Travel Bags

During our trip to Thailand we are experimenting with "travel bags". They are essentially heavy-duty, zip lock bags that have a special vent at the bottom. You place your clothes in them, zip them closed and then roll toward the bottom of the bag. The air gets pressed out of the clothes and can't get back in leaving a much condensed (and wrinkled) version of your belongings. Some types can also be prepped using a vacuum cleaner which sucks the air out without producing quite as many wrinkles. They appear to work fine, but the tendency is to overfill the suitcase so that it doesn't meet the weight limits. If you were a clever and careful packer before who always managed to reach the maximum weight allowed you obviously won't be able to get any more into your suitcase using these. However, you won't have to sit on it and strain the zippers just to get the bag closed. My suitcase is only about half full when my clothing is inside leaving plenty of room for shoes, condiments, etc. before reaching the weight limit.