Packing Smart: How To Pack for Your Trip

How you pack (and how MUCH you pack) can really make or break a trip. After 20 years traveling together, we have pretty much perfected packing, so we have everything we need, but travel very light. In this episode we tell you how to pack, name-check our favorite bag brand, and discuss how to manage luggage while en route, so you spend the smallest possible amount of time fiddling with bags. 

Want to know more about us and our travel services? Find us at:

www.LittleRoadsEurope.com

www.facebook.com/LittleRoadsEurope

We craft small-town driving itineraries for travelers to Italy, Ireland and Scotland.

And our "alter-egos" as musicians:

www.OrsiniVirtuosi.it

Transcript

PACKING TIPS podcast notes

Note: This is not a complete transcript, but rather the show notes we write in advance to prepare for the episode. 

INTRO: 

Welcome to Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond

Today we’re talking about packing for a trip to Europe - 

- What to bring 

- What to leave at home

- and when not to leave your stuff in the car

[music up then down to 20%]

This is Matt Walker          …and I’m Zeneba Bowers - 

We’re recording while sitting on the terrace of our tiny home in Italy - so you’ll get a sense of the sounds of life in our little town - more like a casual conversion with us - complete with church bells, cats meowing, motor scooters and trains and … whatever else happens in our neighborhood.

“ … today we’ll be talking all about Packing Smart - here on Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond.”

[Music up then fade out]

For those of you who don’t know us: We are professional musicians and also travel writers and consultants, living and working here in Italy for the past 6 years. 

If you want to learn more about us and what we do, you can find us on our website LittleRoadsEurope..com, on our socials, and now here on our podcast.

…and by the way, we hope you like our intro music - Matt arranged it, and we recorded it right here in our house! Since we’re musicians working here in Italy, we thought it would be fun to do our own theme music.

So let’s get to talking about Packing Smart. Our clients always ask about this, and one of the most common points of feedback we get from them is that they packed too much, so we thought an episode on this topic might be helpful. After 20 years of traveling together, we really have it down to a science. 

By the way: We’re generally talking here from the point of view of two people, flying from the US to Europe to visit Italy (or Ireland or wherever) by car - since that’s the kind of trip that we plan for our travelers with our itinerary service. 

But you can easily adapt these tips for various other scenarios. 

First tip: On your outbound flight, do carry-on only. (can change flights, like Bo and Lee). Airline will put you on another because they do not have to deliver your bag. 

Put an empty duffel bag in your bag, then fly home with 4 bags. Bubble wrap, duct tape

A lot of people stress out at the idea of carry on bag on the way over, and that is understandable. 

IF you are nervous, try packing what you think you need, and bring it to work one day. That will help you whittle down. 

Another idea is to try wearing the stuff 3 weeks before trip. 

What to bring: 

Wear heaviest clothes on the plane (coat, sweater, you can stuff those in the overhead compartment, or bunch up to use as extra pillows 

Pack 3-4 outfits max. That time I was so stressed at work and only packed one dress. Also learned over time that what we need in terms of toiletries is also limited. When you are at home all the time it is easy to collect a ton of bathroom stuff and clothing too, but when you are on the road more often you realize you don’t really need it. 

Material that won’t wrinkle, dries easily. 

One pair of shoes. 

Laundry: Dryers are pretty much nonexistent in Italy, and washing machines often take 3 hours to wash, not counting air drying. 

In Ireland you can’t really hand wash and count on having enough time for it to air dry, so we use a laundry service. Since everyone is in the same boat, laundry service is fast and cheap there. Call ahead to the next town and check first to see if you can drop off and pick up the next day. 

In Italy, almost all apartment style lodgings will have a drying rack or clothesline, and hotels will often have a heated towel rack. Hand wash a few items when you check in, then they will have 16 hours to dry overnight. 

— “ADVERTISEMENT” BREAK —

That reminds me that we need to stop for a word from our sponsor - - - - 

- - - just kidding, we don’t have any sponsors - and we’re not looking for any either, we want to keep this an ad-free show.

So today’s show is brought to you by: A Good Idea. 

And today’s Good Idea is: 

DON’T USE Q-TIPS in your ears - seems perfect but it’s not good for you

- Local doc suggested silicone spiral thing, lasts forever, less waste and safer

That’s it!

… So anyway, where were we?

Types of bags we like: big duffel, then Cabin Max (note that we do not take discounts or kickbacks), 

We like this bag because it has a pocket for a computer, several pockets for pens, cords, tissues, little zip pockets, inside dividers, shoulder strap. FITS ON EURO AIRLINES (very strict bag sizes when flying intra-Euro airlines)

Packing cubes: Recently became fans of packing cubes, which are washable. Doesn’t help you save space, but does help you organize so you can easily find things and separate clean from dirty. Really saves us a lot of time in transit. 

Assuming 2 people traveling, divide packing cubes between both bags, with each bag having some clothing for each traveler, so no one is stuck without underwear. Also, do not bring stuff you are very, very attached to. 

Unless you are attending a wedding, you do not need super fancy clothing. No speedos in restaurants but it is easy to have comfortable packable clothing that is also perfectly suitable for nice restaurants. 

Travel computer: Chromebook, which you can get for super cheap. Or, like us, re-use an old laptop. Just wipe it first, so if you lose it, drop it, or it gets stolen, you do not lose data. 

What’s in our bag? Have not packed for more than 15 minutes in the last 15 years. 

Toiletry bag: hanging bag

Do not bring toiletries on the plane, just buy them when you arrive. This saves space, but also allows you to do carry on only on the way over. Fun to buy and try new stuff. 

Usual stuff like toothbrushes, comb, nail clipper. One dose of emergency meds. Caraway seeds. Tea bags for sleep, upset stomach. Band aids. 

Personal Item bag: 

Lip balm, small hand cream. Tissues. Pencil, pen, paper. Emergency book. Cords and converter. Prescriptions. Documents. Computer. Emergency snack. Hard candy. Travel toothbrush and paste. Wallet. Eye drops. Extra pair contacts. Travel corkscrew, plastic cutlery with napkin, salt packet. Foldable reader glasses in mini hard container. Soap leaves. Pack of wet wipes for plane. Stall Wipes. 

Can leave big bags in car, in trunk. Organize the bags after you check out of hotel, prepare overnight bag for next location so no one sees you rooting around in trunk. 

Bag getting stolen in Fiumicino, keeping bags in car does not work in big towns. 

No crime… this is one big reason we love to visit only small towns. Irish pub where they asked us about the 20 on the floor they found an hour before…was it ours? 

OUTRO: 

I think that’s a good place to wrap it up here - we hope you enjoyed joining us for our Packing chat ! You can find us on our website LittleRoadsEurope..com, and here on our podcast, where we’ll be talking about a wide variety of topics, from travel tips to slice-of-life stories - we’ll post a new episode every Tuesday. 

So catch us next time - we’ll see you down the Little Roads…