Packing your suitcase: 10 steps to fit everything in

It’s the night before your flight and on your bed, there is an open suitcase and a big pile of clothes, shoes, accessories and random things that you’ve decided to bring on your holiday. The pile is about five times bigger than the content of your suitcase. You’ve tried folding your clothes. You’ve tried rolling them. You’ve tried martial arts techniques on them. They’re all creased but they still won’t fit inside. Does this scenario sound familiar? Then these suitcase packing tips are for you!

1. Make a checklist of everything you need to bring on your all-inclusive holidays and gather the right quantities of undies, socks and other items on your list.

2. Think of your luggage as a puzzle. You can fill shoes with socks and stuff knickers in the cups of your bras, which will also prevent them from being deformed.

3. If you don’t want to crease your clothes, forget everything everyone has ever told you about interfolding and rolling them. Open your mind to a new concept: bundle wrapping.

4. Put your underwear and other small items in a plastic bag or pouch so that they form a small, tubular pillow around which your other clothes will be wrapped.

5. Put your clothes in the right order: from large and prone to creasing to small and less likely to crease.

6. Take the largest item, for example a jacket, and lay it out flat on a spacious working surface such as your bed or desk. Most clothes will go face up, except for tailored jackets. Let the sleeves of jackets lie most naturally and eliminate wrinkles before proceeding to the next step.

7. Imagine a vertical line through the middle of your first item. When placing the second largest item on top, make sure this line runs through the middle of this piece of clothing as well, but put it in the opposite direction to maintain an even thickness.

8. Continue stacking your clothes in such a way that they are as smooth as possible. When you’re done, put the pouch on top where you were imagining a vertical line.

9. Wrap each piece of clothing around the pouch carefully before moving on to the next piece of clothing. Take garments with sleeves by the shoulder and let the sleeve follow the most natural direction. This means that the sleeve may be wrapped around the bundle several times. The sleeves of tailored jackets usually hang straight down and will align with the vertical axis of the bundle.

10. When you put the final bundle of clothes in your suitcase or bag, use the straps to tie it down securely so that the bundle won’t fall apart during transport.