The time I spent 3 years packing a backpack all wrong on trains in Europe

So I've been doing these cheap train trips across Germany for like 3 years now. Always stuffed my backpack with everything jammed in there, clothes all wrinkled, took forever to find anything. Last month on a train from Munich to Berlin this older guy next to me just casually said 'you know rolling your clothes saves half the space right?' I literally stared at my bag for a minute feeling dumb. He showed me his little packing cubes too and how he keeps his toiletries separate. Now I can fit a week's worth of stuff in a daypack and I don't even have to unpack at the hostel. Anyone else have a laughably late travel revelation like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela_park20d ago

Rolling clothes changed my whole travel game too after years of stuffing everything in like a maniac.

charles_green19d ago

Oh man, I gotta respectfully disagree with y'all on this one. I tried rolling for a few trips and ended up with more wrinkles than when I just fold stuff flat. For me it's all about that folder method with packing cubes, keeps everything compressed but still lays flat so I don't look like I slept in my clothes. I think rolling might work if you're wearing mostly t-shirts and jeans, but for dress shirts or anything with a collar it's a disaster. Plus I swear I can fit more in my bag with the flat fold technique, even with the same size suitcase. To each their own though, whatever gets you out the door faster!