Packing for a Trip - Topic of the day 8/15/25
Whether for a day or lifetime, packing for a trip is an unavoidable annoyance (some say) of life. How do you pack (for business or leisure)? What are your travel essentials (including bag), how much do you pack, and how does your personal style affect what you bring?
43 Replies
For warm weather travel it's usually comfy pants in tech fabric and airy tops, for cold weather it's wool trousers and sweaters.
For a ~week long trip try to pack 2-3 bottoms and 3-4 tops that all work together. I inevitably overpack and end up not wearing 1 shirt and 1 bottom
I have a monos carry on and find that it is a good size to permit a reasonable amount of clothes for up to a week, sometimes have to have spillover into my hand luggage. I try to avoid checking a bag as much as possible because waiting at the carousel is annoying
Packing cubes have been a nice addition. Helps organize and saves some space. Shoes are the toughest, I always want to take more than I need. Warm weather travel is a lot easier since I don't need to take coats or a large jacket.
Yeah shoes are a major concession for me style wise; I just wear one pair of sneakers the whole trip.
i need to do huge packing soon and biggest one yet for college
any advice for good toiletry bags
i also need a shower caddy probably but that could just be anything
i pack as much as will physically fit in my carry on and wear the bulkier items
I brought my Isseys to Italy, don't have much else to contribute just wanted to flex
Target will be fine
I have a small one from Muji that is nice for traveling light, I also have an LL Bean one good for carrying every toiletry known to man
I love my rains bags
ebay
get a nice leather one with a hook
i got one from fossil for under $20
life changing
Ive one bagged a week long trip in a smallass backpack, but i had to borrow my friends bag space for souviners so idk if id call that a success
But in general its a matter of decanting toiletries to only the amount youd use for the duration, a packing cube for inner layers, and wear the jacket and shoes. Any spare space is reserved for underwear
Cold climate inner layers double as jammies and sleepwear
honestly my toiletry bag is a stasher bag; does double duty since i don't need to then rebag it for tsa
i used to hem and haw about what to bring that would look cool yet not take up space yet not be horrible to replace but then realized that took up too much energy
if its just work backpack all the way i hate checked bags, 2 pants 3 shirt ez
if i need ot get a fit off then suitcase
the most important thing is footwear selection really
youre limited
gotta make good choices
muji, peak design, or just random cheap ones from amazon
I am a serial over packer. I bring the drip wherever i go despite the inconvenience. Somethings are more important than packing light
hm ok
About a third of my luggage gets taken up by necessary medical supplies, so that's a major limiting factor when packing. I make sure the few clothes I do bring all work together and plan to do some laundry. If I'm flying I'll usually buy most of my toiletries (travel-size) after I've arrived
Best case scenario: my husband travels with me and I can take over some of his luggage space. He can pack lighter than me, and doesn't mind carrying some of my clothes so I can feel fancy ❤️
Oh this is a good topic for me - I’m going to Bali in a few weeks and it’ll be my first time going to another country ever lol, anyone have any resources / advice on packing for Indonesia
Just in terms of like weather and maybe things I wouldn’t think of packing that end up being important and stuff
It’s mostly for a wedding but my partner and I are going to spend a few nights in Ubud after the resort shit
I too serially overpack. Having just gotten back from a trip I took one too many pairs of jeans, one more pair of shoes than necessary and about three too many shirts. I did use packing cubes for the first time which was a total gamechanger for car holidays. In the case of my most recent trip, my approach is generally take as many versatile options as possible (i.e. ocbds, patterned shirts, white tees, chinos, jeans) as I can reasonably fit and then maybe a statement piece or two.
