The first time I arrived at a conference with both a suitcase and a giant cosmetic case, I took some serious heat. Some people continued to tease me about it long after that first trip.
I understood why it looked excessive. But there was a reason for it: the things I needed for my hair, skin, teeth, and everyday hygiene did not change much from trip to trip. I had organised them once and kept them together.
Why unpack the whole system, then try to remember every piece when it was time to leave again?
That case belonged to a chapter of frequent conference travel. It is not a prescription for how much anyone should carry. The useful part was the routine, rather than the size of the bag.
Prepare for the morning you will actually have
During those trips, people often came to my hotel room early with a “quick question.” I didn’t mind answering the door in my pyjamas at six in the morning. I did mind sorting through my underwear while trying to keep a conversation going.
Planning an outfit in advance solved that particular problem. I could put the clothes, underwear, and jewellery together in a garment bag, hang it in the hotel wardrobe, and take the whole outfit into the bathroom when I needed to get dressed.
It took more thought at home. It took considerably less thought in a busy hotel room.
Different things need different homes
I used packing cubes for the things that did not need a complete outfit of their own, such as gym T-shirts and swim gear. I could unzip a cube, tuck its top underneath, and put it in a drawer.
That was what I liked about the system: I knew where things belonged. I wasn’t rebuilding my suitcase every time I wanted to find something.
Garment bags and packing cubes served different purposes. Neither was magic. They were simply ways of making the next step easier.
The bit that happens after the trip
My old routine also included keeping the packing supplies in the suitcase between trips. When I came home, clothes went into the laundry and I checked what needed replenishing in the toiletries.
The important detail was noticing a nearly empty conditioner bottle before the next departure, rather than discovering it in a hotel shower.
I wrote about that routine when work travel occupied a lot of my calendar. Looking back at it, the principle is the part worth keeping: organise for the trip you are taking, and for the moments when you will be short of time.
Packing does not begin with a pile of clothes on the bed. Some of the most useful work happens when the previous trip ends.
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