Tutorial: How to Pack a Suitcase

Hello, hello! 

Let me just read your mind really quick. Here are a couple of thoughts you're probably having about the title.

"But I already know how to pack a suitcase", or "How hard is it to pack, seriously?" or maybe "This is NOT a refashion."

Well all I have to say is, I KNOW. Packing a suitcase, for me, is a no brainer. But for others (like my man cake) packing a suitcase or bag is an excuse to throw everything inside with no organization what so ever. I cannot do that. Nope. The Refashion Noob does not live that way.

So I decided, while I'm packing for my trip to Tennessee, why not show you all how I pack a suitcase, and share a couple of tips that make the trip way easier for me.

First, gather everything you want to take with you. This should include clothes, necessities, make up (which could technically count as a necessity, at least for me), medicines and emergency items (like allergy medicine or insulin), electrics (laptops, nooks, e-readers, etc.), chargers for your electronics, extra batteries and anything to entertain you during the trip (like paper, pencils, magazines, whatever).

Here is what I'm packing.

You are looking at a (temporarily) disorganized pile of make up, necessities, and clothes. Keep in mind I'm not leaving until tomorrow, so I haven't packed things I will be using tonight, like medicine, and my laptop. 

Next, I paired together similar items. Here's how I did it.

First I put my necessities together.

Make up (in the circle pouch), my tooth brush and tooth paste, deodorant, and jewelry (in the striped pouch).

Next I paired together my under garments, which you don't need a picture of. You know what that stuff looks like.

Then I paired together my tank tops and similar-cut shirts.

Next was my bottoms.

And then the dressy "going out in public" shirts.

Then I piled my pajama tops...

...and my pajama bottoms together.

And lastly, I piled together a "random" clothes pile. The only item in the random pile was my jean jacket from last week's refashion.

Next I got my suitcase ready. My suitcase is just a regular ole' suitcase. It has the bigger area for clothes and such, then two smaller zippers on the front.

When you open the suitcase and look inside, you see that there are bars inside. My suitcase rolls on wheels, so the bars are there for the handle. Anywho, here's a picture of the bars.

See 'em? Most people make the mistake of piling clothes on top of the bars. Although that will happen eventually, it's important to make the bars work for you instead of against you. 

I grabbed the heaviest items from my piles, which happened to be my jean jacket, and my bottoms. I rolled them, and packed them between the bars.

I then packed my under garments in the extra space between the bars. It's obviously not pictured, because I'm not a fan of sharing my undies on the internet. Can you blame me?

Anyways, once I had packed the heaviest items, and my under things, I was left with a pretty flat surface of fabrics. I then laid out my next heaviest items, the dressy shirts. 

As you can see they are laying pretty flat, which helps decrease the chance of wrinkles. My next items, the pajama tops and bottoms, fit perfectly on top. 

Since they weigh less, and since I don't care about wrinkles, I could fold them more than the other items. And lastly, I piled on my tank tops.

Everything fit perfectly, because I distributed the weight. The heavier items on bottom are supported by the bars, and the lighter items are on top, creating a cushion. 

Next, I filled the top zippers with my necessities.

I zipped everything up, and that was it! I still have a top zipper that isn't being used (which I will fill with chargers for all of my electronics). As you can see, I still have room for anything else I might decide to take with me.

Since the packing is done, I shall now share with you a few tips and tricks that makes traveling easier for me.

1. Clean or straighten up your house or room before leaving. 

This one may seem like a pain, but it definitely helps. After coming back from vacation, you're less than happy to be "back to reality". The last thing you want to think about is cleaning up the mess you left behind. Straightening up before leaving makes coming home a relaxing thing. Now the only thing you need to worry about is checking voice mails and unpacking.

2, Pack items that may leak towards the top of your suitcase.

If your lotion, shampoo, or soap is prone to leaks, pack them towards the top of your suitcase (or maybe that little zipper on top). This makes them so much easier to check on, or clean up. If you have to dig around in your bag to find the source of that frilly-smelling liquid, you are going to have a terrible time. And it could potentially end up on clothes or (eek!) your electronics. Skip the headaches and plan ahead. Make them easily accessible. 

3. If flying (or driving somewhere chilly) wear your heaviest and bulkiest items. 

When I tell people this trick, they think I'm crazy. They don't seem to understand the point I'm making. If you're flying to your vacation destination, you quickly realize how airports jack up the price of your bags and suitcases if they weigh over a certain number. Wearing your thick boots or heavy winter coat on the plane keeps you from packing it, which in turn keeps your suitcase from weighing over the limit. Also, no one wants to try to shove a thick coat into a bag. It hardly ever fits, or it takes up too much space. Again, save yourself the hassle. Bundle up!

4. Lastly, go through your wallet

One of the major worries of traveling is the potential for identity theft. The less you carry with you, the harder it is for thieves to find what they need. Go through your wallet and purse. Do you need all of your credit cards? Take out that social security card. And while you're at it, take out anything else that is unnecessary or taking up room. You're bound to buy something while on vacation, so make sure you have room for it. 

Well, that's all I have for this tutorial. Was this helpful at all? Want more tutorials on different topics? Want me to just stay with the refashions? Let me know in the comments below.