The holidays are coming which means that a lot of you are going to be travelling home soon to see family and friends for the festivities. Have you packed yet? Packing can be both fun and stressful. I mean, going through your closet and putting together outfits to wear to the holiday parties back home is fun but trying to fit everything into a suitcase without going over the baggage weight limit can be pretty challenging. If you’re already getting worked up on packing, check out these tips on how to pack like a pro for the holidays without sacrificing neither practicality nor style.

• PICK A GOOD SUITCASE – easy packing starts with a good suitcase and a good suitcase should be two things: durable and roomy. You don’t want any of your stuff to be so tightly squished together so make sure there’s enough room for everything. An overstuffed suitcase might leave you with an inconvenient problem later so don’t risk it.

• MAKE SPACE FOR MULTI-TASKERS – if there’s anything that should be occupying the most space in your luggage, it’s multi-taskers. Do not underestimate the power of a plain white shirt. You can wear them on their own for a really easy and laidback outfit with jeans and boots and you can also use them as a base for all your other layered outfits. Other multi-taskers that you can take with you include tights / leggings, blanket scarves, LBDs, reversible jackets and dress shirts.

• BRING REPEATERS – repeaters are items of clothing that you can wear more than once and you can cut your baggage by half if you bring lots of these. Resist the urge to bring more than 2 chunky outerwear – these will take up most of the space in your luggage. If you’re afraid of ending up with boring looks, make sure to take chic accessories with you. These will easily and instantly spice up and change your look, even when you wear the same piece.

• HAND CARRY SMALL ACCESSORIES (and delicate accessories) – and speaking of accessories, the great thing about accessories is that they can change the way a certain outfit looks without you having to do anything too drastic. Also, they’re really small so you can take a lot of them and they won’t even take up much space at all. Place them in small Ziplocs so they don’t get tangled up then label them with what you plan on wearing them with to make things easier.

• WEAR YOUR CHUNKIEST OUTERWEAR – it’s going to be cold outside, at the airport and on the plane anyway so if you’re planning on taking more than one chunky / heavy outerwear, wear the heavier / chunkier one so that it doesn’t take up too much luggage space. This applies to delicate accessories, too, that may lose their form like hats, boots or silk scarves.

• PACK LIGHTER CLOTHES – unless you’re NOT heading home for the holidays, chances are that you already have some really warm and cozy waiting for you when you get home so don’t bother bringing tons of chunky stuff anymore. Pack lighter clothes to save some luggage space. You can layer with these and create comfy outfits. Even if you’re not going home, you’ll still have a really heavy and chunky outerwear which is the one you’ll be wearing while you travel (see tip above).

• USE SPACE WISELY – the last tip for packing like a pro for the holidays is to use your luggage space wisely. Rolling your clothes instead of folding them is more efficient since it saves space and saves your clothes from wrinkling, too. Roll smaller and lighter items inside heavier ones to make one big roll instead of lots of small ones. For an even more organized luggage, pack the same kinds of smaller items like socks, underwear and accessories in one bag (like a Ziploc). Take out as much air as possible to mimic a vacuum-packed pouch and you won’t have to deal with having your knickers and whatnots hanging around come security check time.

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