, you'll have something to jog your memory.
- Before you start assembling items, check websites to see what is and isn't permitted in checked luggage and carry-on bags. In Canada, see http://catsa-acsta.
gc.ca; in the United States, go to www.tsa.
gov.
- Think about what you're going to wear from the start. Would revealing clothing such as a bikini or deep-plunging neckline create an international incident?
If you are going south, do you need warm-climate clothes? Is your cruise strictly casual, or will you need formal wear?
- Never pack the night before or day of a trip.
Do it at least a day (preferably two days) ahead. Even if you don't stuff all the contents into your luggage, at least have the items stacked and organized. Once packed, if you must dip back into your bag at the 11th hour, do it only to weed out items you won't need.
- If you take an annual ski or beach trip, you generally bring the same items each time. List those items on an index card and consult it before each trip, suggests Marla Cilley, a professional organizer known online as the FlyLady (www.flylady.
net). When you return from the trip, edit the list.
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