It helped that I planned out outfits as best as I could and packed each cube with items that made sense to be together, but the cubes alone were really the stars of my last-minute Amazon haul. I’ve never been a more organized traveler than I was thanks to these cubes.

And let me tell you, this was some of the best money I’ve ever spent. I also wanted ones with a material that wasn’t too structured so I could maneuver and sort of squish them if I needed to. I knew I wanted a translucent mesh surface so that I could see what was in each cube without opening them. So I just searched Amazon for packing cubes and found some with good reviews that were available on Prime and ordered them immediately. I wish I could give credit to the TikToker who inspired me to look into packing cubes, but the thought came to me long after I had seen and failed to save her video. If you also tend to feel out of whack particularly during international travel and have the time, resources, and interest, these are some things that I recommend to stay organized and make the most of a quick trip. Sure, it’s not the end of the world if your clothes are wrinkled at the wedding, but I will say that for my own personal happiness, I wanted to look and feel my best. So I wanted to share what I learned to help travelers pack light, stay organized, and maximize space in a carry-on to avoid checking a bag when traveling.īefore you say it, I already know that most of the things on this list are not strictly necessities. Now that I’m back, I can officially say that I had everything I needed for a successful trip and I was a stellar wedding guest (IMHO). Given the short turnaround, Amazon Prime (or paying for expedited delivery elsewhere) was the only option to make sure I could get what I needed on time. Some initial questions I had: How do you pack for a European vacation in a carry-on? How can I include everything I need for a weekend of wedding festivities in a tiny amount of space? While I was still perfectly happy to have a long weekend in Europe, I also felt like that meant I couldn’t justify checking a bag. But once we figured out whether we could afford it and considered that we were given late notice and had busy work schedules, we didn’t want to take a long trip.

Attend an event at a villa in the beautiful Tuscan countryside? Why yes, thank you, sign us up. When my boyfriend found out he had a plus-one for a friend’s wedding in Florence, we knew we couldn’t pass up a chance to visit Italy. All products were independently selected by our editors, and the prices were accurate and items in stock at the time of publication. BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them.

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