You may notice that many travel bloggers or those experienced in getting around the world (believe us, for some people, this is second nature), always travel lightly. But how is that even possible? Is there a point where you travel often that you don’t need a replacement coat or pair of trousers? Do they just buy brand new clothes every day and leave them there on return?

Of course, it seems like that, but this isn’t the case. There are a few techniques that you learn when you travel some time that allow you to go back less, and some of them are more obvious than you could have imagined. In this post, we hope to go through them:

They Only Pack What They Actually Use

Are you an over-packer? Don’t worry, we can be too. It’s like we think we might wake up in a different personality each day of the trip. So you might take a fancy outfit despite not actually booking any fancy restaurants and knowing you don’t have time for it. You might bring running shoes even though you know you don’t plan to exercise, given the time constraints, and you’ll walk miles each day anyway, and have nice shoes for that.

More experienced travelers usually go the other way. They’ve done it often enough to know which clothes end up staying buried or left on the hotel hanger, and which ones get worn, sometimes twice, and not because they’ve perfected the art of minimalism, but because they’ve learned to trust their habits. If they wear the same four outfits at home, there’s a fair chance they’ll do the same while away. They also pack for particular days they have planned and only keep replacement underwear for the most part, knowing they can replace other items abroad if something goes wrong.

They Drop Their Bags & Move Freely

You’d be surprised where you can store your luggage during a day, even if your hotel hasn’t allowed check-ins yet. So instead of lugging it through a museum or dragging it up stairs, they leave it behind somewhere safe and just enjoy the place.

Of course, that could be a hotel, or if timing doesn’t line up, somewhere like gare du nord luggage storage if you’re coming into a city on the train. That let’s you drop your bag, head off to explore, and pick it up when it’s time to move on. It’s not a bad ide and might help you justify squeezing in another trip.

They Learn To Cross-Combine

Some travelers have a useful rule where everything they pack has to go with at least two other things in their bag. If you pracitce this, which could be considered a capsule-wardrobe-lite philosophy, and you may find that dressing more comfortably requires less to pack. That can be worthwhile if you plan to stay in multiple areas or know you’re headed on a certain holiday that won’t require many outfit changes, like when you’re at the beach and simply need a few bathing suits or shorts.

A couple of layers that can be added or taken off, shoes that won’t leave you limping, and one or two things that feel a bit nicer for evenings — that’s usually plenty. It also leaves space for things picked up along the way. Which always fit better when you didn’t bring the kitchen sink in the first place.

They Keep Their Bag At The Same Size, No Matter The Trip

You’d think longer trips mean bigger bags, but people who travel often will try and resist that instinct. We tend to fill the vessels we have, and so it’s worthwhile to restrict yourself if you feel you’re packing too heavy for some trips.

For example, if you’re staying somewhere with access to a washer/dryer, then you might not need to bring endless fresh clothes, you can always wash them and just have some fresh threads for today and tomorrow. This gives you the time to rotate, especially if you’re going somewhere for a work week or are mostly washing the same kind of clothes together. 

With this advice, we hope you can find it easier to travel lightly and on your own terms. That being said, you don’t have to act like a minimalist just because of this article, but maybe one or two suggestions could help you get started and push you out of your comfort zone a touch. You maybe surprised how liberating it feels.

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