Packing is a necessary evil before taking off on a trip, and to do it skillfully takes a bit of preparation. By not planning out your packed items before taking off, you can end up with entirely too much unnecessary stuff. A lot of people tend to pack for extreme situations, "what ifs," and "just in cases," when really if they just took the time to pack a well-thought out carry-on sized bag with lots of versatile clothing and multi-functional items they will actually use, then they wouldn't even have to worry about the downsides of overpacking. But for those of you that still need convincing, here are some of the reasons why overpacking for a trip sucks: 

It's heavy...

If you end up overpacking, you will inevitably be the one hauling your excessive amount of stuff around. And if it's heavy, it will be frustrating and tiring. Regardless if it's on your back, in a duffle bag, or in a large rolling suitcase, you are the one that has to heave it from one place to another. Ain't nobody else got time to help you carry all your extra stuff, thus making them frustrated and tired also. And don't even get me started on having to trek uphill or upstairs.

It's inconvenient...

In addition to being heavy, overpacked baggage can be a major inconvenience. If you're taking a flight and have to check a bag, not only is there a chance that you will have to pay overweight baggage fees, but it will also mean you will be separated from most of your belongings on the plane. This can potentially lead to the airline losing your bag(s), which means you'll actually be without all the things you spent so much time packing in the first place (and the money you spent on them)! 

A lesser convenience, but still annoying is that after the flight, you will need to wait at the baggage claim carousel for your bag(s) to (hopefully) come back to you in the same condition you left them in. After being cramped in an airplane, you just want to leave and start your adventure right away, but you can't if you have to stand around waiting for your stuff to show up.

It's time consuming...

Adding to the inconvenience, is the extra time you will waste dealing with the stuff you had to bring "just in case."  Having too many options is not necessarily a good thing. It'll take longer to pick an outfit to wear for the day, it'll take longer to pack back up at the end of the trip, and if you're on an extended trip that requires doing laundry, then it will take longer to wash and dry all your dirty clothes.

Overpacking for a trip just isn't worth it - trust me, I would know after backpacking around the world with over 50 pounds of baggage. After over 9 months with my huge, heavy backpack I came to realize that packing lighter would have made for a better long-term travel experience (read How Packing Light Will Improve Your Travels).

At Splice Clothing, we believe the lighter the pack, the greater the adventure, so we want to make it possible for women to pack light and still be able to bring stylish clothes they love wearing, that are functional for travel and adventure. We do this by designing compact, versatile, multi-functional clothes that can be mixed and matched and styled a number of ways, ensuring that every piece you pack, taking up valuable space in your bag, is earning it's keep.

The first collection of Splice Clothing is set to launch in Spring 2020, but if you'd like to stay up-to-date on the official launch date and other fun tidbits, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter!

Do you still struggle with overpacking? Let us know in the comments!

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