Long distance travel requires lots of patience as well as meticulous planning. Often, it also means taking along a whole bunch of stuff.

This is very much true if you’re traveling overseas for a long duration, and feel the need to take along every conceivable item but for the kitchen sink. While this isn’t a problem in itself, lugging a lot of (heavy) stuff around is definitely not the way to go. Especially on a long international journey, which will have you in and out of planes, trains and automobiles regularly.

Well, would anyone want to carry more than they actually require?

As with any other complicated task, the key to packing lighter luggage requires being focused from the outset. We give you some tips that can help you pack and thus end up lugging around a lot less stuff.

Choosing outfits – The best way to optimize your attire and accessories is to lay out and pair up your outfit combinations that you can wear on your overseas tryst. This will help you avoid situations like having mismatched outfits in either combinations or numbers while also helping you with items you can mix and match effectively. After you have paired up as many outfit combinations that you think you’ll need, you can finalize those which go together well, that you can take with you and the pieces that should be left home.

Packing cubes are an effective way of pairing like items together. They condense your items down considerably to save space and thus stay a lot more organized. And always roll up stuff like sweaters, underwear and so on.

Choosing footwear: Shoes are a big concern for most travelers. Most of us want different pairs to suit different occasions, ending up in adding a lot of weight and bulk to our luggage. The best way to avoid packing in too much is to choose a few simple and diverse pairs that are enough to go well with the rest of your attire. Recommended are a pair of tennis shoes and some dressy flats, or a pair of heels. Going with neutral and solid colors would be wise.

Keep tabs on the weather: Checking up on the weather right before your trip is one of the best ways to avoid overpacking. Just because it can get very chilly in the evenings doesn’t mean that it will. Once you get a proper update on the weather, you can choose and discard items accordingly.

Erring on the side of caution: Most of us pack in extra stuff just because we might end up needing it. But most of the time, those extra eventualities we plan for never end up happening. The result is that we end up taking too much stuff along. However, by removing out these items, you can save on important luggage space. Keep in mind that you can always buy stuff in emergencies if you end up really needing them.