How I went from terrible packer to travel capsule wardrobe expert

I used to be a really bad packer. I had a tendency to shove in anything I think might be useful and almost always arrived having forgotten something vital (no of course I didn’t make a list…!) But things have changed. These days I manage to put together a tiny travel capsule wardrobe for every trip. Here’s how I did it.

My worst travel packing ever

A particular low was when I went on a business trip to Belgrade, Serbia for a conference. I did on that occasion plan out what I was going to wear and had the outfits I needed for three days. 

Just as I was leaving, however, I spotted a tupperware pot of soup I’d made but not had time to finish eating. Into the case that went too — after all, I reasoned, I might get hungry (and not be able to satisfy my hunger at the confidence or any of Belgrade’s many excellent cafes and restaurants). 

Well, sloppy food in plastic boxes and air pressure changes are not a happy combination. I didn’t discover that immediately, going straight from dropping off my bag at the hotel to the conference then on to a gala dinner and a lively bar on the bank of the Sava. 

No, it was only the next morning when, struggling to put my hangover and lack of sleep behind me and get off to the conference, I put my hand into the suitcase to find that day’s outfit and encountered … wet sloppiness. 

Thee was no way I could wear the smart Hobbs dress I’d planned, covered as it was with damp smears and chopped vegetables. Instead I had to make do with the considerably less smart trousers and Breton top I’d brought for the flight home. 

Weighed down

That should have been a useful lesson, but it wasn’t one I learned straight away. Only a few weeks later I flew off to Chisinau, Moldova for a week, carting with me a case that weighed the entire 22 kilo allowance, having chucked in a bottle of wine and a small pair of dumbbells at the last minute. 

Things got a bit better after my daughter was born, as at least I had to pare back on unnecessary things for myself to make room for all the baby paraphernalia. 

Still, I remember making the return journey from Odesa via Chisinau to Bucharest with myself and her pushchair laden down with bags (including one containing a large plastic potty) and trailing helium balloons she’d refused to leave behind. 

Then there was the travel capsule I made for our trip to Tirana. It was small, but so dull I had to do an emergency intervention to spice it up.

My first great travel capsule wardrobe

But on a 2019 trip to northern Italy, Slovenia and Croatia, I took on the challenge of packing for the two of us in a single case. That meant I’d be able to save money on the flight, and that on our overland journey from Venice down to Rijeka I’d only have the one suitcase, plus two small pieces of hand luggage, to manoeuvre. 

This necessitated a lot more planning than my usual ‘shove everything into the suitcase and hope for the best’ approach, but it was well worth it. 

Since then I’ve never looked back and I now regularly travel with both of our travel capsule wardrobes in a single carry-on. 

How to create a tiny travel capsule wardrobe

Here are the steps I take: 

Step 1

Analyse. Where am I going? What will I be doing there? What will the weather be like? I use the answers to these questions to make a list of what outfits I’ll need. 

So, for our most recent trip the answers were: 

Where am I going? Corfu Town, Saranda

What will I be doing there? Traveling, beach, city, cafes, shopping, historic sites 

What will the weather be like? Mid 30Cs

That meant I’d need: a comfortable outfit for the plane and two other travel days, some outfits for the city, bathing costume and beach cover-up.

Step 2

Take out everything weather appropriate and try it on. At this stage anything that doesn’t look good / feel comfortable gets discarded. 

Step 3

Make it into outfits. Requires a full length mirror and (for me at least) plenty of time and patience. Eventually I made some outfits out of separates and selected some dresses. Next I tried these out with shoes, handbags and other accessories. 

Step 4

Prepare. Wash anything that’s dirty, mend any holes or tears, iron the clothes, polish the shoes, etc. 

Step 5

Whittle down. Over the next few days (and when packing) I discarded some dresses and t-shirts to make my travel capsule smaller. That included an extra t-shirt I decided I didn’t need and a silk dress that I could only have worn in the evenings.

Eventually I ended up with a 12-item capsule wardrobe for the entire trip. 

More posts about style, beauty and travel packing

How to guides: 

I cut my closet in half after an international move: here’s how I did it 

How I rescued my boring travel capsule wardrobe for Tirana

Some examples of tiny travel capsule wardrobes: 

My 12 item capsule wardrobe for Corfu and Saranda 

My 14-item travel capsule wardrobe for Slovenia 

Spring travel capsule for 10 days on the Adriatic riviera  

Shopping: 

My massive Bucharest thrift haul

Hanging out at the malls in Astana 

Beauty tips: 

4 painful and humiliating things that happened to me in Central Asian beauty salons  

Personal grooming in Central Asia (if it’s hairy, wax it)