Lifestyles
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Packing It In
By Elizabeth Levy Malis
“Have you packed yet?” It’s the question most people ask when someone they know travels afar. It’s the question we ask ourselves as the eve of departure approaches.
Some people pack far ahead of time. Others wait until the very last minute. Still, whether your destination requires a trip across the country, the ocean or the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, packing can be a chore –– and an art.
The most common mistake remains taking too much.
“If you have time to plan in advance, put out everything you want to pack –– and take away half of it,” says Phyllis Blankman, co-owner of Towson-based Passenger Stop, passengerstop.com, a complete travel store. It offers travel-related programs including “How to Pack.” Its best-selling items are security pouches and undercover security devices.
As for packing trends: “Everything new in luggage today hangs up,” reports Blankman, citing packing aides like hanging organizers for toiletries. Another style features larger pockets for undergarments and accessories. “It can be pulled out, hung up and used as a chest of drawers,” says Blankman.
State-of-the art packing products abound. Catalogues like Travel Smith (travelsmith.com) and Magellan’s (magellans.com) provide good ideas to make traveling easier, including wrinkle-free clothes.
Yet sometimes the best ideas come from talking to recent travelers.
Newlyweds Amy Burke and Ian Friedman who married in early September traveled to Italy for their Honeymoon. Burke works at Profiles Inc. as senior account executive handling public relations, marketing and events. Friedman begins work soon with a downtown law firm.
“Last time I went to Italy, I took a pair of jeans and underwear in a backpack,” says Friedman of that college voyage.
Now things have changed, especially since his new wife is “really good at packing.” Burke knows to make sure everything is folded up neatly. She knows to use every nook and cranny.
Her overall approach to packing? “You underpack,” stresses Burke. “There’s nothing worse than overpacking; you have to schlep it around.”
But she has no intention of skimping. “It is my honeymoon so I want to look good,” says Burke, who includes “cute going-out tops and dresses” along with travel staples. A self-described “very type-A personality,” she finds room for Band-Aids, lint brush, antibacterial soap and a Tide pen, too.
Fashion-wise, Burke keeps things simple. “My wardrobe is made up of solid colors because they’ll go with anything.” For her trip, she picks long, slender, form-fitting cotton T-shirts in three colors: white, black and brown. “They’re always comfortable, and so light for traveling. It’s so easy to dress them up or down,” she says. In addition, Burke packs tank tops with built-in bras. One less thing (bras) to pack.
For the honeymoon, Burke’s gone shopping at Victoria’s Secret. Also, she’ll bring along “some lovely shower gifts” of nightwear and lingerie. For a beach excursion, she purchased bandeau-style and halter-top one-piece bathing suits. “I’m so excited one-pieces are in style again,” says Burke, adding, “I’ve had skin cancer, so I’ll be sitting in the shade, but I still want to look good. ”
Burke zeros in on accessories, too. “A pair of Sloan Brown –– (designed) earnings, which are long, dangly and black –– which is perfect because I wear black a lot.” Plus, a bottle of her favorite Kate Spade perfume that smells like honeysuckles. Adds Burke, “I don’t get on a plane without a hoody because I get cold.”
Overall, she keeps one thing in mind. “I’ll pack light. I’m really so excited about doing some shopping (in Italy). I want to leave room for a new leather purse or shoes.”
Like his wife, Friedman plans to acquire some Italian leather goods. “Maybe a new pair of driving gloves,” he says. Yet, in contrast to his spouse, packing is not his forte. “I’m not a good packer,” he smiles. “I’m not afraid to wear wrinkled clothes.”
Still he tries to look “presentable.” (After all, he’s on his honeymoon, too.) He tends to favor blues and greens as wardrobe colors. He’ll pack the same “comfortable shoes I wear every day: New Balance 992 tennis shoes. I have them in blue and green.” Along with khakis, jeans, dress pants, T-shirts and Polo shirts, Friedman packs “linen pants because they are so comfortable.” Also, Bedhead hair product gel and Giorgio Armani cologne round out the contents of his suitcase. “My overall goal is not to forget anything,” he sums up.
Like Friedman, Justin Marksamer packed for his honeymoon. But Marksamer needed another set of luggage, too, because he traveled to attend his wedding and the activities surrounding that auspicious event.
His now-wife Milana and her family lived in Seattle at the time of their summer marriage. With nuptials held at the Seattle Tennis Club on Lake Washington, “I could see Bill Gates’ house through the trees,” says Marksamer, who works as Web master for the College of Notre Dame.
His fashion style favors “earth tones, although I’m trying to expand,” says Marksamer, who leans toward the “trendy Banana Republic look.” For his wedding, his tuxedo was already on the West Coast, but he packed for a week of wedding festivities, including the rehearsal dinner, a hike on Mt. Rainier and a round of golf.
The challenge remained the ever-changing Seattle weather, which “can range from 60 degrees to 80 degrees. It’s difficult to pack for weather that is different every day,” says Marksamer; but he remained undaunted. Past multiple trips cross-country to visit his true love paid off in the packing department. “By default, I’m a skilled packer.”
Tips from Marksamer: Pack as tight as possible and double up clothes on hangers (pants and shirt on one hanger). He adds, “I wear dress shoes on the plane so they don’t get beaten up in the suitcase.”
When it comes to shoes, Karen Marino used another system while packing up her family for a 10-day Caribbean jaunt aboard Princess Cruise Line. With vacation activities that included everything from formal evenings to snorkeling, the need for various shoes multiplied. So Marino designated one small suitcase for just shoes.
For everything else, she packed a large suitcase, medium suitcase, garment bag, beach bag, and backpacks for each family member, including two children, ages 7 and 13. “I tend to overpack because I’m never sure what I’ll need,” says Marino. “I wasn’t very efficient because I didn’t have a (airline) limit.”
Yet she showed packing smarts. For her own wardrobe, she chose a black-and-white color scheme for easy mixing and matching. Also, her new “skirt-tini” bathing suit worked well for all-day wear aboard ship. One final shoe tip: Marino purchased Merrell Aqua Sports waterproof shoes that serve double duty as tennis shoes and water shoes; one less thing (water shoes) to pack.
The Marino family booked the cruise in celebration of their daughter’s bat mitzvah. They traveled with five other Maryland families, all friends: The Braverman family, the Galuardi family, the Stine family and the Moskovich family boarded the ship, some of their children celebrating a bat mitzvah year, too.
Nancy Braverman, a media specialist at Chatsworth School, served as the official packing ringleader. “Nancy scoured the Internet for what to bring on a cruise and sent out packing lists to everyone,” says Marino. Braverman recommends using cruisecritic.com as a resource for suggested packing lists and more. “It has things I’d never think of to bring.” Of course, Dramamine remains one of them.
Fashion-wise, Vera Bradley designs ruled, especially with the cruising families’ teenage daughters, and sometimes their Moms. “It’s big with the 13-year-old set,” says Marino, who treated herself to a Vera Bradley backpack for hands-free day-trips to ports of call. Vera Bradley eyeglass cases, cosmetic bags and purses in every shape and size found a place in many suitcases as well.
No matter where you travel, packing prowess packs a punch.
