"twin towers," techniques that ensure well-packed luggage, whether it
hangs, rolls, or rides on your back.
The Interlock
The theory behind the interlock, which works best with standard
suitcases and travel packs, is that each piece of clothing folds over
or is cushioned by another piece. It’s really quite simple:
1. Lay a pair of slacks or a skirt across an open suitcase from north to south, allowing some surplus to drape over each side.
2. Place a sweater from east to west, allowing arms to drape both east and west and tail to drape to the south.
3. Now flip the northern part of the slacks over the top of the
sweater, fold the sweater arms in over this, then fold the bottom of
the sweater and the southern part of the slacks or skirt over
everything. You’ve created a neat stack of clothing that provides
cushioning everywhere a wrinkle wants to be.
You can add as many garments to this construction as you wish. When
you’ve finished, fill in the corners and crevices with underwear,
socks, scarves, and so on. Place shoes heel down along the hinges of
your suitcase.
A quick aside about packing your shoes: they should never be empty.
They should always be stuffed with underwear, socks, a child’s shoe, a
purse-size travel umbrella. Otherwise, the hollows of your shoes are
just wasted space, and those small items are free to wriggle into
whatever crevice they please.
We all harbor fears that a customs official will fling open our
suitcase, revealing our Victoria’s Secret teddy or heart-dappled boxer
shorts to the airport community at large. Stuff them in a shoe and
he’ll never notice. Depending on how fancy you want to get, you can buy
cloth drawstring shoe bags, or you can simply place each shoe in its
own plastic shopping bag. But do pack shoes separately rather than as a
pair — the positioning possibilities are greater that way.
Rock and Roll
Rolling is an easy way to pack clothing, both light and heavy. It works
best for duffels and travel packs, but if your trip is casual, you can
roll garments for standard suitcases as well.
Let’s demonstrate with a T-shirt: Lay the shirt facedown on a flat
surface. Fold in the sleeves. Then, with the shirt still facedown,
begin to roll it up from the bottom hem. Smooth it as you go, so that
no wrinkles are folded in. The collar should wind up on the outside of
the roll.
Jeans are a natural for this process. So are dress slacks: Hold them
upside down, by the cuffs, and lay them out. Then roll from the cuffs
up. This technique even works for sports jackets: Fold the jacket in
half lengthwise, tucking the arms inside. Then begin at the top and
roll down.
Delicate garments should be placed on top of T-shirts or tissue paper
before being rolled. I’ve had great luck rolling a pique sundress by
filling the dress with a plastic dry-cleaning bag, backing and fronting
it with two more bags, then rolling it from the hem up.
Skirts can be done this way as well. Put a plastic dry-cleaning bag
inside the skirt to pad it, then either roll it or fold it in half
lengthwise over another garment to pad the crease, and then roll. Soon,
you’ll be able to roll anything.
Twin Towers
This is the way that most people put clothing into their luggage. Fold
your clothes and place them in the case in two neat stacks. If you know
your trip schedule, pile them chronologically — the first day’s outfit
on top, the second day’s clothes below that, and so forth. This will
eliminate the need to paw through everything to unearth that purple
polo shirt you meant to wear in the opening-day golf tournament. Fill
in around the edges and in the center with underwear and socks, bathing
suits, etc. Try to pack snugly so that things will not move around in
the suitcase. If it has interior straps that you can use to secure
clothing, use them.
Alternatively, you can roll your clothes and then stack them neatly
like cigarettes in a box. Again, if you lay them in so that the things
you plan to wear first are on top, you’ll have an easier time getting
to your gear.
The preceding was excerpted from Fodor’s How to Pack.
