Why packing cells are a game changer!

Packing cells had been selling like hot cakes here in the Travel Store, but I had yet to personally catch up to the revolution. I thought they were really just for people who are totally organised - and even a little OCD! Then I tried them.

I hosted a three-week trip to Italy and decided to find out what the fuss was all about.

It turned out this was an ideal trip to try them as we were packing our luggage and moving every two or three days. Usually I would need a half hour (at least) to do a repack after three days in a hotel. Not with packing cells!

Here are 8 reasons why I like to use packing cells

1. Easy to find things

I take four or five different sizes and colours (I now have several sets!) and in one I pack underwear, another has my leggings/pants/shorts, another has tops/tunics and in another I might have dresses, a skirt or maybe a cardigan and a light jacket. It depends on where I’m going of course.

2. So easy to pack a suitcase

How I pack is I lay my clothes on the bed a few days before I leave (in the spare room!) so I can then see what I’ve got, what I need to add, what needs washing to join the holiday, and which items I am going to pair together.

Then when I have culled down (jump over to Blogger at Large to see my 6 tips for how to pack light here >>) I pop them into their appropriate cell. Then they simply fit into my suitcase like a jigsaw and being squishy I can add my hair straighteners or a multiboard (I take one universal adapter plug a multiboard to charge everything at once) and they are cushioned by the clothes.

3. Easy to unpack in hotels and cruise ships

It is so quick and easy to unpack into your hotel drawers or cruise ship and not have to live out of your suitcase. Just pop them in the drawers and you can put your suitcase away.

4. Pair outfits together

The other day I whizzed to Hawkes Bay for my sister's birthday weekend and packed my Saturday outfit in cell and my Sunday outfit in another. You could do this with things like your gym wear, your conference clothes by day, your party outfit!

5. Weather cells

If you're travelling between hot and cold climates they're handy for keeping your lighter clothes in one coloured set of cells and warmer things like long pants, thermals, etc in another colour.

6. Easy packing with kids

I gave my sister-in-law some when they visited us from the Cayman Islands so she could see at a glance which child's clothes were in which packing cell.

7. Easy to declare items at customs

If you've bought things you need to declare, use a packing cell to keep them all together and you can just grab out the one bag to show the customs officials.

8. Overweight luggage

This came in from a reader and I love it, if you get to check in and your luggage is overweight, it's easy to take one cell out.

What do you think? Have I converted you?? :D 

See the full range of Packing Cells here >>