Traveling requires a bit of planning, whether it be for a few nights or longer. All you need is to employ a couple of simple storage techniques to pack all you need, efficiently.

Create a Day by Day plan:

Over packing is for the rookie, and it may just cost you too much. How are you going to bring home souvenirs if your bag is already full to begin with? Always remember that there are laundromats in anywhere you go, and that there are some items you can buy while you are on a trip, ie clothes.

But before you start packing, know how you're going to be dressing when on a trip:

• You'll need these: Clean pair of socks, undershirts, and underwear for everyday.
• Shirts or dresses: two fewer than the total number of days in the trip—wear the same outfit on the flight back as you did on the flight out, save two days worth of clothing.
• Pants: a pair of jeans for every other day, slacks as needed.
• Shoes: two pairs of casual shoes (ie a pair of sandals and a pair of sneakers) and a pair of formal kicks.
• Toiletries: Bring everything in travel-size bottles and pack them per airport security regulations.
  

Always check the weather

Another rookie mistake of traveling is not checking the weather forecast for your destination. It is just an app click away seriously. Be prepared. You don't want to be bringing jackets for hot weathers or t-shirts for cold places.

To fold or to roll?

After you've picked out what you're wearing, here's the real challenge. How do you cram all of your stuff into the luggage? To fold? Or to Roll?

Folded clothes are less likely to wrinkle but take up more space. Rolled clothes will wrinkle if stored improperly but take up a fraction of the space as when folded. You can try both methods together. Fold the stuff you don't want to get wrinkled much, and roll stuff like underwear, or t-shirts.

Now the fun starts:

Here's how you do it:

• Lay your suitcase flat on its back, fully opened.
• Pack as many socks and undergarments into your shoes as will fit, then set the shoes in the bottom of the bag.
• On top of your shoes, lay down a layer of heavier rolled items—jeans, sweaters, etc.This prevents the rolls from coming undone during transit.
• If you have any fragile items that aren't being brought as carry-on, place them in the center of the bag on top of the heavy-roll layer to protect the items from breakage.
• The next layer should consist of t-shirts and undergarments, tightly packed to prevent unrolling.
• On top of them, place your folded items. This will allow easy access to them upon arrival for unfolding and hanging. You can also place these items in a dry cleaner bag to help prevent wrinkling.
• Cram your underwear, belts, socks, etc into any available nook or cranny to help stabilize the packing.
• Put your toiletry bag on top of the folded layer, then simply close the suitcase lid and you're done.
  

[WikiHow - Real Simple - NYT - Image: racorn]