Once upon a time, it wasn’t really much of an issue. Airlines were quite relaxed when it came to luggage, and tended to include the cost of it in the standard ticket.

Then came the rise of budget airlines. This turned the topic of baggage allowance on its head and suddenly, travellers were paying more for their luggage than the standard flight ticket itself.

It’s meant that we have now entered a generation where you simply have to pack shrewdly. For overseas travel, this means packing a small suitcase which will accompany you onto the plane. For everything else, even if you are heading to a local hotel in Bristol or your area of choice, it still means packing smartly as even local transport can make life with a big suitcase particularly difficult.

Bearing this in mind, today’s post is all about how to pack that little bit more shrewdly. Let’s now take a look at some of the tips you can carry forward.

Your travel clothing is crucial

First and foremost, what you wear whilst traveling is crucial. Sure, there are various steps you should take to ensure that you are comfortable on your flight; after all, nothing is quite worse than sitting for fifteen hours in completely unsuitable clothing.

However, in the interests of packing shrewdly, try and prioritise your heavy garments. For example, some shoes can be particularly cumbersome and while it might be the dream to wander off your plane in your flip flops, in reality it might be best to pack these as they don’t consume huge amounts of space. The same rules apply to bulky coats and pullovers, which can eat into your baggage allowance.

Don’t depart full to the brim

Another common packing mistake is reaching every limit possible with your suitcase. Again, whether you are traveling to Bristol or the Maldives, this is something that can cause you problems later down the line.

On the most part, people don’t come back with less things that they departed with. Usually, they load up on souvenirs and come back with a whole lot more. To make sure you have such a possibility, try and leave at least a little room.

Sometimes it’s about accessorizing

Granted, some might feel as though this next tip more belongs on a fashion blog. However, we really can’t emphasize the importance of accessorizing when it comes to packing. This means that you don’t have to pack umpteen different outfits; you can instead pack fewer, but use smart accessorizes to make them look a little more unique.

This is one tip that you simply must implement if your trip is going to span more than a handful of days.

The power of vacuum packs

This is quickly turning to one of the oldest tricks in the book, but we really can’t advocate the importance of vacuum packs. These are able to shrink the size of your belongings significantly, but at the same time they obviously don’t affect the overall weight so this needs to be taken into consideration as well. For the purposes of relieving a little extra space, they can be a Godsend though.