The Simple Rule For How Many Pairs Of Underwear You Need To Pack For Any Vacation

We've all been there. Standing at the check-in line and realizing, too late, you've completely overpacked. Some strategic redistribution is in order, and you pop open your overstuffed bag only to have your underwear spill out. And how much underwear! As it turns out, underwear is one of the items travelers tend to overpack. Stuffing dozens of boxers and fistfuls of panties into suitcases provides a sense of security for some. Because underwear is so small, it seems like it won't take up much space in your luggage, until it's spilling out on the airport floor. So, how many pairs of underwater do you really need to pack for your trip?

British travel expert Amanda Parker has a solution to reigning in the undergarment chaos. "The ultimate hack you need to know when it comes to packing is that you need to pack three pairs of underwear more than the number of days of your holiday. That's the sweet spot," Parker told the British newspaper, Daily Mail. "So if you're going away for five days, pack eight pairs. The extra three act as your safety net, without overpacking and stuffing your suitcase." Sounds great! But what if you're packing for a month or more? There's an art to packing a month of clothes into one week's wardrobe — that includes strategic underwear care — with travel writer Andrew McCarthy's favorite luggage "trick."

The key to optimum underwear packing for long voyages? Laundry. It's one of the top space-saving luggage hacks that savvy travelers depend upon. "Do laundry halfway through your trip. Seriously, I don't know why more people don't do this," says travel blogger Adventurous Kate on her Facebook feed. "Just make a plan to do laundry on your trip and you won't have to pack a suitcase roughly the size of a small hippo."

This doesn't mean you need to pay exorbitant laundry bills at your hotel. Nor do you have to haul your dirty clothes to a laundromat where you'll have to decipher washing instructions. It can be as simple as handwashing in the hotel sink and hanging them to dry overnight. Lightweight, fast-drying underwear is ideal. Uniqlo's AIRism undies are a good example of this, available for men and women, especially when traveling in humid, tropical climates. If you want to use natural materials, merino wool or bamboo is an excellent alternative.

Bring a travel bottle of laundry detergent — or dish detergent, in a pinch — and you are set to cycle through a week's worth of underwear, no sweat. Once you've mastered the underwear basics and making a week's worth of clothes stretch for a month, then you can move up to advanced-level packing: How to pack for a seven-day trip in a carry-on.