Travel Packing Guide for Women
There are a variety of ‘rules’ for packing for a trip. The reality is there isn’t a single formula for all types of traveling. If you are a bare bones backpacker, you have one set of needs. If you are traveling through seasons or in colder weather, you need to pack some warmer clothing in addition to what is listed below. If you are planning on engaging in many outdoor activities, you will need to have appropriate sports clothing. If it’s important to you to have a variety of clothes, then you have yet another set of needs (and possibly a larger bag).
However, a couple rules apply to all types of packing: everything must go with everything else; everything needs to fit properly; everything should be good quality.
As a rule of thumb, here is a list of basic items that will be plenty for most women:
� 1-2 pair of pants
� 2-3 skirts
� three shirts
� 2-3 t-shirts or summer-ish tops
� one versatile dress
� one nice outfit
� 5-7 pair of underwear
� 2 pair of tights/pantyhose
� 2-3 pair of socks
� 2 bras
� 1 pair comfortable walking, day-to-day shoes
� 1 pair of nice shoes
� 1 lightweight cardigan
� 1 light/medium-weight sweater
� 1 jacket
� 1 swimsuit
� sleeping clothes
� towel
� toiletries
� jewelry
� 1-2 scarves
� small and large Ziploc bags
� earplugs
� eye mask
� journal and pen
� camera
If you think you need more clothes than this, think about this: every day you travel, you will be lifting that bag up and down stairs at the train station, up and down stairs at the hostel and you’ll be walking around with this bag in all kinds of weather (do you really want a heavy bag when it’s raining or particularly windy or you’re walking on uneven sidewalks or walking on unpaved roads?).
If you are traveling for more than a couple weeks, you honestly don’t need more than this. A scarf can change an outfit, as can certain jewelry, makeup or a hairstyle. Remember too, unless you’re staying in one place for longer than a week, the people you’re around won’t know if you wore that shirt a couple days ago, or that skirt the previous day.
Know that if you take a pair of jeans, they will add a significant amount of weight and bulk to your bag. Jeans are also a lot more difficult to wash effectively in sinks and they will take ages to dry.
Also cumbersome and weighty are any kinds of electrical appliances (meaning: hair dryer, curling iron). Besides, you would need to have at least one adaptor, if not more, depending on the country or countries you will visit. If you will be staying in hotels, many have a hair dryer in the bathroom, depending on the quality of the hotel. The best idea is learn how to style your hair without these things and/or find a new style for the length of your trip.
For sleeping clothes, I’m a fan of a camisole-style tank top with a built in bra shelf, and a half-slip. Both are very comfortable, take up very little space, and provide enough coverage if you are staying in a mixed-sex dorm. If you will be traveling in colder climates, you might choose a pair of yoga pants and they can be used for lounging, too.
The most indispensable dress I’ve ever found is a knee-length, nylon-mix, black dress I bought at Target. It clings in all the right places, dresses up very nicely (especially with a nice scarf or jewelry), and can also be worn at a trendy club. Best of all, it can be balled up and it never, ever wrinkles. Note that if your versatile dress can be dressed up, then you have just saved space in your bag by not needing to pack a nice outfit!
As a rule, you don’t want to pack anything that will either wrinkle or dirty easily. That means: no white clothes and no linen. White linen may look great in Out of Africa, but it becomes very dirty very quickly. With the exception of the dress or nice outfit, if you can’t wear a piece of clothing three (or more) times without needing to wash it, then it shouldn’t be packed.
Don’t even think about packing a ‘regular’ towel. Instead, invest in a quick-dry, thin, small towel. They dry super-quick and take considerably less space than a normal towel. There are a variety of towels on the market, which vary in color, size and thickness, so just choose the one that best suits your need. You can search online for “travel towel quick dry” and you will be able to start on your search.
As for jewelry, here are a couple tips: first, you want to keep it in something hard-sided; second, be creative with how you store your jewelry. On a recent long-haul trip, I bought a slide-together, travel soap container and it worked beautifully in protecting my jewelry. Obviously, do not take any piece of jewelry that is particularly expensive or has a particularly high sentimental value. Anytime such as flights, when my main bag is not in my sight, I always carry my jewelry ‘box’ with me (in addition to electronics and anything else small and valuable).
If you’re an avid reader, only take one or two books with you. You can swap books at hostels. Nearly every hostel has a book swap, or you will find other travelers willing to swap or give away books. Also, there are English language bookstores in most major cities (and some not-so-major cities), so if you really are in a bind, you will have options. I’ve found used bookstores with English language books in Varna, Bulgaria and Mainz, Germany – places that I didn’t expect to and places that the hostel staff or my friends [in Germany] didn’t know about. Ask other travelers and hostel or hotel staff, and they can generally let you know where to go. Just remember, paper is heavy, so you really want to limit how much you have with you.
Ziploc bags are wonderful for storing small things, dirty underwear or wet bathing suits. If you have to use them for wet items, be sure to dry them out within a few hours, or else they will start to smell and get moldy. I’m not in the practice of using a travel container for bathing soap (it takes too much space), so I put my bathing soap in a small Ziploc, instead. In addition, you probably don’t want to have your shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, ink-filled pens or any other liquid rolling around loose in your bag. Air pressure on planes can cause containers to burst open – especially ink-filled pens – and it’s a very, very smart idea to put such things in Ziploc bags (unless you really want conditioner or ink on your favorite shirt, of course).
For nicer pieces of clothing, I wrap them in a plastic carrier bag, like the ones you get at groceries or in clothing shops. Especially if the clothing is made of snag-able or delicate material, this will help protect them from the zipper of your bag, from zippers or rough edges of other clothing, or from smells from unwashed clothing.
In dealing with dirty clothing, keep them separate from the clean clothing or you run the risk of all your clothes smelling funky. If you have a separate zipper compartment on your bag, you can use that. Even with your clothing in a separate compartment, it’s a good idea to put your dirty clothes in a plastic bag, to help cut down on your bag smelling, or the smell migrating to your cleaner clothes. When I travel, I put my dirty underwear in a Ziploc bag. However, even with rolling the bag to remove excess air, inside the bag they will develop a stronger odor. If you are well-disciplined, clean your underwear in the shower each morning, and let them dry while you are out and about, and only use a Ziploc bag for days when you’re traveling. Another hint to keep the clothes in your bag smelling fresh is to pack a fragrant bar of soap amongst the clothes. The scent won’t make it through the entire bag, unless your bag is well under-packed, but it will help and you can always put it closer to items that need a little freshening.
As to how to pack your bag, there are a variety of different styles and methodologies. What you need to do is find what works best for you, based on what type of traveling you’re doing, how often you’ll be moving around and what type of bag you will be using.
If you’re carrying a backpack, some say to put the heaviest items on top. However, if your backpack only has a top opening, this may be cumbersome for you when all you want is to grab a cardigan because it’s cold outside. For those carrying a backpack, ensure you have the proper adjustments for your bag. An incorrectly adjusted backpack can put the weight in the wrong place and make for a more difficult and uncomfortable experience for you. The weight should be carried mostly on your hips, not your shoulders.
If you are using a bag on wheels, whether it’s a suitcase or (my favorite) a backpack on wheels, try to keep the weight balanced, with a bit more weight at the bottom end (this increases maneuverability and will help prevent it from tipping over when you’re not holding it).
In reality, we women need a lot less when traveling than we think we do. The lighter your bag, the easier you can move around and the less you have to worry about. Besides, if you don’t have something you decide you need, you can buy it! Really though, I work to remember what a good friend (and fellow traveler) always says: lighter is righter.
