MWH Travel Tips: 10 - Your Suitcase is Your Home

Picture by Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig

Your backpack or suitcase, or whatever you use to carry your stuff around, is your home for the time being. It carries all your belongings, and you should treat it with the same care and respect you would treat your home. Why does it matter? It makes your travel experience much nicer!

We've all rummaged through our suitcases at one point or another, looking for something we know is there ... somewhere. And when you can't immediately find it, you get worried. "Did I leave it somewhere? Did I forget to pack it? Did it get stolen?"

Apart from feeling anxiety, doing all this searching also takes up time that could be spent better, especially on a trip!

When you're packing your bag, try to not only think of how to stuff as much as possible in as little space as possible, but also of how you stuff it. Keep clothes of a similar nature together. Find a logical and safe spot for electronics (chargers, laptop) and books. 
And when you need to repack the next time you move? Do it the same way. That way you're sure everything will fit in as well. 


Take care of the things in your bag. Just because you're traveling, you don't need to scrunch up your clothes and stuff them in a corner. You can still fold them and place them neatly in the suitcase. Even for backpacks this is possible (I do it all the time).

This makes packing and repacking your bag each time, a breeze. You develop a system that reduces the time you spend packing to a couple of minutes each time. Totally worth the lack of anxiety over forgetting stuff!

Structure is something we tend to lose along the way, but it can be just the thing you need to keep it all together when traveling. It provides safety and stability in an otherwise unpredictable and uncontrollable environment.

Do you have a system for packing? Does it last throughout the trip? Or does your suitcase look like a messy attic instead of a neat closet by the time you get home?