I’m not just going to tell you about the product I will never travel without again… I am going to share with you a love story on this item. You may choose not to purchase your own, and I won’t judge.. maybe you don’t need some organization and sanity in your life. But at least you will know where I stand when it comes to my packing cubes.
See Through
Not all packing cubes are mesh and see through. If you are purchasing a new set of packing cubes, go with the mesh “lid”. When I pack I always roll the clothes before placing them inside. It makes it easier for us to see what is in the bag and easily get it out without making a mess of the rest of the clothes. I have a video at the end of me packing clothes inside some cubes.
Separate The Clothes
For years I have carried all the clothes for my kids and myself in one large roller bag. With the packing cubes it is so much easier for us to be able to get to our own clothes. Looking through the mesh top you can see which cube is yours and not disturb the rest of the clothes. I don’t know if your kids are anything like mine, but pulling one shirt out of their dresser results in Mount Saint Clothing Pile on their floor. I do NOT want this while traveling… cuz I can assure you it won’t be their cute little under roos that hit the floor of the airport in front of everyone on our flight… it’s gonna be Mama’s.
We took them camping and they were as necessary as a roasted marshmallow.
Unpacking At The Hotel Is Easier
When we use the packing cubes and get to our hotel I give the kids their cube and tell them to pick a drawer. They take their cube and put it in the drawer. We leave the clothes in the cube until they are ready to wear them. Because the clothes are easy to see and are rolled they don’t usually make such a monster mess of everything so it stays far neater… maybe I should roll their clothes at home… or try packing cubes in their own dresser. Ok, I may be getting a little out of hand on my love affair with these things!
When we are leaving our hotel the kids place their cube back in the bag and we are packed up.
Laundry Bag
The set of packing cubes I am proud to own has small laundry bags that fit perfectly in their cube. So each of us places our dirty laundry into our own bag and when we are ready to leave we place those bags back in our cube or just toss them into the suitcase. When we get home I just take the small laundry bags into the laundry room.
Unpacking At Home is A Breeze
When we travel I always err on the side of have an extra set (or four) of clothes.… I might not be exaggerating. (We are standby fliers, so we don’t always know exactly when we will get home.) When we get home I take the cubes out and am quickly able to empty my suitcase and get the clean clothes put away. Something about these cubes makes it just a little easier to unpack when we get home… It’s like they are magic or something.
Confession Time!!
Now that I have read you my love letter on packing cubes, let me tell you a dirty little secret. When we went to Australia I had a bright idea! I decided to get some of those GIANT plastic space saving bags. You know.. the ones that are made for travel. You put in your clothes and roll the air out. We were packing a lot in my bag so I was certain I could pack so much more. I really couldn’t but decided to go with it anyway.
They were a disaster! When we arrived at our Airbnb I didn’t take the bags out of my bag, and while we each had our own bag they were still quite large and just all in the way. They were frustrating to roll the air out of and the clothes were more wrinkled that when I roll them and place them in my beloved packing cubes.
When we were one hour into our 15 hour flight home and my daughter puked on us I had to get clothes out of the bag. I didn’t mind being puked on as much as I minded getting out those gargantuan awful plastic bags to retrieve fresh clothes. So there I am wrestling with those things and trying to find her some fresh clothes. I let the air out of the bag and all my hopes and dreams of walking off that plane with my dignity released from my body in much the same way.
My packing cubes sadly missed our Sydney experience, but we have taken them on many trips over the last few years. We even used them when camping, which was perfect. With no dresser to unpack into I was able to keep all of our clothes together and off the tent floor.
I share all this with you because friends don’t let friends travel without packing cubes!
