Packing suitcase with Karo & Alex

My secret weapon when it comes to packing is, besides our PDF packing list clearly: My mother. She is simply the smartest person I know when it comes to packing. But maybe it’s also a superpower that you only acquire when you become a mother. Because so far, I have not been so granted this ability. That’s why my mother was so kind and actively supported us in packing our suitcases. And when I write „supported“, I mean she packed our suitcases. So I rather stood to her energetically to the support. In addition, she helped us to create the PDF packing lists, which you can find here for downloading.

This time packing suitcases was something very special for us. Since we have packed not only for a 2-3- week vacation, but for a whole year. Therefore, something must also be packed for all possible seasons. For Alex this was rather less difficult, because he also packs only a lot of shirts and 4 pants, 4 pairs of shoes. That’s it. But I, being a bit of a consumer victim, struggled with it a bit more. My rule of thumb here was to pack only a maximum of 3 to 4 pieces of everything. That means only 3 warmer sweaters, 3 pairs of jeans, 4 pairs of shorts, etc. Exceptions were of course underwear and bikinis. Ok and of course shoes. And who knows me a little, knows how hard it was for me.

A glorious idea of my mom was also to get travel vacuum bags beforehand. She had coincidentally already procured some at Lidl and Alex and I have ordered at short notice still some via Amazon. Therefore, we filled 4 large bags in different shapes with our clothes. With the help of our vacuum cleaner we sucked out the air and closed the bags. Thus, we created even more space for ourselves. We then stowed small items such as technology utensils or cosmetics in the narrow spaces between the vacuum bags. Items like tubes and vials we always packed again in small bags with a zipper. And I always re-wrap our perfume bottles in a washcloth. Safe is safe. More in our PDF travel checklists.

Of course, I always have a small first-aid kit at the start. You never know. In the bag I have next to aspirin, charcoal tablets and Fensitiel also important things like plasters, ointment and medicine for possible colds. A detailed listing you will find attached to download and print out yourself.

In total, we both had a suitcase of 23 kg with our flight included plus one piece of hand luggage. When packing and weighing in the meantime, we found that one suitcase had a weight of 34 kg and the other of 24 kg. Oops. That meant several rounds of repacking and redistributing to carry-on luggage. In the end, we managed to get the larger suitcase to 31 kg and the smaller one to 23 kg. That is, the one suitcase still had excess weight. This we have already registered online in advance and paid 25 euros fees for extra baggage. At the airport, it would have cost us 35 euros. So it is worth it to do this in advance online. Overweight baggage is any checked bag that weighs more than 23 kg and up to 32 kg. Baggage weighing more than 32 kg can only be carried as cargo.

PDF packing list for download

Below you will find a downloadable travel checklist that we have prepared for you to print out. In addition, a first-aid kit and especially for us girls again a beauty packing list, so that you have everything for your next trip.

Good to have you here…