Packing tips and ideas to improve your travel wardrobe and experience

“I like being fancy,” Riley said. “Before I had a college-aged child, I didn’t pack that way. I didn’t have the time to coordinate every outfit, down to the jewelry, purse and shoes. I’m a lot!”

Riley never packs her jewelry, costume or otherwise, in checked luggage. It stays in her carry-on bag.

“Pack what you love. Don’t just pack for comfort. Pack what makes you feel good,” Riley said.

To prepare for a trip, Riley figures out how many outfits she will need and then tries on the clothes for each occasion, photographs them, compares notes with stylish friends to determine accessories — and then photographs herself in the complete ensemble to document the various pieces so she will have it at her fingertips once she reaches her destination. 

For a recent three-night trip, her carefully orchestrated luggage weighed in at 40 pounds. She used packing cubes and rolled everything. 

“I brought the big suitcase. I knew I wanted to have options,” Riley said. “Even if you’re the most practical of travelers, bring what you love. At least for me, if I feel like I look cute, that makes the experience that much better.”

Karla Coreil, of Baton Rouge, is on the other end of the packing spectrum. She’s a planner like Riley, but she whittles her items down to the bare minimum and has various rules to follow to fit it all in a backpack or single carry-on piece of luggage. Coreil has an aversion to checked luggage.

She recently went on one trip to Cuba and another to New York City, each for five days, with only a backpack. She and her son went to France for 10 days, each with a carry-on and a backpack. The small bags included all of their clothes for the trip and elaborate outfits for a costume party at Versailles, an annual affair, with tickets starting at about $125 and going up to $575 per person.

“The headpiece could come apart. My son had a tri-corner hat,” Coreil said. “It was summer so we could pack lightly. I didn’t do any laundry on that trip, and I had clean clothes every day.”