I Packed for 5 Ski Trips This Winter: Here's What Actually Worked | Ep 6

You know that feeling when a trip is coming up and instead of being excited, you're already mentally exhausted? The packing, the gear, the extra person you're packing for, and the mountain of laundry waiting when you get home? Yeah. Me too.

This episode is for you if you love the idea of a vacation but get a little overwhelmed by the packing reality of it — especially winter trips, where everything is bulky, cold weather gear takes up half your suitcase, and you can't just throw a few sundresses in a bag and call it done.

I just got back from my fifth ski trip of the season (yes, fifth — Tahoe, Switzerland, Rome, Steamboat, and a last-minute Mammoth trip), and I'm sharing everything I learned about packing smarter, not heavier. Including the one product that genuinely changed the game for me this winter.

In this episode:

• Why winter packing feels so much harder and what to do about it
• The low-pressure "pile" method that replaces last-minute scramble
• How to pack pieces you can rewear without feeling like you're re-wearing (hello, ski clothes)
• The layout-first trick that always cuts at least one thing from my bag
• Vacuum seal packing cubes — the single biggest upgrade of my entire winter season
• How to come home from vacation without completely unraveling (groceries, laundry, the buffer day)

Most of these tips work for any trip… warm weather, family travel, all of it. And I have a full blog post up with printable packing lists for different trip types. Ski trip, beach trip, city trip.

Whether your next trip is next week or next winter, tuck this episode away. You'll thank yourself later.

LINKS & RESOURCES

• Blog Post: Pack Smarter, Not Heavier with Free Packing Lists
• Vacuum Seal Packing Cubes (mentioned in episode)
• Compression Packing Cubes (mentioned in episode)

If this episode helped you, share it with a friend who's got a trip coming up!

