How I Packed for Four Weeks of Travel (in Four Different Countries!)
As a 3-million-mile flyer, you can imagine the number of suitcases I have packed. Despite my love of travel, packing can be a nightmare—and my family can attest that our attic is a graveyard of failed suitcases, including suitcases purchased in foreign countries because I bought too much to bring home in the over-filled suitcase I arrived with.
I’m not alone. A pre-Covid survey by OnePoll found that 65% of Americans have packing anxiety, and 62% overpack.
Now that it’s 2022, and I will be on the road in four countries for four weeks, I am determined to mend my ways. My previous modus operandi was “be prepared,” and “bring all my favorite things.” Granted, I always looked put together, but the ins and outs of hotels, trains, buses, airplanes, and taxis with too many suitcases were inevitably awkward and time-consuming. This time—a working trip to Turkey, Greece, Portugal and Spain—I’m going to take one suitcase, and here’s my plan for four weeks on the road.
I will be running two culinary tours—one in Turkey and one in Portugal—plus a week in Greece planning a new culinary tour for 2023, so I need to look professional and presentable. Even my colleague Abby, who travels with a backpack, agrees that four weeks of presentable and professional clothing in one suitcase is a challenge.
The solution I’ve landed on: dresses.
I’ve brought 10 dresses to wear with tights, boots, sweaters, and extra-thin down jackets. I like this combo because I can easily mix and match the different elements for endless combinations of outfits.
How do I get it all to fit? I used packing cubes for the tights, scarves and, of course, for lots of underwear. The sweaters and extra thin jackets go on top of the dresses (on hangers). I divided the 10 dresses into two piles, put plastic dry cleaning bags over each, and rolled the two piles in the suitcase.
After traveling for 24 hours, I’ve unpacked in Antalya, Turkey. The dresses are unwrinkled, and since they’re already on hangers, there is no fussing with the connected hotel hangers that drive me nuts. Everything else is in a packing cube and stays that way, tidy and easy to use.
So far, so good. While there are many miles to go before I sleep in my own bed again, I have a good feeling that this is my new travel normal.
Happy travels,
Sara
P.S. Scroll down to learn how you can join fellow food lovers for a weekend in Vermont this summer!
Comment Below: What’s one item you always pack when you travel?
Do you have a favorite pair of shoes you wear on vacation? A travel pillow for the plane? Tell us about your must-have accessory for travel!
Global Recipe: Black-Eyed Peas and Wild Greens with Garlicky Yogurt
This hearty vegetarian meal takes culinary inspiration from Turkey! This recipe was presented to us by Chef Ana Sortun during one of our culinary tours. You’ll love the garlicky yogurt sauce—you may just start putting it on everything!
Insider Travel Tip: An Unexpected Packing Necessity
One thing never to leave home without is a hot water bottle. If you’re like me and easily get cold, a hot water bottle saves the day. Water can be boiled in the hotel room in the pot for tea, and even a small hot water bottle goes a long way. Consider it, even if you’re traveling to a warm weather spot….the air conditioning can be just as cold as a brisk Anatolian wind.
Spend a Weekend in Vermont, July 15-17, 2022
See and taste Vermont as you never have before. Join us for behind-the-scenes access to a world class brewery and cheese producer, and meet the passionate grain growers, millers and bakers powering the grain revival in this beautiful area of the northeast.