Packing for a trip—words that bring a shudder to the hardiest among us! Trip packing is often seen as a daunting project that will demand hours of tedious effort with a modest result at best. Many of us have come to dread packing so much that we mistakenly believe that we don’t even like to travel. In actuality, the pain point is not travel but packing for the trip.
Let’s take a closer look at what is involved that makes this so challenging. To begin we must clarify our criteria: the destination, the weather, our likely activities. Then we must somehow filter our entire closet through the sieve of that criteria. Finally we must take what remains and then whittle it down until it fits into a smallish suitcase. And then we must live out of that smallish suitcase for a week or whatever. No wonder it’s a nightmare!
Secrets of Stress Free Packing
What if there were an alternative to this ordeal, a method to turn the chaos into calm? What if you could have confidence in the end result, certain that you will be delighted and well served by what you have packed? Might this transform your whole attitude and experience of travel?
After years of experimentation and testing with travels around the globe, I’ve found a game-changing approach. It starts at the top—with jewelry.
What’s Going On With Packing Anyway and Why Is It So Stressful?
Travel packing is essentially about curating your entire closet (EEK). Perversely, having more clothes in your closet to choose from doesn’t necessarily help. The larger one’s wardrobe, the greater the options and the more difficult selecting can become. To effectively manage this curation project, it is helpful to begin with a Point of View. Otherwise, you can go through the laborious exercise and still end up spending the whole trip with a random group of things that you wish you weren’t wearing. I know, I’ve been there.
No wonder many of us dread the process.
The ‘Jewelry First’ Approach
Ready to try a different approach? Seeking a better way, I developed a method that might seem counter-intuitive. Jewelry is not what we think of first when packing. Usually we come to jewelry at the end, when we are tired of the whole project. We throw in a few things and hope for the best.
Instead we are going to start with jewelry. We’re going to do it calmly and deliberately. This will be enjoyable.
First, of course, we’ll have a cup of coffee to calm the nerves. Next, just three preliminaries: visualize your destination, note the typical weather and your likely activities. Then, gather a selection of your jewelry that you know would enjoy wearing at these various activities.
You might try going activity by activity, pulling jewelry pieces out of your box and putting them on a tray. Dinner Out casual, Dinner Out fancy, Sightseeing, Plane Travel, etc.
Pull out some of your jewelry pieces that you know can work together. Try a few new and different combinations. I expect items to work well with several outfits so I favor ones that can “play well with others.” Be sure to capture the looks in a few photos with your phone. This visual planning becomes the foundation for the rest of your packing.
If your mind starts thinking about possible outfits during this process, then by all means thank it and jot down some notes. If not, no worries, that is not our concern right now.
When you are satisfied, then just like that, Step One is done. Your trip jewelry capsule is created and even better, your entire packing framework is set.
Start as soon as you can and take your time with this part as you are creating your organizing framework. You can afford to because the rest will be much faster. (And it gives your sub-conscious brain time to get on board and help you. More about this below.)
Step Two: Fill In The Wardrobe
It’s time to address the rest of what I’ll be taking. I revisit the photos of my pre-selected Trip Jewelry group. With a glance at my notes about the weather and activities ahead, I start pulling outfits that complement my selected accessories. I either take pictures (if I am doing this in advance) or I lay them out on the bed for packing. I might take photos of any new combinations just as a reminder.
Step Two is done.
Why Does This Work?
Why does this Top-Down, Jewelry-First approach make the packing process faster and less stressful? The reason is that we need some kind of organizing principle to guide our selections for packing. Jewelry makes for an ideal organizing principal. It is small and delightful to look at anyway. A lot of variety can be assembled in a small space so it is simpler to develop a big picture or point of view. You can move around pieces of jewelry on a tray much more easily than doing that with a week’s worth of clothing. A smaller set of items is more manageable and this helps keep overwhelm at bay.
Once your jewelry selection is complete and captured in photos, the hard part is over and you experience relief because you have a plan. You are no longer facing your entire closet. By curating your jewelry first, you have created a narrative for your trip wardrobe. This narrative limits (in a good way) the possibilities for the remainder of your packing. Now you will only need to consider what works within that narrative.
Bonus: it is at this point that your own brain starts working on building the rest of the story without you even realizing it. Subconsciously your brain begins helping you by filling in the details (‘closing the loop’) instead of nagging you with self-talk about how you really need to start thinking about p-p-packing.
Start early to give your brain the most time to help you.
Simple Packing Tools
Over the years, I have experimented with various tools for the jewelry selection part of the process—from a paper plate to a cupcake pan. Currently, I favor collecting my jewelry on a pillowcase lined tray. Then I move the pieces around to try out ideas.
For actual packing, I started with putting jewelry in a satin drawstring pouch. Some people use roll-up organizers. Now I love using my leather jewelry organizer, a stylish and practical hard-sided choice for protecting accessories even when tossed into a duffel bag.
Tip for packing chains: avoid tangling chains by sliding them into straws trimmed to fit.
Transform Your Next Vacation
I invite you to transform your next packing experience with this jewelry-first approach. I think you will find it makes the whole experience of travel much more enjoyable.
For an example of a travel capsule jewelry collection focusing on summer jewelry, take a look at our Seaside Collection. Handmade and designed for style and versatility, it features beachy earrings, travelers’ good luck talismans and more. For an example of a classic collection designed to support an all season capsule wardrobe visit our Signature Collection. A sprinkling of subtle gold and silver mixed-metal pieces in this group creates a bridge so you can easily wear silver and gold together.
Will you give this Jewelry First approach a try for your next trip? What’s your favorite packing strategy? I’d love to hear your travel tips and tricks!