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8 Essential Packing Tips for Long Term Travel

Home / Packing / 8 Essential Packing Tips for Long Term Travel

Jenn Mitchell, Updated September 14, 2020

Packing tips for long term travel
Photo by Jenn Mitchell
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and buy, SheBuysTravel may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you.

Packing for a long trip can seem like a daunting task, but it’s certainly not impossible nor do you need to include your entire closet. In fact, you can pack light enough for carry-on only travel, which comes in handy if you’re visiting many places during your trip. Traveling for more than a month? These 8 essential packing tips for long term travel are for you.

8 Packing Tips for a Long Trip

I’ve traveled to over 19 countries and 34 states. Through my travels, I’ve learned to pack light and I’ve passed my tips onto my kids as well. We all travel with carry-on bags even for extended travel. With these packing tips, you will be traveling like an expert in no time.

8. Is carry-on travel an option for you?

There are pros and cons to traveling with carry-on luggage. It can be a hassle to carry all of your bags, but it’s not nearly as stressful as showing up at your destination WITHOUT your bags. If you are changing planes or taking a lot of flights, carry-on may be the best option. If you have only one non-stop flight, checking bags may be a fine choice. Give careful consideration to what will work best for your family.

8 Essential Packing Tips for Long Trips
All I need for 5 weeks in Europe! Photo by Jenn Mitchell

7. Consider your destination and activities

Pack only the clothes you will use based on the activities you’ll be doing on your trip. If you’re exploring cities, perhaps a more fashionable wardrobe with a rolling suitcase will work for you. If you’ll be hitting the great outdoors with hikes, biking, etc, activewear and backpack may be a better option. Take a look at the weather forecast for your destination. Weather.com is a good resource. Since you won’t see the weather for your entire trip, research the average climate for the dates of your travel.

Keep adventures in mind with these 8 Essential Packing Tips for Long Trips
We keep our adventurous nature in mind when we pack. Photo by  Jenn Mitchell

6. Edit your wardrobe

There is often a wide gap between what you THINK you need and what you ACTUALLY need. Each of my family members takes a turn laying out their clothes. Then I challenge them to cut the wardrobe in half. One week’s worth of clothes should be all you need. Just plan to do laundry at least once every 5-7 days. Having clothes you can hand wash that dry quickly can help you pack even lighter.

SheBuysTravel Tip: Check out this Ultimate Packing List for Family. 

8 Essential Packing Tips for Long Trips
Pairing down to pack lighter. Photo by Jenn Mitchell

5. Don’t overpack shoes

Shoes can be the biggest challenge for a long term trip. Choose versatile shoes that match your clothing choices. I always pack no more than 3 pairs.

  • Sneakers or hiking shoes
  • Sandals (warm climate), Boots (cold climate)
  • Dressy flats
Packing tips for Long Term Travel
Sneakers are a must-have for hours of sightseeing, especially when it’s chilly. Photo by Jenn Mitchell

4. Use Organizational Tools

My top choice is packing cubes. These cubes help compress clothing as well as keep your bag organized. I typically divide my cubes by clothing type like bottoms, tops, undergarments, etc. A great option for families is to have different color cubes for each family member. Smaller cosmetic or zip lock bags are good for organizing electronic accessories like power cords, chargers, adapters, etc. I also love a hanging toiletry bag.

8 Essential Packing Tips for Long Trips
Purple packing cubes for me and blue for my daughter. Photo by Jenn Mitchell

3. Roll your clothes

A friend of mine taught me this trick when we were in college. Rolling your clothes not only saves space but helps minimize wrinkling. It helps the kids pack their own stuff as they think rolling clothes is way more fun than folding!

8 Essential Packing Tips for Long Trips
My daughter expertly rolled her clothes for our trip. Photo by Jenn Mitchell

2. Keep your valuables close.

Remember the saying “Don’t leave home without it?” These are the items you absolutely do not want to lose. Especially if you are checking your bag, keep all valuables and anything you might need during your flight in your carry on. Even if we are carrying on luggage, we typically have many of these items in our smaller, under-the-seat bag.

  • Travel documents/tickets/Passport
  • Medications/motion sickness remedies
  • camera equipment
  • laptop/tablet/phone
  • fine jewelry (although I advise leaving this at home and traveling with costume jewelry instead)
8 Packing Tips for Long Term Travel
We always keep our valuables with us. Photo by Jenn Mitchell

1. Give your stuff a road test.

If at all possible, finish packing nearly everything you’ll need a few days before you travel. This gives you the opportunity to test it out before you leave.

If it’s too heavy carrying it around the house or rolling it down the driveway, it will be much worse in the airport or through a busy train station. It’s time to lighten up! There are likely still a few items that can stay home.

Packed any full-size bottles of shampoo, lotion, etc? Ditch them for travel size containers and buy a few items along the way.

8 Essential Packing Tips for Long Trips
My son taking his luggage for a road test. Photo by Jenn Mitchell

Have you been on a long term trip? We would love to hear how you packed for your family!

Join our Private FB Group for more travel inspiration and tips! JOIN HERE

8 Packing Tips for Long Term Trips

Filed Under: Packing, Travel Tips

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Liam Carr says

    November 19, 2019 at 4:58 am

    Well travelling to Dubrovnik there are lots of things which you can plan in your day trip as lots of places where you can visit with your friends, families and loved ones as you can plan your private boat tours in Dubrovnik which is most common thing.

    Reply
  2. Playa Manuel Antonio says

    September 7, 2018 at 5:35 am

    COMMENTDuring the travelling the most important and boring work is packing as lot of confusion is there what to pack and what to not pack .You can easily solve this problem by deciding the packing according to the destination or I say location.

    Reply
  3. Kim says

    September 18, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    Amazing tips! I especially love the one about rolling your clothes. This can certainly make the entire trip more enjoyable. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  4. Christine Tibbetts says

    September 5, 2017 at 11:45 am

    Sensible seems so obvious—–but packing with your tips would help even frequent travelers.

    Reply

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