I've spent a lot of time traveling, and a lot of time thinking about the best gear, and the most efficient way to pack that gear. Everyone seems surprised by the small amount of luggage my wife and I carry when we travel, even the customs officials who see thousands of travelers a day. I've helped clients plan for trips, and have had my advice affirmed over and over. I took the activity of unpacking from our last 3 week trip as an opportunity to explain how I pack in one bag for three weeks of travel in various climates.

This trip consisted of a classic European visit, where we had to plan for cool Dutch spring weather, visits with family friends where proper dinner wear would be expected (not a tie, but at least a jacket), hot Spanish city weather, hiking in the mountains, and dinners out on the town. While I've never been accused of being a style maven, I generally am considered well dressed, so while you might think I'm goofy looking (it's true) and I'm a bit out of the moment's fashion, I'm certainly not offending anyone with my attire.

Here's a few photos of me in various outfits, just to show I'm not wandering around in one wrinkled thing, all the time. Like I said, not a fashion plate, but respectable, anyway.

Dressed for a hot day of touring Granada's back alleys.

Another look on a cool day.

Traveling light (i.e. with one bag) is important and useful for many reasons:

• Gives you more options of travel: train, plane, car, bus, walk, bike
• Allows you to quickly get through airports and on to the actual place you want to visit
• Gives you peace of mind since you can carry on your one bag, avoiding luggage check in, and you only have one thing to keep track of
• Your stuff doesn't take up too much room in your hotel or wherever you're staying
• It's more economical, as you can take public transportation instead of taxis, and tipping porters, or paying extra fees to check extra luggage, etc.

So, how do I pack? two main 'tricks':

• rolling all the wrinkle-able clothes like paper towels. Layering them one over the top of another and rolling from the bottom (shirt tails) up towards the collar.
• using the vacuum squish bags (available on my resources page) to hold the non-wrinkle-able stuff.

Here's the breakdown with photos:

The full bag, which carries like a suitcase, and has pull-out (ie convertible) backpack straps

The bag, full, with the lid/cover opened to reveal (clockwise from green shaving kit): rolled clothes, secret pocket that holds passport, vacuum bag-squished small, sandals in plastic bags, and a book next to airline headphones.

What the vacuum bag looks like, squished, and my sandals in the bags to protect the other clothes from dirt.

Here's what was in the vacuum bag: (clockwise): blue swimming suit, light black fleece, five pairs of underwear, three pairs of black socks

The day pack and its general contents. Gadget chargers, guidebooks, water bottle, and reading material. You can also see the secret pocket I designed and built myself, holding the passport.

The bag, with the rolled clothes and shaving kit still in it

All the clothes that were rolled up in the roll. Three button down shirts, one pair of long pants, two long sleeve 'mock'turtleneck/long-sleeved T-shirts, one short sleeved T-shirt, one pair of shorts.
These look a bit wrinkled now, but that's because I took these pictures the day after returning home. having left them in the bag overnight. While traveling, when I get to a hotel room, I unroll the clothes and hang up the button down shirts and the pants.

The clothes I wear on the plane. The black T-shirt hides dirt or sweat, the pants are easy care and comfortable, and the jacket can be folded up and tossed in the overhead bin without a worry. (note the belt is reversible)

The bag, packed, with the day pack in it, ready to close up and go.