How to Pack Light Like a Pro | Packing Tips and Tricks for World Travel

in 2021 we began traveling the world full-time now we are now in our 91st country and we've worked hard to perfect our packing techniques we're active Travelers meaning we change locations about once a week so packing well is very important to us so today we're going to remind you of our five packing principles talk about what's in our packs mention some recent changes and answer many of the questions that we've gotten over the years and just know we aren't here to recommend a bunch of useless products we only want you to learn from our experience and pack your bags better whether you're rolling your bag or carrying it and be sure to stay to the end CU we got some good stuff for you today so let's go we're John and beev and we are the retirement Travelers if you've just found us we are senior Travelers who are on a full-time Journey around the world we created a travel School series to help you become Savvy Travelers now this this is the fifth lesson so head over to our website and check out the others it's at retirement travelers.com we also have a travel store on our site so you can find many of these products easily if you wonder where we are in the world as we travel we keep our location updated on Instagram now we're currently in coochi India and we're heading to Sri Lanka and in a few weeks we'll be off to Africa as we travel we are in a constant state of perfecting our systems we've tried lots of different packing methods we've rolled our clothes we've stacked our clothes we've used packing cubes and we've used no cubes yeah we've carried hiking backpacks and we've carried travel backpacks we've tried Osprey Kelty uh Eastern Mountain and Peak design packs we've used the away away bigger carry-ons along with their companion day packs you know we've done carryon only and we've checked our bags as well I I think we've pretty much done it all probably the most embarrassing thing we've done since travel full time is to convince ourselves to bring a huge so gay baby a huge roller suitcase with us because well we were going to be gone a very long time now Midway through our first big leg we ditched them grabbed our backpacks again and boy has it made all the difference yeah you know obviously there are many many ways of packing just like there are many ways to travel but we've developed several principles that work for us in our active travel lifestyle and we think they could work for you I mean no matter what your age or your style of travel now we've spoken about these principles in a previous video but let's review them quickly here the first and most important principle for active Travelers is only your feet touch the ground now we are big Believers in carrying a backpack if you can now initially you feel like a hitchhiker on the side of the road but you get over that feeling pretty quickly and you realize that you're able to move around easier than when you're dragging a roller bag behind you we're always climbing broken escalators hopping on trains walking to our hotels walking up and down Hills and stairs and now all of this is easier when you have a backpack that is fitted properly not overpacked and worn correctly our second principle of good packing for active travel is to pack for only one week you know if you pack a week's worth of clothes you wear your things and you wash them you don't pack for every scenario okay you pack for practical experiences and not for all the wh ifs you know we're not going to fancy Banquets or Formal Affairs and really nobody cares what you wears the third principle for active travel is get over your stuff now we're talking about the things you think you need for a journey things you think you can't live without like several pairs of shoes lots of cosmetics and all of those useless travel gadgets really carry what works and is useful and ditch the rest the next principle for us in our active travel is to be very organized now we use packing cubes and we roll our clothes we think through every system from how we organize travel details to how we manage our charging station we know that being organized eliminates a lot of frustration on the road the better you pack the easier it is to pack back up and move on down the road it's about function and purpose and being light on your feet the last principle of active travel is to buy high quality items that are fast drying since we own so little the cost of a high quality item is not as concerning to us as it was when we had a closet full of clothes yes our raincoats cost $300 but we're expecting them to outlast us and we plan on being here a very long time having fast drying clothes makes it no problem when we need to wash in the sink and can we just say we see people wash their clothes in rivers and streams so washing in a nice clean hotel room is no big deal and recently someone asked us about becoming bored by our t-shirts and and I thought to myself we travel to the most incredible places on Earth boredom is never something we encounter you know our shirts are a conversation starter and I bet we've met 500 people that we would have never met without wearing them you know people either want to retire or they want to travel or they want to join the retirement Travelers Club they think we're part of the group and we are so so let me say thank you all for joining our group of travel enthusiasts we really appreciate all of you who have subscribed and Roo us on we're getting so many nice comments about our travel school so thank