How to Pack a Suitcase to Explore the World!

May 12, 2023 / Alyssa Duranty

suitcase open flat with pink clothes organizers and passport and blue shoes

Hopefully you‘re preparing to embark on a wonderful travel adventure this season. With so many new sights, sounds and experiences ahead of you, you want to be prepared. You may be worrying because there‘s only so much suitcase space and so many necessities.

We talked to a travel blogger and world explorer, as well as a regular mom with a roving family, for advice on how to pack a suitcase, so hopefully we can help relieve some of the worry.

Pack your bags with these easy organizing tips and leave the stress behind. Bon voyage!

Make a List before Packing Your Suitcase

Since moving from the small town of East Peoria, Ill. to Sydney, Australia, travel blogger Brooke Schoenman has visited 27 countries, so she knows a thing or two about packing a suitcase.

She writes about her adventures on Her Packing List, which she founded and that features several packing lists and tips tailored to where in the world a traveler is headed.

One of her top packing recommendations for any destination is to pack light and keep the list of must-haves as short as possible. She‘ll employ that tactic for the list she creates for her next destination: Georgia, Armenia or Azerbaijan.

“My motto is to pack less and leave empty space, because (your suitcase) will be easier to carry,” she said. “Take half the clothes and twice the money!”

Before pulling out the suitcases, Indiana mom and Snail Pace Transformations writer Victoria Huizinga, also always makes a packing list. It will serve her well as she prepares to embark on a five-month RV road trip with her family.

“If you have multiple people packing at the same time, they can cross items off the list and we won‘t pack duplicates,” she said.

Organize Your Suitcase Stuff in Separate Containers or Bags

packed pink suitcase next to public storage moving boxes at the end of the bed

When Huizinga packed her son for his first alone trip to Mexico, she packed all of this outfits in separate plastic bags and sat on them to get the air out before packing.

“We were surprised at how much less space they took up,” she said.

Since then she‘s used bags for other trips too. They are a must-have for family vacations, especially with kids going to summer camp.

“Usually by mid-week everything is wet, messy and yucky,” Huizinga said. “This way they have clean clothes for the rest of the week.”

Since Schoenman finds herself embarking on many abroad adventures, she said she‘s invested and uses a packing cube to hold her clothes, a zipper pouch for her undergarments and another pouch for electronics accessories “so those aren‘t just floating around in my backpack or suitcase.”

She also uses travel bottles for liquids, so they don‘t leak and take up less space. She buys mini versions of solid toiletries like bar soap, to save space and time going through airport security.

Recent Articles