Check In vs Carry On....?

[M&G Montreal]

Read a travel blog that said the starting point was not so much the packing as the unpacking on return. 2016 when I unpacked, I had a huge stack of stuff that was never used. Made my packing list for this year from what I did use, and eliminated a lot! Pared down this year's and STILL came back with a whack of stuff that was never used. We have laundry done at least once at trip, so what's my problem bringing a zillion tops? Cosmetics are a killer!!! Paring that down. (when the longest hair on your head is 1 inch, why do you need a full bottle of shampoo? Like seriously! I do it every time. 1/4-1/2 travel bottle next trip. Gotta go more often so I can get this down to an art! You are my hero and inspiration, ohliz! I want to get to carry-on only. What do you do about beach towels? They take up space.

Anybody got any experience with rolling clothes? I fold, and I hear rolling is better???

[LivinInThe603]

Anybody got any experience with rolling clothes? I fold, and I hear rolling is better???

I think to roll them you have to roll them TIGHT and really pack stuff in, and I just don't think that's necessary when I take a larger suitcase, so I don't bother.

In fact, for my trips to Jamaica, I set out each outfit I'm going to wear (top, shorts, underwear, or whatever the combo) and put each set in a gallon size Ziploc. Smaller items like swim or single items like a dress get their own quart size baggie.That way, each item has a partner and I don't over-pack a bunch of stuff that I might wear. I reuse the Ziplocs each trip (I do worry about all that plastic, but I'm making the most out of each baggie so I feel mostly ok about it). It's almost like mini space bags, like Jenn mentioned, but being smaller, I can manipulate how I pack them for more flexibility. I also found a really large Ziploc bag that has a zipper. It fits perfectly into my suitcase, so... in go my beach items, my towel, my toiletries, and my little baggies of outfits. Zip it up, clip the cross-straps, zip the suitcase, lock it and done!

I'm trying to be really good this year! I like to have a few options, but at this point, I pretty much know what I'm going to use and what will just take up space.