How To Pack A Suitcase

I've done a fair bit of packing and I'd like to think I've got it down to a fine art. Here's how I pack:

• Know the weight allowance for your checked-in luggage on your airline website. This will depend on what type of flight you're going on and what airline you're with. Long-haul is usually between 20-26kg... so fill your booties, cuties.
  
• If you're a girl you get to take two hand luggage bags! Hooray for ladies! You can take one 'small' handbag and a hand luggage bag. Anyone can also take a laptop, but you can't take a laptop and a small handbag if that makes sense. Oh, and they have to fit in the squarey hand luggage size-tester thingy at the airport however many bags you're taking.
• Hand luggage is obvious, but I wrote about that before here.
  
• To pack clothes, make sure you've got enough outfits for the number of days you're there if you're there for a week or less. Any more than a week and you might want to consider taking less clothes but make sure that you have something to wear that is formal. If you want take one or two dresses, but they're not very practical in terms of packing because they take up more room if they're poofy and you can't mix and match them with anything.
• Never take more than 3 pairs of shoes, wherever you're going and whatever you're doing: it's unnecessary.
• When putting things in your suitcase, put things into piles of: Clothes, Heavy objects (i.e. books), Light objects (Toiletries) and Dodgy things (i.e. weirdly shaped things and food).
• Firstly, heavy things go at the bottom of the suitcase, so it's not top heavy and doesn't keep falling over.
  
• Underwear and jewellery goes in shoes, shoes also go at the bottom and preferably in plastic bags so no dirty shoe-ness gets on your clothes. Make sure there's no mud on your shoes as this can be a bit iffy at some customs (mainly Australia and the US).
• If you roll clothes instead of folding them, they don't crease as much but they take up more room I think.
  
• Put one set of clothes in your handluggage.
• Everything else just goes in wherever it will go, except...
  
• Dodgy things need to go right at the top of your suitcase, or so they're easily accessible. This is in case you get stopped at customs and have to open your suitcase. It just saves time. They probably won't want to look at the food you have, but if you have anything that's very pointy, freaky, or weapony then they'll probably want to know what it is.
• Dodgy things also includes any medicines. Make sure they're all in the original boxes with instructions and declare them.
  
• Keep a small list of last minute things to pack which you will be using right until you leave, including: hairbrush, toothbrush, keys, phone etc. which you might not want to have in your handluggage.
• But actually, I would keep phones in hand luggage - if you would die without it, don't put it in your checked-in luggage, because bags do get lost. This is why you should always put a luggage tag on your bag with your name and address and remove any tags from previous flights.
  
• Have travel insurance and a copy of it on you whilst travelling.
  
• Put a padlock on your bag because luggage handlers have been known to nick things. If customs want to look inside, they will... but they'll just smash the lock off.
• Designer suitcases attract thieves. Mines from Argos and it's done me fine to New York, Isle of Wight and Australia 3 times in the last few years.
  
• The week before you go also have a bit of paper somewhere to write down things you remember you need to pack - I always remember odd things one by one and it's just useful to have a list to cross off as I'm packing.
• Finally - for Christ's sake make sure you know what you can and can't take into the country. The amount of stupid people you see bringing fruit and nuts into Australia is ridiculous - even wooden objects! If the x-rays don't find it, the sniffer-dogs will - you will be fined, and you will deserve it. Gutted indeed.
  

And that is all my little pickle-noses!