I am not proud of it, but on a recent three day trip, I used an entire packing cube on 13 pairs of underwear. To no one's surprise, I used merely a third of what I packed. I'm hardly the only person to do this-on TikTok, there are dozens of videos discussing the very common phenomenon of overpacking underwear. The reason we do this-pack underwear as if we may never come home again or encounter a department store-is to make ourselves feel prepared for our journey.
I'm what you would call a chronic overpacker. In fact, up until about two months ago, you might have thought I didn't know the meaning (or existence) of carry-on luggage. My Away suitcase was checked ahead of every flight, even if said trip was a quick 24-hour stint. Trust me, I found a way to fill it. My over-packing problem, though, is the very reason I found myself in Target's travel section on the hunt for a relatively inexpensive carry-on.