Unpacking travel goodies: what constitutes an "empty" suitcase

Mine are stripped right back to the rafters after each trip!
Put in the laundry room on arrival home.
All clothes washed, even if I’ve brought some clean ones home.
All pockets in case emptied.
Packing cubes also washed.
Then the case is left in the garage for a few days, or outside if it’s dry and warm out.
Then all wheels and handles wiped down with disinfectant .
All airline labels shredded, not just thrown away.
Stored away clean till the next trip.
Who’s with me in doing the same?!

Probably not the left over cliff bar, but I store my stuff sacks in my bag, a corkscrew is always in there, a stash of Ziploc bags, occasionally replenished, usually some type c plug adapters, all things I will haul on the next trip likely.

I remove everything. Clothes go in the laundry, whether they're worn or not. And anything else goes where it should be, which is not in the suitcase. 😊

There are certain things that I do not want to be without or go searching for when I've forgotten them. So everyone of my suitcases has a toothbrush and toothpaste (love getting the Delta's little bags with toothbrush, etc.), ear plugs, pen, highlighter, corkscrew, brush, a couple ziplocks and a couple plastic grocery bags. For a while, I had one of those cheap plastic bag ponchos, but it got lost, and I rarely leave on a trip without a raincoat on, anyway.

This past winter (it is past, correct?). I spent 5 weeks in Australia, home 6 days, spent a week in Seattle, home 8 days, 2 weeks in Hawaii. I would take everything out of the suitcase, refill and repack for the next one. When I was home, the suitcase was open in the middle of my living room (which is by the laundry room) in the process of being repacked.

I'm now trying to decide how I want to handle airtags. I don't give them much thought anymore so when I left for Hawaii, I was glad the airtag was still in the suitcase. I have two airtags, but when I travel, I use one of three small day backpacks, and one of four carry on suitcases, I don't want to invest in that many airtags, so I'm trying to determine what it is that I ALWAYS bring on every trip so I can store the airtags there. Or else, maybe I create a list of items I want to take on every trip and then actually remember to look at it?

Doric8, you’re abnormal - LOL! Seriously, just kidding.

I’m similar to SJ. I completely empty it, let it air out, and I return it to my closet shelf with a bar of soap tucked inside for a clean smell.

I do keep my toiletry kit replenished & stored with cosmetics, dry face makeup remover, toothbrush, etc. inside if I’m traveling again within three months.

When I traveled monthly a few years for work, supporting a second site, I kept my packing cubes & toiletry kit inside the suitcase. …and became a pro at refilling tiny tubes of toothpaste!

I do something in the middle.
I take everything out and leave the suitcase open for a few days to air out. Things like packing cubes go in the wash. Then everything that's good for any/every trip goes back in the suitcase to store for the next trip.

I empty out mine completely. Mainly because of two reasons: (1) We share bags in our family. So after I return, my husband or son may be using the same bag next, and will not want to deal with my stuff in there; and (2) For my next trip, I may need to use a different sized/type bag so I don't want to have to go through the other bags to find out what I left where. So everything gets cleaned or replenished (if required) and put away in their place, waiting for my next trip!

I remove everything. Clothes go in the laundry, whether they're worn or not. And anything else goes where it should be, which is not in the suitcase.

This

Empty means empty.

I'm in the middle. Take everything out, wash & put away all clothes, wipe out suitcase, purse and tote with antibacterial wipes, let dry for a couple days. Remove batteries from clock, put chargers/cords in the a basket so I know where they are hiding, empty bath bag, drug bag, 311 bag. Then repack with things that lives in the suitcase between trips, packing cubes, packable totes, travel storage bags, laundry supplies and ziplock bags. Finally wiggle suitcase back into the closet with its friends. Also put gift souvenirs in the present drawer until I give them.

doric, I’m with you. My packing cubes do go into a RS Euro bag because I use them for trips to my husband’s deer camp numerous times a year (this comes under the things we do for love category) and I’ve never washed a packing cube, by the way. Seriously, I don’t think several of mine are even remotely washable and they only hold clean clothes for Pete’s sake!

Anyway my folding hangers, corkscrew, sometimes my cup heating coil and a few other odds and ends stay in my bag. That may or may not include a couple of small tissue packs and a ziplock of masks. Depending on how our suitcase closet is at the moment, it may get nested inside a 22” Lipault carryon or it’s slotted in with the other bags.

Another emptier here --- it never even occurred to me to leave anything in a suitcase. Maybe partly because we lend our suitcases to family and friends, partly because the suitcases are in the garage where every once in a while we find a mouse nest in some bin or bag or box. But mostly it would just feel strange to me to leave stuff in there. A habit, I guess.

I do exactly as Mardee does. Everything is emptied out and placed where it belongs.

I’ll leave a packet of tissues, travel wallet, travel flashlight after removing batteries, Bic pen, bungee chord, carabiner, packing cubes and a sheet of Bounce. So it’s never truly empty.

We use backpacks, and empty them after every trip. That's just so I don't "lose" items. I recently went through an old billfold "just one last time" before throwing it away, and found my "missing" AARP card, which had somehow slithered down into a deep pocket I didn't even know was there!