🎙️ Tame the Chaos is a podcast about the mindset side of organizing and what it really looks like to create a home (and a life) that works, hosted by San Diego professional organizer Elyse Metzger. New episodes every other week.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Okay, let me acknowledge that I am fully aware that it is mid-March, going to be officially spring next week. And here I am talking about packing for a winter vacation. Well, let me explain because I just got back from my fourth ski trip this season, all within a matter of like two and a half months. I am fresh off the packing roller coaster, and I thought who better to give you the lowdown on packing for a winter vacation, as well as my challenges and what I learned to be the best packing tool yet. You're going to want to keep these tips in mind for your next winter vacation, or better yet, your upcoming vacation, because these tips double for warm weather packing too. I'm Elie Smetzger. Welcome to Tame the Chaos. Here's what I have to say about myself. I consider myself an organized person. However, when we have a trip coming up that we have to plan and pack for, I do get stressed out. Especially having my son. It's another human to pack for, coordinate the gear for, and not to mention that I'm mentally calculating what is waiting for me when I get home. Like the huge pile of laundry, all of the to-do things that I wasn't able to do while we were on vacation, all of the things to coordinate for the household. Winter trips add another layer. Because unlike tank tops, shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops, winter gear is bulky. You have your heavy boots, your jackets, your base layers. This stuff takes up serious real estate in your suitcase. And when you live in San Diego, you really don't have the stuff lying around. You have to dig it out out of the closet, take it out of the bags or the box or the bin, whatever it's in. Hope that everything still fits you and your child. It's just a bit more effort. So yeah, this episode is for that person that likes the idea of winter ski trips, but still gets overwhelmed when planning and packing for them. Quick backstory. I grew up in South Lake Tahoe and I do love the mountains. But I stopped skiing when I moved to Southern California. And honestly, I don't miss the cold and I don't miss getting in and out of the ski gear. Fast forward to me marrying my cold loving husband and having a ski-obsessed son. So here I am. So four full ski trips in this season. First, we went to Tahoe for Christmas to visit family and get some skiing in. And then we went to Switzerland, stopped by Rome first, which was amazing. We went to steamboat, and now we have a last-minute ski trip to Mammoth Mountain. So I took a ski lesson at the very beginning of the season to spruce up my skills, but I decided it wasn't for me. And now I have fully committed to being the happy mountain bystander. And while I am not a skier, I am a very experienced packer for ski trips. And I'm sharing all I know about packing for ski trips with you. Okay, first tip: check the weather forecast first so you're not bringing those just in case items. It's a simple thing to do, but really can be impactful for your trip and packing. A few days before your trip, start a pile of what you're considering bringing. I usually start doing this a couple weeks before when I'm starting to think about the trip. Set aside some toiletries, some outfits, shoes that I'm thinking about taking. I'll either hang them on the side of my closet. I'll pick them out for my other clothes and put them on the side, or start a little pile somewhere in the closet. So when it's time to really like get packing, I don't have to think about it. And I've already set aside the things that I really want to bring. I start doing this a few weeks before because I know when I think of something to bring for the trip that my mind will go off and I won't think about it again. This low pressure approach means that you're not rushing to do everything the night before. You can pack intentionally, avoid overpacking, and remember the important things. Number two, pack the pieces that you can re-wear. Ski clothes are meant to be reworn, so pack accordingly. And then hang the pieces that you've worn already. If you need to refreshen them, hang them up and spritz them with a wrinkle release or something of the sort to keep them fresh. And then when you're packing for your outfits after you're done skiing, pack them around neutral pieces so you can match them with your ski clothes. The honest truth is after you're done skiing, you're not going back to your room to get like all ready and wear your going out clothes. All the mountains, even in Switzerland, all of the mountains that I've been to are super casual and nobody really dresses up. I mean, you're not wearing like stilettos or anything super fancy. It's really casual, laid back. So that should be something you keep in mind when packing for a ski trip. Number three, lay everything out first, then pack. Lay everything out on your bed, your dresser, the floor, wherever you have a little bit of space that you can put everything together before you put it in your suitcase. I do this on our dresser and I make little piles of outfits, the toiletries, hair items, pajamas, undergarments. I make piles on my dresser and I start this a few days before we leave for the trip. And I add things as I get ready for the day or get ready for bed. It's just an easy thing to do. I'm getting dressed anyway, around my clothes, around my toiletries. And so I add things to those piles. And I start that. I mean, I'll do it a week before sometimes, like international trips. I'll do that. And it helps me pack intentionally and not overpack. So anyway, look at everything before you put a single thing in the suitcase. Once you've gotten everything together, look at your piles, review them. And before putting anything in the suitcase, look at what you can take out. What can you live without on your trip? I like to choose one to two items, and I look over my piles and I find a sweater or a shoe that I can do without that I just don't want to carry around and know that I may or may not wear it and I won't miss it. So don't skip that step because it is part of packing intentionally. Okay, shoes and boots are bulky, so we pack those accordingly. I like to usually pack two to three pairs of shoes. I purposely don't pack anything inside my shoes or boots on the way packing for a trip because I like to leave a little bit of space when coming back. So what I'll do is when I pack for a trip, when we're coming home, I'll stuff all the dirt, as much dirty clothes, usually like socks or like undergarments or anything small that can go into your shoes and boots. I'll put those in the boots and shoes so I have a little bit more space in the suitcase. When everyone is skiing, I am exploring the town and I do happen to shop a little bit at the cute boutiques. So I like a little bit of extra space in my suitcase. So I will use the space from the dirty clothes previously clean and put them in the boots. You just have to watch out for weight, weight of your suitcase if you're flying. Tip number four: my biggest packing upgrade of the season, these are vacuum-sealed packing cubes. And they are seriously a game changer. We can put all of our ski equipment, big jackets in there, and really significantly save a lot of space in our suitcase. So they compress the air out of bulky jackets, sweaters, base layers, anything bulky that you can pack down, those were great for it. So those were like that was my biggest upgrade, and it was something that really made a difference. I still used my regular compression packing cubes, which I've always used, and those still help a lot. They help keep things organized and they do save space. And another thing we use are regular compression packing cubes. And I've always used those, which I love. I think that they're really great for saving some space, keeping your clothes clean, keeping them organized. As an organizer, I get really excited about stuff like that. Also having to pack for multiple trips, I get excited about that. But you can always use them too. You don't have to use them for winter trips. You can use them for all of your clothes. The only thing I would say is that you have to be intentional about packing and think about what items you will need when you are getting to your destination. Do you have to take out those items right away in and out? Because you do have to vacuum seal them. It comes with like a little device that you just push and you can charge it to take out all the air. And it really, really helps. But another thing you have to realize is that it can add more weight because it's still the same amount of volume, but it definitely saves on space. One thing to keep in mind with the vacuum-sealed packing cubes, use them for things that you need mid-trip, not right away things that you have to take in and out of. So when I use my regular compression packing cubes, those are super easy because I can just unzip it. I can fluff up the clothes and put them straight into the dresser, take out whatever needs to be hung. It's super easy to unpack and keep it separated. So packing cubes as an organizer, I love, but the vacuum-sealed packing cubes just made it so much easier. It was the biggest upgrade of my winter season. And number five, coming home. Don't let it ruin your trip. It's like the Sunday scaries. I think there should be a name for coming home from a trip, like the something scaries. I don't know. I'll think of it when I do. I'll let you know. So raise your hand if you've spent your last vacation day thinking about all of the to-do things that you have to do when you get home, or all of the laundry that you have to do, the grocery shopping, the empty fridge, trying to feed the kids when you get home. That's me. So a few things that I like to do, and there's a whole list of things you can do, but the top things that mattered to me this trip, these winter trips, was laundry. The laundry monster was really getting me these couple of trips. And one thing that I've learned is if your rental has a washer and dryer, then try to do a couple loads of laundry before you even get home. Do them the last day, and then you have clean clothes when you get home. This is a personal preference thing. I personally like to do laundry when I get home. I do pack the dirty clothes in a certain way so I can just dump them in everybody's laundry basket and just throw them in the washer. It makes it super easy so I don't have to like sort through all the laundry when I get home. I am spending some time doing laundry when I get home, but I expect it. And I set my schedule so I have a laid-back schedule so I can do laundry. So it's about planning when you get home. Also, the groceries, there's something about having an empty fridge that just doesn't feel that good. So I like to order the basics for grocery delivery. So when we get home, we have food in the fridge to feed those kids, adults, everyone that's hungry, and you have food to eat and you don't have to worry about it. And then another thing I like to do is when we schedule our trips, I like to have come home in the afternoon or give yourself some buffer time. So you're not coming home late Sunday night when you uh have to go to work the next morning, get this to get the kids to school. I mean, sometimes you can't help that, but if you can, give yourself some buffer time. So these are some of the tips and highlights of what I've learned during these winter trips this season. I hope it helps. And so most of these things can be used for warm weather trips or just packing and traveling in general. So if you have a trip coming up, just start a pile. That's it. Just one pile. Do one thing, one small act of pre-planning will save you so much time and scrambling later. And if you don't have an upcoming trip, then maybe it's a sign for you to plan one. Even a staycation counts. Travel is one of my favorite forms of self-care. I always come back with fresh energy and a clear head. I have a blog on how to pack for a vacation, including a ski trip list. Link is in the show notes. In the next few episodes, I'm going back to something that I talked about in episode five. It's the idea that every space in your home relates to an area of your life and is telling you something about yourself. We're going to get into it room by room with real client stories. Good stuff is coming. Hit follow or subscribe so you don't miss it. I'll see you next time.