Packing cubes: the essential tools of Team Carryon

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You may recall that I offered my 12 travel packing tips, a few years back and while they are still valid, it’s always cool to know that there are new developments on the airline baggage front.  It all began with the old fashioned plastic vacuum packs that you could store your clothes in and suction out the excess air with a vacuum cleaner.  Good times, right?

Now, fast forward a few years and the newest tool in efficient packing are packing cubes.  What are they, you ask?  They are small cloth cases with patches of netting that allow the clothes to breathe and sturdy zippers to contain them.

Let’s face it.  We are all guilty of over packing, and you can never fully appreciate what problems it causes until you arrive at your destination.  You rarely wear everything that you’ve packed, or you feel as if you didn’t pack enough.  By planning and thinking realistically, you can narrow down your choices based on what you plan to do on your vacation.

Learning to pack efficiently

In short, it means becoming better organized, and you can achieve that goal by using packing cubes.  They typically come in graduated sizes.  The smaller ones can hold your underwear or personal items, and the medium-sized ones can hold slightly bulkier items like socks, shorts, tank tops, and the larger ones can hold dresses, pants, swimsuits, etc.  Extra large cubes can hold sweaters or thin jackets for chillier weather.

Packing cubes typically cost at least 20 bucks for a set of 3 or 4. However, if you are on a strict budget, check out this four pc set from Ikea for 7.99.

Notice how much more you can pack using these cubes:

Photo courtesy: dumpaday.com

My travel friend, Khalif Hayes, prides himself in his ability to pack as little as possible when he travels. He is traveling the world as I type with ONE CARRY ON bag!! How does he do it? He uses packing cubes! Check out his video below:

What do you think, dear reader?  Will this make your travel life easier?  Do you plan to jump on the bandwagon and try them yourself?  Let us know in the comments!