Leisure

health & environs : ECOPacking SmartWRITTEN BY Dawn MoriSummer vacations are a time to relax and take the weight of the worldoff your shoulders. While a vacation will certainly lighten your mood,airline rules which charge passengers for checked bags over 50 lbs.mean you need to lighten your suitcase too.opposite of the expected weather — a long-sleeved shirt if you areheading somewhere warm or a tank top if you are going someplacecold. “There is always something that comes up that is totally different[to where you are],” she explains.Packing to beat the scale is as easy as remembering why you are goingon vacation in the first place. Whether your getaway takes you to sunnydays at the beach or to a cool overseas locale, you can still pack theperfect 50-lb. suitcase.“Think about where, what and how — where you are going, what youare going to be doing, and how are you going to be getting there,”said Ann Negendank, founder of Sensible Space Organizing Services.Planning is the first step, and Negendank recommends laying outeverything you want to take with you ahead of time. “Put them togetherand see the outfits, see what coordinates, and limit the colors,” shesaid. “If you take everything in browns and beiges or blacks and grays,then everything coordinates and is interchangeable. Limiting the colorsalso helps you control the shoes. They are the biggest volume item youare going to pack.”Negendank takes only four pairs of shoes — flip-flops in your carry-onfor the beach or hotel room, comfortable shoes you wear on the plane,and two pairs in your suitcase — dressy shoes and another pair ofcomfortable shoes.She also ingeniously suggests including a piece of clothing totallyAfter you have laid everything out, take a step back and see whatyou can take away. Do you have six pairs of pants and you will onlybe gone four days? When you think you are finished, Negendankadvises removing one more item. “If anything, people over-pack,”she emphasizes.Looking at the big packing picture not only applies to clothes but toelectronics that are now necessities, especially if you travel with teens.A simple consolidation reduces what you need to take. For example,playing DVDs on another family member’s laptop eliminates a DVDplayer, or movies can be downloaded to your phone so you don’t need tobring DVDs.If you are traveling with young children, pack complete outfits together,including underwear and hair accessories, and placing each in a meshor plastic bag. Parents should plan two outfits for each day, includingthose for dinner or the beach, then include one additional outfit, assomething extra or unexpected always comes up.As Mom’s purse and carry-on usually becomes a bottomless supplycupboard on long plane trips, Negendank offers practical advice forthe flight.48JUNE 2010 TRAVEL & LEISURE