How to Pack Light for Trips with Rotary Global Travelers

July 15, 2024

Whether you’re happy to check your luggage or aim for carry-on only, it’s always a good idea to juggle fewer bags and carry less weight, especially when visiting some of the remote locations we Global Travelers visit.

Yet packing light can sometimes be fraught as we agonize over what to take and what to leave behind.

Introducing the Sudoku Travel Capsule Wardrobe, a practical and stress-free solution! With just 9 items, you can easily create at least 13 outfits.

To create a wardrobe with this method, you mix and match individual clothing pieces on a 9-square grid, like in a Sudoku puzzle.

It’s as easy as following these 5 steps:

Step 1: Choose a color palette

Start with a print that coordinates with many of your travel clothes.

Step 2: Shop your closet

Pick out clothes in a primary or base color that matches the print. Choose lighter or darker shades of the primary color, then choose an accent color. This is a good place to pop in a bit of color with one of our Rotary Global Travelers branded items from Lands End.

Step 3: Lay clothes out in a grid

Lay three bottom pieces in the positions marked in Grid 1, then lay three tops, and finally, three layering pieces. This will give you seven outfits, enough for a one- or two-week trip if you don’t mind wearing something twice.1

Grid 2 shows other ways to create outfits IF you have the right clothes in the right places on the grid. Getting the maximum number of outfits from nine pieces of clothing may require several tries. So, on to Step Four!

Step 4: Move clothes around until you have multiple outfits

You probably won’t have this right the first time you try. You may need to move something from one square to another or replace it with another piece of clothing altogether. It will be worth the effort, though, so start pulling and replacing items until you can make as many outfits as you need.

Step 5: Add extras

Check your packing list. What else do you need to make your trip work? Shoes? Jewelry? A coat?

And if the thought of traveling with only nine pieces makes you quiver, don’t worry. Just add a few more items or even create another capsule.

Final thoughts

Et voilà! Nine pieces of clothing for 13 outfits. That’s the way to travel light.

If you’d like to see photos of how I did this for a month-long road trip, you can do so here. While there, you can also download the grids to reference when you do your own packing.

Bon voyage!