We empty every single thing out of the bags pretty much right when we walk in the door of our house. The laundry is done immediately, so we just empty the clothes in the garage and then I start the loads right then. The rest of the stuff goes upstairs into the "travel room". Lately we have not been good about organizing all that stuff, but just this weekend I got some wonderful clear organizers so all the little stuff is visible, but in easily accessible bins. The bags are empty, except every so often we leave an AirTag inside. I do refill my toiletry kit within a day or so and keep that stashed in the travel room as well. I have a separate makeup kit just for travel so I don't have to get into my daily stuff.

I've enjoyed reading the various replies.... "i put things where they belong " "what if where they belong is inside the suitcase?

I will return from my week away on Friday and my friend comes to pick up the twin bed on Saturday... I keep telling myself I can find a new place to set the suitcase to remove the laundry ( i have a marvelous vintage piano bench inside my back door) but that is not a long term parking spot because it's also where library books and out going mail are staged to leave w me of a morning.... the suitcase has lived open on the twin bed with various accessories stacked around it for years unless a guest needs to sleep there. OH, THE PAIN OF PARADIGM SHIFT

And, Paul, I'm standing in Cedar Rapids eating that well traveled cliff bar right now(been in bag since Christmas). I'll have you know it has a Best By date of 5/26/26. Oooo, that would be another raucous conversation, how rigid are we on expiration dates (related to what we pack, obviously) !!!!

Sun Baked, why are best by dates on tooth paste tubes impossible to read? And also on my moisturizer/sun screen???

Doric, you are truly a good friend. Not having a guest room bed staging spot would kill me. Today that bed has stuff for Salvation Army and a growing pile of stuff for our camping trip in May. Good luck readjusting your system.

I empty my suitcase and backpack ...and then put back the stuff I was storing in it (usually extra quilts, comforters, but also additional bags and summer shoes).

The details of living in a small Paris apartment !! There is no possibility for me of leaving a suitcase empty. It has to work for me as storage too.

I appear to have developed a wee addiction to auction-site bargains and thus accumulated numerous (as in >six) RS backpacks of varying vintage, colourway and size, plus a pair of the RS rolling hand-carries. I must empty them completely so I can then store the smaller ones inside the larger ones 😅

I have 3 bins in my closet, one for day trips, one for overnight stays, and one for international travel. Everything that's not laundry goes back in one of the bins. When it comes time to pack for international trips, I pull out all 3 and start filling up that completely empty suitcase. This way everything is organized and by going through each bin, I find just what I'll need depending on the destinations and the weather. Yes, even smaller (75ml) tubes of toothpaste, spare toothbrushes, refillable 100 gram bottles for shampoo, lotion, etc.

I put dirty laundry in a plastic laundry bag so I can simply dump everything in the hamper, and I put the clean clothes back in the cupboard.

Another bag emptier here.

Not only do I wash all clothes and packing cubes, I wash our luggage (soft-sided) and back packs in the bathtub after every long trip. God knows what those bags pick up in trains, planes, buses and streets.

Everything out! Sometimes the only thing I will keep there (which is rare) is unused ziploc bags.
I do have a few suitcases and the one I use depends on each trip. I have a medium size bin at home with my travel items (lock, eye mask, mini toiletry bottles, etc. So when I am packing for a trip, I pick a bag then I go to my bin to see what I need.

I empty my suitcase and backpack ...and then put back the stuff I was storing in it (usually extra quilts, comforters, but also additional bags and summer shoes).
The details of living in a small Paris apartment !! There is no possibility for me of leaving a suitcase empty. It has to work for me as storage too.

Kim, I feel you after many years of living in a tiny studio in NYC/Manhattan. Suitcase = closet!

Ok, today a vintage LP cabinet left that room. (Gifted to the nice young man who carried out the bed frame last weekend) I'm thinking my ironing board can be pressed into service to hold a suitcase being packed (or, more unpacked, as it is still on the vintage piano bench just inside the back door where it's been for 8 days) don't feel too badly for the ironing board, it so rarely gets used for it's stated purpose, it lived(covered in towels) in front of a window for a year so the cats would have a convenient perch to see the back yard.

The whole packing system is in flux!!!!!

My suitcase is put in a large bin bag at the car and then placed out on the balcony. If it is really hot or really cold outside, all the better. Usually, the next day, I start removing items. All cloth items go into the washing machine on hot, except for my merino wool tops and/or other delicate items. They go into the dryer on hot. Then I wash them on the delicate cycle. The other, non-fabric items, I give a good look over and put away. I then sanitize my bags and wheels, and put them away. I try to avoid any bed bug issues with this system.

The bag I used for my trip holds the usual items I use in travel; ie, toiletry bag refilled, packing cubes used the last time, etc. The other wheeled bag holds my excess packing items, which are used depending on the trip. So, my suitcase is 'empty' for a few minutes. LOL

I strip it all down and wash everything, even if it wasn’t used. I haven’t left the suitcase out anywhere to sit, though. Just wiped it down with Clorox wipes. Maybe I will do that moving forward. The thought of bed bugs makes my skin crawl. What do you all use to wipe your luggage down with?