I know I’m kind of a freak but I LIKE packing for a trip. I consider it a personal challenge to be very intentional about what I pack and how I pack it so that I can avoid checking a bag. My goal is always the same: Get by, no matter how long the trip, with only a backpack (my personal item that fits under the seat) and one carry-on. Recently, I put my skills to a real test when I had to pack for a nearly 3-week trip to Europe where I would likely only be able to do laundry once. I did it for back-to-back Viking River Cruises plus pre- and post-trips. Whether you’re packing for a long trip or just a weekend away, these luggage packing tips will help.

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Luggage Packing Tips for Two or More Weeks: Pack Light and Pack Right

I promise, you don’t need nearly as much clothing as you think you do. You don’t need a completely new outfit for each day, nor one for day and another one for night. Going with some basics, it’s easier than you think to pack for two or more weeks and still feel like you have varied wardrobe options. And because doing laundry is relatively easy (details below), the few items you pack get worn again. And again, if necessary.

How to choose what to bring for a long trip

1. Every top must go with every bottom.  I packed four pairs of pants and four shirts plus three layering pieces (two button-down shirts that could be worn solo or over any of the tops plus one thin black sweater). Doing it this way, I could create more than 10 outfits, wash everything and do it all again. I had more potential combinations than I had days and nights to wear them!
2. Pack enough outfits to make it to laundry day. I’ll reiterate this again below because it’s so helpful. If you will be able to do laundry at your hotel (even if it’s in the sink), on a ship, or at a local laundromat, you can pack only enough clothes to make outfits to get you to laundry day(s). Do some research ahead as to whether you’ll have an opportunity to do laundry and then plan and pack accordingly. Conceivably, this can cut down the number of things you pack by half.
3. Take quick-dry clothes, especially underwear.  Let’s face it, unless you purposely pack underwear for every single day of your trip (and then some), you’re going to need to wash some items over the course of the trip. Take ones whose material dries fast like microfiber. In a pinch, use the hotel or cruise line hairdryer to speed things along.
4. Be heartless with yourself.  Pretty much everyone who ever returns from a trip comes home, unpacks their bag, and has to admit there are a couple of things they never wore or wish they hadn’t taken. Don’t pack for a “vision” of a situation that “might” happen.
5. Choose fabrics that won’t wrinkle too much.  There are lots of clothing options out there labelled as being great for travel. But, day-to-day, I wear pants made of cotton and acrylic (great for all seasons and wrinkle-free). And the tops I wear are often t-shirt material so all of those items travel well.
6. Accent minimally.  I pack a colorful scarf in an accent color and wear it in a variety of ways, including as a shawl and even a headwrap when it’s windy. I also pack earrings and necklaces that are bold enough to change up the look of a plain top.
7. Choose an overall color scheme.  The pants I have are all print so I choose only solid color tops to go with them. Black, white and purple/lavender happen to go with all of them so those are the colors of tops I chose. Black pants and a black top with bold jewelry and a colorful shawl was my go-to evening outfit, looking chic every time.
8. Bring the right shoes but only two pair.  I brought my pair of tan Teva sandals because I can walk in them easily and, because they are non-descript, I can wear them in the evening. My second pair are black Sketcher sneakers for when I want my feet covered or need to do a lot of walking.
9. Have a “travel day” outfit.  Make sure it’s comfortable but utilizes your bulkiest items to save space in the suitcase. For example, I wear my sneakers, bulkiest pants, one of the linen shirts over a t-shirt, with my sweater tied around my shoulders. Not only is layering good for the varying temperatures in the airplane, but I’ve kept five things out of my suitcase. Be sure to wear this outfit going and returning. Doing this reduces the number of outfits you have to pack for by two!
10. Pare down toiletries to what you only HAVE to have and carry them wisely.  I knew that the Viking River Cruises were going to have great toiletries so I only took enough shampoo, conditioner, and lotion for the few days I wasn’t going to be on the ship. But what I did take, I put in these great, flat pouches that took up hardly any space. Here’s the link to the hangable toiletries/cosmetics/jewelry bag I use even if I’m only going somewhere overnight. It folds up like an envelope when not in use. But I open it and hang it in the bathroom at my destination and don’t have to take up any space on the counter. I love it so much, I’ve given it as a gift.
11. Allow for souvenirs and such. Pack a foldable, nylon tote bag that you can use during your trip to hold your water bottle, sunscreen, some tissues, etc. that you might need as you go sightseeing. But the bag will also be where you can put souvenirs to take home. In this case, if they won’t fit in your personal item or carryon, you’ll have to check your carryon bag which, I know, I’m advocating trying to avoid. But look at it this way – if your luggage gets lost on your way back home, you’ll still be back home where you have more clothes and shoes. It’s not nearly as bad as losing your luggage where you can’t easily buy new stuff.
12. Stay hydrated, compactly.   This “flat” waterbottle is a game-changer. Did the TSA agent joke that it was a booze flask? Yes. Did it fit easily in the pouch in front of me on my flight, fit easily in my tote bag and refilled easily? Yes.
13. Keep essentials with you.  Despite best efforts, you may have to “gate check” your carryon bag. Make sure anything with a lithium battery, medications, passport, wallet and anything valuable, are in your personal item that stays with you. If you have space, put one outfit, including underwear, in that personal item in case your gate checked bag ends up going through baggage claim and, heaven-forbid, gets lost. We met a guy on our first Viking River Cruise whose one piece of luggage got lost and didn’t catch up with him for five days. He had only one outfit to wear and it was the one he’d already spent 10+ hours in for the flight. Yikes.
    

