Independent Traveler packing list

Some travelers jam two weeks' worth of gear in their bags for a long weekend. Others pack a bit too lightly and forget important things like medicine or passports. Savvy travelers strike the perfect balance and bring just what they need - with a little help from our list of road-tested packing tips, of course!

Packing Methods
When packing your clothes, you don't want to neatly fold them individually as you would in a dresser. If you do, they will crease when compressed. Here are a few alternatives:

Rolling Your Clothes
Backpackers swear by this method. Rolling works well with pants, skirts and sports shirts. Lay the item face down, fold back the sleeves and then roll from the bottom up.

Fold Clothes Together
Take two or more garments, for example trousers, and lay half of one pair on top of the other. Fold the one on the bottom over the pair on the top. Then take the other and fold it on the top. This gives each pair some cushion where you've folded it so it's less likely to crease or wrinkle in the folds.

What Not to Pack

The Bundle Approach
This ingenious method of packing, which we learned from Judith Guilford, co-founder of the Easy Going travel store and author of the "The Packing Book, " has now become our favorite. It's a bit difficult to explain without a demonstration, but we'll do our best. You need luggage that opens up and lays flat to do this. You will also need a flat, soft, pouch-like rectangular "core" with dimensions that are at least 1/2 to 3/4 the size of your luggage compartment. This can be a pouch filled with underwear or something similar.