you so let's talk packing one of the biggest group of items and the thing we carry that weighs us down is camera and computer equipment we weigh all of our packs to see what they weigh I have 23 PBS in my big pack and 15 pounds in my small one my bigger one comes to about 16% of my body weight John has 26 pounds in his big pack and 16 pounds in the small one his big pack is about 14% of his body weight Al together we have 80 lbs which is more than we'd really like but we carry cameras equipment you know most of our camera equipment electronics are in our small bags our larger bags are just our clothes and stuff with no electronics you know the experts recommend that you carry no more than 20% of your body weight in a backpack you know we think 15% makes more sense for travelers in know our age of 29 now if we took no gear we'd be in this range and we think our packs would always feel light and manageable my computer is very heavy so when we have a long way to walk John grabs my small pack and carries it on one shoulder and puts his o over the other shoulder while his big pack is 14% of his body weight once he has both of the smaller ones and his big pack it comes to about 30% of his body weight okay for me I just look at this as a form of exercise I'm a long-distance Runner so I simply treat this as a way to build leg strength you know we want to be traveling like this up into our 80s and carrying our stuff just makes good sense to us and we know that people who do physical work live longer than people that are used to a comfy lifestyle so we look at it as a great opportunity to build muscle mass and make us stronger as we age so let's get going on some of the biggest questions we get first of all what packs do you carry both of our packs are ospre and we have the Far Point and the Fair View the men's and women's versions you know these are combination packs that have a large main pack and a detachable day pack they are 55 L combined now we don't attach them very often because we have to manage the Tech equipment in airports so we carry these like we said you know they can be attached to the back or carried on the front as well now this is the newly designed pack there are just a few inches shorter and than the previous versions now they're a bit wider also we like the new design very much and we've never had trouble fitting them into the overhead I would say without the day pack the bigger pack is more like carrying a 40 L now the newer design has many upgrades and we like all of them our Daypack is bigger and has Bigger Pockets yeah some awesome design changes by Osprey are your backpacks carry-on size uh yes you know for the most part now the only time we have an issue is when we're on a you know smaller planes some Asian airlines limit us to 7 kgrs which is about 15.4 lbs so we must check okay we've never had an issue carrying on with the major airlines and our detachable day pack is simply our personal item since you move so much do you dread travel days no not at all travel days are our favorite days I mean there's just something about the anticipation that we have to see a new place and and that's just really exciting to us going through airports and train stations are fun for us now we have organized packs and the process takes very little time to gather it all and pack it all up so it's really not an issue for us I have a bad back and can't carry a backpack what do you recommend you know first we get it okay not everyone can carry a backpack and many people just don't want to carry a backpack so our advice is that you know take more taxis and do more door-to-door service the point is still get out there and see the world and if you can only roll a suitcase just plan accordingly you know we see so many people struggle with suitcases on broken escalators or inability to lift them on the trains or overhead bins I often help people lift a bag and if you need help there are nice people out there that will help you just ask now the best thing you can do in this situation is to pack light now just because you're rolling doesn't mean you shouldn't Pack Light and make it as manageable as possible if they don't smile at you after they've helped you it means you've overpacked so be kind to your helpers so a good starting point is to stick to a carry-on size only it will help you limit your weight I think it's very rude to ask for help and with a bag and that is clearly overweight and is a danger for someone to lift it especially overhead what brand of shoes do you wear we both wear Hoka running shoes for our main shoe you know we love hokas and they are just so comfortable you know we've heard that hokas are also the most popular shoe for nurses so that should tell you something and I only run in Hocus now we also carry you know SHO shes that double as Beach shoes and dress up dress up okay uh Bev has rothy flats and I have allbird slip-ons what brand of clothing do you like now we have several items that are Patagonia my shorts John's pullover sweater and my zipper sweater they also make the best fast Dy teas and we carry these in long sleeve John wears Dunning shorts and pants now these are a high-end golf pant that stretches very well and he loves them don't you I love him he's worn cool pants in the past but he really loves Dunning more because they are lightweight and quick drying now we like arteric for outdoor wear we like features and bombas for socks and ex aicio for underwear my dress is Adventurer and our shirts of course are Priceless designer what are your tips for