How to Pack for Vacation

“Travel light, but spend money on a great suitcase. You need one not too big or small, with four wheel drive and many pockets.”

— Marina Abramovic (for Porter Magazine)

From snowy Montreal...

Assistant Dean AK here, with another hotel room dispatch, this time in freezing Montreal! Believe it or not, our next stop happens to be the Mexican state of Oaxaca. I’ll spare you all the reasons why we ended up taking this nonsensical route, but suffice it to say we were presented with unique challenges in the packing department. Montreal's temperatures are currently in the negative degrees Fahrenheit while Oaxaca continues as warm as you might expect. Enter the handy-dandy book Packing for Travel (on loan from Dean P.) to assist with Edit: Round Two in our Canadian hotel room, before I repack my Mexican getaway suitcase and set aside the rest to be shipped home from the airport.

to toasty warm Oaxaca City.

So long layers and coats! Not only does Karen Klopp, Editor of the What 2 Wear Where blog, offer several other incredibly helpful and cheerfully illustrated Top Tens, like "All the Basics" and "Steps to Panic-Free Packing," but she also includes packing lists for every destination under the sun, from a Dude Ranch to Deep Sea Fishing. Per Klopp's best advice, I'm opting for knitwear (which doesn't wrinkle) and the "Top Ten Travel Essentials," among them a pashmina, down vest, and dark jeans. I may even wear all three on the plane, ready to shed/shove in an overstuffed duffel bag the moment I arrive in a more habitable clime.

Adios! -AK