3 rules that actually work
The Google search with the question “How to pack your bags?” yields
789 million entries. With these 3 shelves you pack your suitcase efficiently.
Packing suitcases is and always will be very individual. One person swears by rolling up all the clothes, the next packs as smoothly as possible, preferably with a layer of tissue paper in between.
A Berlin factory owner couple, Martha and Karl Lemke, who became famous for their love of the Bauhaus style and left the wonderful Mies van der Rohe house in Berlin’s Alt-Höhenschönhausen district to posterity, answered this question in a typically minimalist way: “We only take our credit cards with us and buy what we need on the trip.”
The following 3 rules work for all cases:
1. the longer, the earlier
Smart packing starts in the days before departure. If you are planning a trip of a week, or longer, the recommendation is to start packing three days before.
Arrange all the clothes and other utensils you want to take with you outside the suitcase according to principles such as: Business, Elegance, Beach or Sport.
The next step is to edit, edit, edit. Try to reduce your original planning by fifty percent from day 3 to packing the night before.
Look for maximum combinability in colours, materials, heel heights, etc. and do away with all dresses, trousers, jackets, etc. that cannot be combined.
Time is your friend: a suitcase that is only packed the evening before a long journey is sure to contain far too much. 2.
2. business hand luggage on call
For shorter business trips, you should always have an extra business suitcase in hand luggage size ready.
This is where you store the things you will need 100 per cent of the time: Important medicines, cosmetics, stockings, socks, nightwear, lingerie, neutral business shirts or blouses to change into in case of a mishap at breakfast or lunch, ties, cufflinks, pocket squares as well as business shoes that go with almost any outfit, charging cables and USB sticks.
If you travel like a professional and don’t want to miss out on sports even on shorter business trips, a minimal set of sportswear should also be included in your luggage. We also recommend a skipping rope for quick fitness sessions everywhere.
This way, before business trips, you only have to worry about the clothes you want to wear on the trip itself and you are sure not to have forgotten anything essential.
This simple trick saves nerves and late-night packing.
3. support the local dry cleaner
Unless you’re going to be in a different place every day, it’s worth taking just a few items of clothing and using the services of most hotels, which often offer a 24-hour laundry and dry-cleaning service.
If you are staying in a B&B or hotel without this service, the owners or reception can usually recommend a good dry cleaner nearby.