    I love this compartmentalized toiletries organizer that folds up and can be hung in a bathroom.

Luggage packing tips for a long trip

1. Use packing cubes. I swear by them after using vacuum bags for years, packing cubes keep your clothing organized, less wrinkled, have more give and are ready to slip in a drawer.
2. Roll clothing items after folding them in half lengthwise.  Put tops in one cube, bottoms in another and undergarments/night clothes in a third. When I unpack, I keep everything in its cube, unzip the top and roll it back and slip it into a drawer. Re-packing is a breeze.
3. Use the right size luggage.  International airlines may have different luggage measurement and weight restrictions which means that you should look at the rules for each airline you may be flying and go by the one with the most restrictive rules. I ended up having to buy a slightly smaller carryon bag because mine was going to be an inch and a half too large for Air Dolomiti, with whom we had a connecting flight. Sometimes the restrictions are simply the rule of the airline and sometimes it’s because it’s a regional plane with a smaller area for luggage.
4. Pack enough clothes for the number of days before you can do laundry, NOT the number of days of the trip. Say you’ll be able to do laundry around day 4 – you only need to pack the makings of three outfits (your Travel Day outfit is another). That will reduce the amount of clothes you have to pack in a big way. Of course, if there’s no way to do laundry on your trip, you need to have the makings for enough outfits for the entire trip which makes choosing items that go with multiple pieces essential.
5. Pack a week before you’re going to go.  No, I’m not kidding. The reasons for this are: A) You are forced to set aside the clothes you want to take so you don’t find yourself needing to quickly wash something right before you go. B) It gives you time to change your mind about what you want to bring but DON’T fall prey to thinking “Oh, I’ll just slip that in just in case I need it.” C) You have time to weigh your luggage and make changes so you adhere to airline rules and don’t have to pay overage fees.

Using packing cubes saves space, keeps clothes organized, and easy to access when packing for two or more weeks.

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How to clean your clothes so you can re-wear things

The idea of packing fewer items strategically, is that you get a bunch of different combinations of outfit and then do laundry half-way through (or as needed if something gets stained). You have a few options for how to get your clothes clean:

1. Where you’re staying may have laundry facilities. Easy peasy.
2. You can use a public laundromat. The problem with those is that A) you have to wait for your laundry instead of sightseeing, B) it can be hard to understand the language of directions on the machine, C) you might not have access to detergent and D) in the case of a river cruise, you have to time things perfectly to avoid missing the boat!
3. In the case of Viking River Cruises, they have onboard laundry services. While extremely easy and very pampering (they pick up your bag of dirty laundry and return everything to your stateroom, clean and neatly folded in a leather box), it can be pricey since each item costs between about $4-$10. Even with your minimalist packing, it can add up.
4. Handwashing in the sink can work as long as the sink isn’t too shallow and the stopper is working.
5. At the recommendation of a world-traveling relative, we bought the Scrubba. It’s basically a rubber bag you put your clothes in with detergent and water, seal it up and scrub your clothes against the scrubby-nubbins on one side (like a modern version of a wash board!). You then rinse the clothes in the Scrubba and wring them out or use the “towel burrito” method of laying the damp clothes on a big towel that you then roll up and squeeze to get a lot of moisture out of. Then, hang the items up to dry wherever you can such as over a door, on any hook, over a chair, even on the patio or balcony if that isn’t a problem. Ideally, hang items within airflow of the air contitioner or fan. What isn’t dry by morning can get a boost from a hair dryer. Thankfully, on our Viking River Cruise, they provide a pull-out chord in the shower on which we draped things to dry. EDITORS’ TIP: Pack a few laundry sheets and tear off what you need depending on the amount of clothes you’ll be washing. They are also great for stain removal.
   

   TIP: Put the Scrubba bag on the shower floor and use your foot to move the clothing back and forth over the scrubbing surface like we did here on a Viking River Cruise.

Keep these been-there-figured-out-a-better-way luggage packing tips handy and you’ll be traveling lighter and easier (and cheaper!) whenever you go on a long trip.

Quick links to our recommended products

Please note, each of these items uses an Amazon affiliate link. That doesn’t change your shopping, pricing or delivery experience at all. But Real Food Traveler may receive a very small commission on anything purchased that we then use to help pay for the care and feeding of this site.

Flat pouches for toiletries

Flat water bottle

Foldable nylon tote bag

Hangable toiletries/jewelry bag

Laundry sheets

Luggage scale

Packing cubes

Pants

Scrubba for hand-washing clothes

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-Story and photos by Courtney Drake-McDonough, Publisher & Managing Editor, Real Food Traveler