From cutting down your list to folding clothes the KonMari way, here’s everything you should know about packing smarter, not heavier, for your next snowy adventure.
Holiday season is upon us, and many Filipinos have already booked their flights, hotels, and planned their itinerary for a much-awaited winter holiday this year.
Then this happens: you start packing your luggage and quickly fill it all up even though you’re just halfway through the pile of things you’re planning to bring. Winter clothes, particularly bulky sweaters and coats, can take up so much room in our bags that packing can sometimes be more challenging than planning the trip itself.
Still, you have to bring your cold-weather essentials to avoid freezing or making unplanned purchases (coats are expensive!). To get you started, The POST listed ways you can pack smarter, not heavier, for your snowy adventure in Grindelwald in Switzerland, Sapporo in Japan, or pretty much anywhere in the world this Christmas season.
Related story: Four magical places to visit for a snowy getaway in Japan
Keep your packing list short
Before pulling your suitcase out of your closet, it’s a must to take a look at everything you’re planning to pack first. “Lay everything out that you think you will need and then remove half of it; that will get you closer to where you want to be,” Tumi’s creative director Victor Sanz told Condé Nast Traveller.
While cutting down your packing list by half is, of course, easier said than done, US-based travel deals expert Summer Hull advises going through everything one by one. It’s a practice she has been doing with her family when traveling during the cold season. “We lay each thing out and go through it. Do we really need three pairs of this item? And will you have access to a washer?” she said.
Think of the ones that you’ll really need and stash away the extra. Take your toiletries for example, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a pack of tissue paper might be the only ones you need to bring as other necessities like shampoo and soap are most likely provided by your hotel. Consider also the products you can purchase when you land, including sunscreen.
Meanwhile, a fully loaded first-aid kit is best left at home unless you have outdoor recreation, like camping or skiing, included in your itinerary. Other than that, you’ll only need the basics: a few band-aids, antiseptic wipes, antacids, pain relievers, and other necessary medications.
Your clothes are another thing to consider, especially because dressing during the winter requires layering. Experts suggest that you would need a cotton, polyester, or nylon thermal wear as your base layer, a knit or fleece sweater for your middle layer, and a nylon jacket or classic wool coat as outerwear.
As for the number of pieces to bring, New Delhi Airport recommends limiting them to the following if your vacation is only for a week:
- Innerwear: 7 pairs of each
- Thermal wear: 2-4 a week
- Long-sleeve shirts: 2-4 should keep you fresh for a week
- Fitted sweaters: 2-3 sweaters
- Scarves and hats: 1 pair of each
- Gloves and socks: 1 pair of gloves and 3-4 pairs of socks
Wear your heaviest clothing en route
One of the easiest hacks for traveling light is wearing your bulky garments on your flight so they won’t take up much space in your suitcase. “If I need to bring a bigger jacket, it’s something that I’ll just wear that day,” Herschel Supply Co. co-founder Lyndon Cormack told Condé Nast Traveller.
The same goes for sweatpants and boots that you can all keep out of your luggage and wear on the flight instead. If you find them too heavy to wear, you can always bring an empty bag on your carry-on which you can use to store the garments after you’ve boarded the plane. Nobody counts the bags you get off with anyway.
The key to packing clothes, according to Montserrat New York co-founder Carolina Cordon-Bouzan, is to focus on outfit options. “Pack basics that you can style with multiple outfits and plan to dress them up or down with jewelry,” she said, noting that this includes sweaters in black or white, blue jeans, black pants, and a pair of white sneakers. “Those four pieces can make so many different variations of outfits that you can wear during the day or at night,” Cordon-Bouzan added.
If you’d rather pack your outerwear than wear it on the plane, opt for a packable jacket that packs in its own pocket and gives more space for other gear in your luggage. Should you need another footwear as well, bring your lightweight pair and maximize the space by placing small items like your socks or gloves in them.
Related story: 12 travel-ready hoodies that are as stylish as they are cozy
Roll clothes and fold them the KonMari way
When packing things, a common practice that’ll help you reduce the use of space is by rolling each item inside your luggage. For solo travel expert Valerie Wilson, a better way to do it is by securing each of your rolled clothes clothes with a rubber band. “I roll my stuff and stick a rubber band on them. So when you’re taking clothes out, you don’t have to re-roll everything up,” Wilson said.
Once done rolling the clothes, store them in compression cubes for better in-bag organization. Helen Youn, a certified platinum-level KonMari consultant, told The Washington Post that you can “bundle items in cubes by category or by person, if you’re sharing luggage with others.” It’s also better to arrange the cubes inside your luggage vertically so you can easily see everything at a glance.
Meanwhile, you can make the most of your heavier items by folding them the KonMari way and using their weight to compress your rolled clothes. “If I have thicker sweaters, I’ll fold them on top of the rolled items to compress them,” said Meghan Donovan, founder of travel planning service Paris, Perfected. “For the biggest ones, I put one at the bottom and one on top.”
The KonMari folding method is conceptualized by renowned tidying expert Marie Kondo and consists of various folding techniques depending on the type of garment. Below is how to do it for jackets and sweaters, according to the Konmari website:
Tip: Keep each part of the garment flat by pressing your hand over the fabric in a smoothing motion.
Fit the family’s winter gear in one suitcase
Traveling with your family or a loved one? You can still avoid excess baggage by condensing your things into one bag. “Growing up, my family always packed all of our winter gear together into one large suitcase, which is a strategy I’ve maintained with my husband,” Cordon-Bouzan shared. “Packing our ski and snowboarding clothes together helps us stay as organized as possible.”
To maximize the available space in your suitcase, arrange your belongings according to categories. The right inner section can be used for all of your clothes and extra pair of shoes, which you can cover using shower caps. Meanwhile, the left inner section can hold your pajamas, undergarments, and other personal items such as toiletries and jewelry. If your suitcase has an outside laptop compartment, you can fill this space up with travel documents, gadgets, books (only if necessary), or even foldable jackets.
If the suitcase isn’t enough for the family, you can always use your carry-on to hold items such as skincare, makeup, medications, or all else that wouldn’t fit in your luggage.
Get the most of your carry-on luggage
Your carry-on luggage often only has your essentials like passports, cash, and medicines but in case you still didn’t know, you can definitely fit a lot more than that. These handy backpacks or cabin luggage can be your ultimate travel hack for trips in the snowy weather.
To get the most out of it, you must first know the rules of your airline when it comes to hand-carry baggage. The general rule is that it should fit on the overhead bin or under your seat. Meanwhile, the country’s top three airlines — Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific, and AirAsia — only allow carry-on luggage with a maximum total dimension of 56cm x 36cm x 23 cm and maximum weight of 7 kgs. It’s the same with larger, international airlines. Some budget airlines, like Ryanair and Easyjet in Europe, are more concerned about the size than the weight of your carry-on luggage.
You can maximize your airline’s allowable carry-on size and weight by packing your bag strategically. According to CNET, the best way to go about it is by packing items in layers (one layer for clothes, another for shoes, etc.) and placing valuables and things you’ll use the least at the bottom of the bag. Wallets, credit cards, and cash should be kept in inner pockets so they’ll be harder to steal.
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