PACK IT IN

Posted on 11/10/2015

It may surprise no one that men and women pack differently. Let’s start with the underwear.  Women need calendars to pack their delicates.  They typically pack a pair for every day they are away plus a spare.  Men grab a handful from their underwear drawer-dryer-couch and toss them in the suitcase. Math isn’t part of the ritual.

Few would be startled to hear of a gender difference when it comes to shoes. Most women say they pack two to three pairs but so do many men.  The greater difference is that 25 percent of men say they usually pack only one pair and only 14 percent of women do the same.

A survey says that overall Canadians consider themselves good packers; with 44 percent saying they start to pack at least two to three days in advance of a trip.  An admirable 32 percent start packing a week ahead.

More men wait until the night before to pack and when they do pack they are less likely to lay out their outfits on the bed to ensure the compatibility of their garment choices.

What Canadians have in common is the habit of over packing.  More than half of men and women say that they don’t wear everything they pack for a trip.

The survey identifies the folding method as being more popular among men and women than the rolling technique but there are gifted packers who are able to do both. Some women (38 percent) and some men (29 percent) have the dexterity to fold and roll within the same luggage compartment, often on the same day.

There are no reported statistics about packing for the return home.  This is where the inferior packers among us shine with the gifted in utilizing a combination of the fold, roll and squish methods.

Once our bags are packed, and we’re ready to go just over half of us weigh the luggage to be sure it is not over the weight limit.  The survey suggests that means that less than half of us “are rebels who test their luck and hope for the best when they check their luggage.”

That is a valid possibility, but it is also likely that seasoned travellers know when they are carrying a weight close to the limit.

That doesn’t necessarily make them rebels, just savvy.

Findings are based on an online survey of 1,010 Canadians conducted in a 24-hour period over October 22 and 23, 2015.