BWT Adventure Guides: How to Pack for Your Adventure

Adventure is a State of Mind

This article is a part of the BWT Adventure Guide series. The BWT Guides are designed to provide a quick and easy overview of information found on the Brave Wise Traveler website. They can be used as a guide in and of themselves. Or if you come across a topic and want to dive in deeper, there are links to articles that will help you to do just that. Hopefully this guide helps you to become a more confident and knowledgeable traveler – a Brave Wise Traveler!

“Just in case” is the curse of packing. — Alexandra Potter

Identify Your Packing Aspiration

• How much do you want/need to pack? 
  • Packing as little as possible
  • Packing more to cover every necessity
• Choose Your Bag
  • Choose a size to match how much you want to pack, including how many souvenirs you want to bring home
  • Choose a type of bag that matches your needs as much as is possible

• Choose your packing strategy
  • Rolling versus folding
  • Decide whether you want to use packing cubes or compression bags
  • Pay attention to airline weight limitations and distributing weight among bags

Visualize Your Travel Plans

• Consider the location and time of year when you are traveling
• Consider the activities you have planned
• Research culturally (and weather) appropriate attire
• Consider needs to support activities and other items, such as charging cords and a plug adapter/converter
• Create a packing list 

Don’t Forget Your Carry On

• Avoid items prohibited in carry-on bags by TSA
• Plan on keeping certain items with you on the airplane, especially:
  • Passport (if you’re traveling abroad)
  • Other required documentation
  • Your smartphone
  • Medications
  • Comfort items
  • Credit/debit cards and cash, including foreign currency

Face Reality

• A day or two before your departure, lay everything out
• Determine whether everything will fit in your luggage
• Make sure each bag weighs less than the airline weight limit
  • Redistribute weight across the luggage of the group if needed and if possible
• Cull as needed
  • Plan to use disposable clothes to give you room to bring back souvenirs
  • Plan to wear layers to reduce the need for large sweaters and coats
  • Plan to wear items more than once or wash clothes during your trip

Post-Adventure Evaluation

• Review your packing successes and mistakes
  • Make a note of what you want to do differently next time
• Adjust your master list

Pro Tip: Keeping a master packing list for the items you always travel with – regardless of the destination – can make the packing process significantly smoother.

In summary, the key to packing successfully for your next travel adventure is to take a little time to visualize what you will need, create a plan for how you want to pack, and eliminate what you don’t need. And, most importantly, don’t wait until the last minute to do it!

Sandi McCoy Kramos Clinical Psychologist

Sandi McCoy Kramos is a licensed clinical psychologist with a doctorate from the University of Virginia and over 30 years of experience as a therapist. She is also a lifelong traveler with years of experience planning and implementing individual travel adventures for herself and family and friends. When asked why she started this blog, Sandi said, "Over the years I've realized that when people say they want to travel but don't actually do it, it's often their own insecurities and lack of knowledge that get in the way. I want to give individuals the knowledge they need to actually make their travel dreams come true."

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