finding packing cubes well first we have the tripped brand on our website you know we like them a lot they are very lightweight they come in a variet iety of colors and they have held up very very well you know we have the extra large size and we found that four of these fit very well in our packs we use a smaller one for our cords and batteries but we really do love their products how do you wash your clothes we used to only book airbnbs with washers but since we've been staying in hotels we do our laundry at self-service laundries or we have it done at dropof laundries just Google this and make a note of it when you're in the planning stage if we can't find one we wash in the sink now we carry our own detergent so it's really no big deal do you ever have problems going through security uh yes now we have found that some countries just seem to be a little more diligent than others in the US the rule is if a tool is less than 6 Ines you can take it on if it's not a knife or scissors but in India if you have any size Allen wrench they will take it we had these teeny tiny little Allen wrenches that we needed for our cameras and they took them now in Lithuania they took a bar of Shaving soap uh they told us that it was no good no good that's exactly how he said it too now it was a solid so we think that they were just looking for something I've had my power strip uh taken in Dubai once in laia last year Bev's contact solution was rejected but they allowed us to go byy bottles and transfer them into little ones you know they told us that we could have had the big bottle if we had a letter from her eye doctor so keep that in mind if you have something that you need you know be had just run out of her small bottle and we just couldn't find the right size if we know ahead of time that we might have an issue we check a bag now in India we had to check because of the weight and we were glad we did because we don't think that our toiletry bags would have fared very well what about medications we carry prescription drugs and supplements for the entire leg and sometimes we buy prescription drugs while we're on the road we recently stocked up in India for eloquest my blood thinner and ematrix which Bev takes for migraines yeah we usually take all of these out of the packaging and put them into a zip lug bag and so far we've never been stopped or asked about our medications now we don't carry any narcotics or scheduled drugs mostly just cholesterol medications and blood thinners and you know this time we're pretty loaded down with malaria meds because we're heading to Africa what products do you have trouble finding while you travel the biggest thing we have trouble with is sunscreen now you can get sunscreen everywhere but it's hard to find the right size for planes we also want reef safe sunscreen and we look for one that won't stain our beautiful white t-shirts so we carry a sunscreen with us you know we love a brand called jacket and we have this on our website as well we also carry bug repellent and this time we are going to Africa and there is malaria so we do not want to risk that so these are two things we carry with us yeah overall all most brands are easy to find as we travel we never have trouble finding toothpaste or things like that now we struggle with over the- counter medications because they don't do all of the things that Our Brands back home do we're often expected to accept something that we know won't do the trick but if we have a cold or whatever we like having the brand that we trust so we carry a variety of items for situations like that what makeup does Bev carry oh my goodness this is a surprisingly common question I don't carry anything but some eyeshadow and mascara I have a small tube of lotion and I replace it as needed now name brand lotions and cosmetics are available in every country we've traveled to I think it's my age but I've learned not to care so much about what makeup I wear you know we have so much more going on in our lives that looking cute is not always high on my agenda so for me I throw on a hat and I'm pretty much done for the day and just a note I don't carry any makeup either solidarity baby do you have any items that aren't typical we always carry Ziploc freezer bags they are so versatile we carry a few gallon ones and a few courts yeah we also carry Ceda Summit grocery bags now these are versatile too we use them all the time and they have lasted for three years so we highly recommend them we carry true Earth lunder detergent now the these are the biodegradable strips that work great you know we do have a few uh shout wipes as well because our white t-shirts don't cover up all of my messiness no they don't we also use Apple Air tags to track our bags if if we've checked them now when we wait at the carousel we watch the app to make sure that it has arrived and we can usually see it as it starts its Journey to the Belt it just gives us another added layer of security and we use C to Summit dry sacks and we highly recommend these as well you know if you have a spill during a flight you can be assured that your entire pack isn't wet when you land this has saved us a few times yeah we also recommend the Ceda Summit neck pillow now this is the best out there you know right now I'm wishing we had a roll of black electrical tape to cover up all these little lights that they have in the hotel rooms it's like the TV or the phone or something always needs to be covered is there anything that you would like to have in your packs that you just don't have room