The greatest part of the success of minimalist travel (see my just-published guide on the topic!) is
just making the commitment. And once you’ve gotten over that hump, the rest is
essentially details and tricks.
Of those details, some of the most
sophisticated are around figuring out how to pull your things together in a way
that’s compact and organized. Fitting it all in a small space, and being able
to find what you need later, quickly, even in the dark. Your bag should be as
much a pleasure in the hotel room as it was zipping through the airport.
Folding vs. rolling
If you follow the various blogs and YouTube videos on
this topic, you are probably aware of one of the central controversies in one-bag
travel: rolling versus folding. Folding is how we typically put our clothes
away in our closets at home. Advocates of folding clothing in a suitcase
sometimes suggest that thin pieces of tissue paper or even the plastic bags
from dry-cleaning services can be inserted between items to prevent wrinkling.
On the other hand, advocates of the rolling method suggest that you can fit
more clothing into a small space by rolling each item separately. For example,
folding a T-shirt in half right down the middle and then, starting at the
bottom, rolling it up tightly.
The bundling method
My position on this controversy? Neither folding nor rolling. Rather, I am an
enthusiastic advocate of the bundling method. The bundling method
takes a bit of practice. Briefly, lay out a long sleeve shirt on the bed or
other flat surface. Then, lay out a 2nd shirt with the shirt tail
pointing in the opposite direction of the first shirt’s tail. So if the tail of
the first shirt is closer to you and the collar is away from you, placed the
collar of the 2nd shirt on top of the first shirt collar but with
the 2nd shirt’s tail away from you.
After alternating shirts in this
manner, lay jeans or other pants down on the pile with waist band in the middle
of the pile and the legs of the shirt pointing straight off to the right or to
the left. So at this point we are forming something of a “plus sign” with the
pants on top of the shirts.
Finally, continue the process with any shorts. An
essential element of the bundling method is the “core.” The core is a small
dense bundle of clothing around which you tightly wrap the other items, one by
one, working from the inside out. This core, for example, might be a pair of
flip-flops, or your socks wrapped up tightly in a couple pair of underwear. If
you are packing more than one pair of shoes (not recommended), you might make
good use of those shoes by stuffing socks and underwear inside them.
Personally, I roll up underwear and socks in the bathing suit and use that as
my core.
Place the core in the center of your pile of clothing, and – piece by
piece – wrap each item of clothing around that core. You end up with a tight
bundle of clothing, with dress shirts towards the outside of the bundle, a
process which eliminates any sharp folding, and minimizes wrinkling of dress
shirts. This is perhaps the biggest advantage of bundling over folding or
rolling.
If you had any trouble following my description of all this, you might check out this
video or (my favorite) review this PDF
to more easily understand the bundling method.
Get more hacks and tips my guide to 1-bag travel at Amazon!
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