Going on another, shorter trip at the end of the month for my birthday and might just pre-plan fits for that as I'll have much less space as I'm going by train
if you roll your tees and pants you can fit more of them in
if weight isnt a concern you can also vacuum pack
We have a carry on each and 21kg shared
you can buy kits or use a plastic bag and elastic bands
For a 2 week trip
considering most of your shit will be quite light, if you run out of space look up a guide on diy vacuum seal
ill throw in aer
all of their stuff is great i have cubes a toiletry bag and a backpack
i serially overpack because i’m used to staining my shit somehow or sweating like a racehorse
usually i can work out of a suitcase and a personal item in plane terms
its seriously seriously hot, even in end of winter
pack fucking light, you need way less than you think and then can focus on moving around on your feet on vacation
my goal no matter the duration is to wear 1 tshirt, 1 rain jacket, 1 jeans, 1 boxers, 1 sneakers, 1 sox, 1 small backpack; and to suitcase 2 tshirts, 2 boxers, 2 sox, electronics charging equipment, camera, meds, oral hygiene stuff, etc.
I don't bring extra clothes, shoes, lenses, idk whatever the fuck you think you need but absolutely don't
sorry not sorry I think anyone who doesn't have some unique trip where you need specialized equipment you don't need more than a small carryon and personal item
wash sox/boxers/tshirt every day or every other day in sink and hang in bathroom or main room you're staying in, it'll dry quickly enough, use a blowdryer if needed, if you don't have washer/dryer access in your lodging
the idea of having outfit swaps and shit blows my mind, I'm not home I don't need my closet
I packed three bike kits in my backpack plus saddle and pedals and two books and I still had extra room
you can travel with a bike helmet clipped onto your personal item (backpack) and the airports do not care, it does not count for space, it's basically a hat and it will fit under the airplane seat in front just fine
if it's gonna be cold, add a sweater, a set of top/bottom tights, gloves hat scarf/gaiter, and thicker socks
if it's gonna be hot, swap jeans for shorts or MAYBE pack shorts if you truly need both jeans and shorts
you'll fit it all in a 21.5" carryon I promise
I've tried bringing extra lenses before and either never used them or just wished I hadn't. Travel zoom or compact prime is definitely the way.
I know someone going on safari and they're wondering how to pack and bring all this shit and I'm like bro ur not a pro photog, rent a compact zoom and be done with it, you don't need to pack a tripod and some massive prime when you don't use it at home
are you bringing your camera or not? just not bringing extra lenses?
I bring a camera with a compact lens
so rn that's either my z7 with the 40mm f/2 (not my 50mm f/1.2) or one of my small film cams, an Ilford Sprite 35-II or Nikon 28Ti
partial to the digital bc far less finicky
i only have a (up to) 400mm lens so i just wear my camera bag if needed
Depends on shooting style but I've done Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 or 18-300mn superzoom the last few years but I'm probably just going to get a 20mm f/2.8 for the next time and crop if needed
I want an even smaller lens than my 40, and by the time I get a new camera body I prob will get one
40 is great travel focal length though
my kingdom for a weather sealed pancake lens that doesn't suck shit
I hate that all of the good ones are either fuji or non interchangeable lenses
I'm currently rocking Tamron 20-40 f/2.8 and could trim off a bit more weight if I got the Viltrox 20mm f/2.8 or the Tamron 20mm f/2.8 but a decent pancake would just make life so much easier and make me more prone to bringing out the camera
Probably just going to end up getting the Ricoh GRIV though
there's a Nikon 26 f/2.8 but I think it's only arguable whether it's better here
only "extra" thing i bring is a shirt/pair of baggies if i'm in shared lodging but 9 times/10 i spend extra to not deal with people
i've got tamrons 18-400
a little bulky but its fine
I like my fullframe version, it's not very sharp but the coatings are modern so the pics look good unless you zoom in. I just found myself not using any of the extended zoom range
It's really light for what it is but its still bigger/heavier than a 20mm prime or a 20-40mm zoom
anyway to get back to the topic of the day, i feel like i really struggle with this - generally overpacking (1/2 pants not being worn at all, unnecessary shirts etc.)
in some sense it might be because i just didnt like those clothes, and will soon get rid of them (donations) but i think i dont yet have a good sense of how much to bring per trip
lets continue this in the photography thread before kyn murders us lol