Towards the end of April I set off for a 6 week trip to the US. I knew I was going to be in and out of hotels almost daily for the first 2 weeks so I decided to try packing cubes. To be honest, I’d never even heard of them before they popped up on Amazon when I was searching through travel items. They were billed as ‘the ultimate suitcase organiser’. Suddenly, I needed them.
As I was to be travelling through several states, the weather would be really varied too so I had quite a bit to pack. My running stuff was going with me too, not least because when I reached Utah I was determined to emulate Forrest Gump’s epic run! (Photo at bottom of this post :-))
I bought these PRO Packing Cubes:*
First impressions were that they were super lightweight, seemed durable and the zips glided easily (pet peeve is sticky zips!) There is a mesh panel which I initially thought would be useful for checking contents but you can’t really tell what’s in there by peering through that.
I followed advice from several Amazon reviewers who suggested using the different colours of the cubes to identify contents; so, jumpers in the red cube, underwear in the yellow cube and so on. This turned out to be a great idea as after a couple of nightstops, I soon remembered what items were in which colour cube and could put my hands on what I needed super quickly.
I used one cube to pack all my chargers and leads and another for toiletries.
Here’s my case just before I zipped it up to head off to Heathrow:
I thought the cubes were brilliant. I’d check into a hotel, flip open my case and just grab the handles and lift them out.
And more importantly, I could get hold of my entire running kit in seconds, before my ‘maybe I’ll give the run a miss tonight’ mindset had a chance to kick in. Pre-cube days, I’d be travel weary and rifling through my case making a huge mess trying to find my shorts, my socks, my Garmin and everything else. It’s easy (for me, anyway) to be tempted to give in when I’m tired, thirsty and faced with a run in a unknown place.
I ended up giving over 2 entire cubes for my kit but it was definitely worth it for motivational reasons.
I used one cube in my carry on baggage for glasses, kindle, medication and all those things I’d need on the flight. The manufacturer suggests using a packed cube as a pillow on an overnight flight … maybe next time!
And finally … couldn’t resist a bit of Forrest Gumping! Pulled my running gear out of the car, wriggled into it and just set off like a looney. Felt a total muppet but passing cars seem to be used to it 
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