for yes water shoes they're just a little bit too heavy and we've left them out what camera gear do you bring we've tried every setup for our camera equipment but this year we're trying an abbreviated version since iPhone 15s are so wonderful we've decided to ditch our large cameras and shoot on our phones as much as possible we also carry two GoPros we have a insta 360 and a small drone we also have the peak design graphite tripod we have DJI micro microphones and two Apple MacBooks for editing and writing and we both have airbuds and a power bank now this was a big decision to make because we're heading to Africa and we didn't want to get this wrong so we really wanted to think it out but I think we're pretty confident that we've made the right decision fingers crossed anything else yes be mindful that many countries require you to remove everything that is in your electronic you know carry-on and these belts require you to manage three or four trays at once they're often very hectic so the less you have to deal with the better John wears a TSA approved belt and he has never had to remove it so when we go through security that's a big help to us and I try to send be through first so she can start collecting everything in the chaos now it's chaotic in India they screen the men and women through different uh areas and different belts so we've had to manage our stuff alone you know we do the best we can but one of us always gets our bags sent through multiple times you know just keep your cool and know you're never going to win an argument when they try to take your things what is in your packs so let's talk about that um this has changed recently last year we packed a few warmer items because we were in Scandinavia and this year we anticipate only warm weather so we've removed our puffer jackets and our cold weather items now we didn't bring snorkeling gear on this leg but we probably will when we go to Asia in the fall because we're going to do some island hopping so this is our list of clothes I have seven designer t-shirts seven shorts two long pants one set of jammies one hat one golf shirt one raincoat one sweater seven socks and underwear one longsleeve tea one swim trunk two running shorts and tops one pair of compression socks one slipon pair of shoes one pair of running shoes one running hat a belt a wallet and an extremely fashionable fanny pack I have seven shirts Four Shorts two pants one PJ one hat one dress one raincoat one sweater seven socks and underwear one long sleeve tea one legging one swimsuit one swim short one cover up one pair of flats one hit pack one wallet and one pair of running shoes we have po posted the entire packing list on our website so click the link below in the description to see everything we bring with us in a recent video we went over our charging system and we thought we'd show this clip again it really changed how we're packing and consolidating our Electronics even if you aren't carrying a lot of gear it's still helpful so here it is the first item you need is a universal plug adapter any plug adapter will work for us we prefer this block system it works s great but there are others out there that give you Universal options the second piece we use is a power strip we use this because hotels around the world have plugs that are used so often that they have loose connections and your plug can fall out of the wall if you were connecting both a converter and a charger to the outlet this was very frustrating to us we searched long and hard for this power strip because we need a small one we only need one that accommodates two plugs and you'll see why in a moment this one has an extra wide space between the two and the cord wraps up in a way making for a condensed unit the importance of having a strip is that the Chargers can sit flat on the ground preventing them from falling off the wall the third piece you need is a charger a high-speed charger like this one this is the anchor 747 and it is fast enough to charge two laptops at the same time this charger has a place for four cords three C plugs and it USB plug most other ones we found all have USB only so what you do with all your electronics is set aside those charging blocks that come with it we don't have them and you don't need these things this charging block cost about $110 but it is well worth it it's safe for MacBooks and it's convenient it charges everything fast we throw everything into a dedicated packing Cube and we each keep up with our own Electronics like we said this is a system that was developed over many years and many mishaps we hope it helps you travel better and smarter so that's what's in our packs we hope this video has helped you plan for your own trip around the world let us know if you have any questions in the comments below and we'll see you next time be sure to hit subscribe and follow along on our retirement Journey around the world

Channel: Retirement Travelers

Views: 26,584

Keywords: How to pack like a pro, packing like a pro, how to pack for world travel, world travel packing, tips and tricks of packing, pack for world travel, packing tips and tricks for travel, packing light for travel, packing light for international travel, retirement travelers, packing principles, packing light for world travel, pack like a pro, how to pack light, how to pack light like a pro, world travel packing backpack, world travel packing tips and tricks, Packing tips 2024

Id: LY9S7zhdDVg

Length: 22min 53sec (1373 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 10 2024