How One Set of Packing Cubes Fixed My Overstuffed Suitcase

The suitcase would not close. I was sitting on it, one knee on the lid, both hands pulling the zipper, and it still would not close. Dale stood in the bedroom doorway and said, very gently, "Bev, you have packed for two weeks. We are going for four days." He was right. I have been an overpacker my whole life, and that long weekend away was the moment I finally got tired of it.

I had tried the usual fixes. I rolled my clothes, which helped a little. I bought a bigger suitcase, which helped until I filled it. I told myself I would pack lighter, and then I packed the same way I always had. The real problem was not the suitcase. It was that everything I owned was loose in there, sliding around, taking up space I could not see. I needed a way to organize the inside of the bag, not just a bigger bag to fill.

That is when I found the BAGAIL 8 Set Packing Cubes. I know, a set of packing cubes does not sound like the answer to a lifetime of overpacking. But I ordered them before our next trip, the six-hour drive to see our daughter's family in North Carolina, and they arrived two days later in a flat box with eight pieces: packing cubes in several sizes, plus a shoe bag and a laundry bag. I have not packed the old way since.

Here is what happened on that first trip with the BAGAIL cubes. I sorted everything into the different sizes: the big cubes for jeans and sweaters, the medium ones for shirts, the small ones for socks, underwear, chargers and toiletries, and the shoe bag for shoes. I counted out what I was taking: five pairs of jeans, six shirts, three sweaters, seven pairs of socks, and the inevitable extra shoes. One big cube held the jeans, and another held the sweaters. The medium cubes swallowed the shirts. The small cubes took the socks and the underwear, and the last small one held the chargers, the toothpaste, and the hairbrush. The shoes went in the shoe bag, and the laundry bag went in flat on the bottom for the trip home. I zipped each cube, and then I put the cubes in the suitcase. The whole thing fit. I did not have to sit on it. I did not have to leave anything behind. I just closed the lid and zipped it, and there was even a little room left over.

I did not have to sit on the suitcase to close it. That was the first time in years that had happened.

The difference was not magic. It was simple math. Loose clothes pile up and leave gaps between them. Clothes folded into cubes stack like bricks, so they use the space they are given instead of wasting it. I packed the same amount of clothing for North Carolina that I would have packed before, and the suitcase was easier to lift. My lower back noticed the difference when I hoisted it into the trunk of the car. When we got to our daughter's house, I lifted the cubes out and set them in the guest room drawers, still zipped. The closet rod stayed empty because nothing needed hanging. Nothing had to be unfolded and refolded.

The BAGAIL cubes also changed how I lived out of the suitcase once I got there. At our daughter's, I did not have to unpack everything loose into the dresser and then repack it all at the end of the visit. I just moved the cubes from the suitcase to the drawers. Each cube was already sorted, so I knew exactly where my socks were and where Dale's charger ended up. On the third morning, when I needed a clean shirt, I did not dig. I pulled the medium cube, unzipped it, and the shirt was on top because it was the last one I had packed. Dale still forgot his charger, but at least we found it in the small cube instead of digging through the whole suitcase.

On the way home, the cubes made the suitcase even easier. Dirty clothes went into the laundry bag, and the clean ones stayed in their cubes, so nothing mixed together. I did not have to sort laundry in the hotel room. I just zipped the cubes, closed the bag, and dealt with it at home. We stopped for lunch halfway home. I opened my suitcase in the back of the car to get to a sweater, and I was able to zip it back up without kneeling on it in the parking lot. That sounds like a small thing, but after a long day it is the difference between a calm trip and a wrestling match.

I have used the BAGAIL cubes on the drive to North Carolina, the January cruise out of Florida, and our two weeks in Ireland last spring. They have held up through all of it. The zippers still move smoothly, the mesh has not torn, and the cubes still look as neat as they did the first time I used them. I have washed them by hand a couple of times and they dried quickly. On the Florida cruise in January, I packed the same set of cubes into a smaller bag than I used to take, and I still had room for a book and the binoculars. I did not expect them to last this long, but they have.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

If you came over for coffee and told me your suitcase will not close, I would tell you this. You do not need to pack less. You need to pack better. A set of packing cubes will not turn you into a minimalist, and it will not fix a trip that is badly planned. But it will give you back the space you already have, and it will make the trip start with less stress. I would tell you to buy a set with different sizes, sort your clothes into each cube, and put the cubes in the suitcase before you add the things that do not fold well. That is what the BAGAIL cubes did for me. They did not change how much I wanted to bring. They changed how it all fit, and that was enough.