As a last-minute packer who always stuffs my carry-on bag the night before a trip, I am curious about any way I can lessen my organizing woes. According to a new viral travel hack, “sudoku packing” might be my answer for easy repeatable outfit combinations I can create with just nine anchor pieces.
Like the grid puzzle it is named after, this organizing system uses three-by-three grids of a top, bottom and layering piece to create a total of 27 outfits from nine pieces of clothing. If you lay it out in your bed, the combinations should look like:
Top row has top, bottom, layerMiddle row has bottom, layer, topBottom row has layer, top, bottom
The “sudoku packing” term has been around since 2016, but “packing sudoku” recently went viral after multiple travelers shared their own effortless combinations for trips.
Massachusetts-based travel content creator Natalie Shaquer has popularized the packing sudoku framework.
“It takes away all of that decision fatigue,” she said. Shaquer’s video on her “sudoku packing” has been seen more than 4 million times since she first shared her outfit combinations on Instagram in February.
Recently, Shaquer put sudoku packing to the test on a three-week trip across the globe from Australia to Dallas, Texas, and Portland, Oregon ― and she still found it to be a successful hack, defying critics who say you can’t pack for long journeys with only a carry-on luggage.
Shaquer told HuffPost that sudoku packing “actually forces you to be a little bit more intentional and a little bit more real about what you’re going to do.”
“It forces you to think about what you actually like wearing, what looks good on you, and what you’re going to need for the trip,” she said.
How To Execute Sudoku Packing
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Stressed about what to pack? Try this viral travel hack.
In the last month, Shaquer has already used this sudoku packing system for four different trips. “I think so often we like to pack for a fantasy version and not the real version,” Shaquer said. But this system pushes you to be honest about what will work for your whole trip.
“If you’ve got ten tops in your closet and you’re like, ‘This is my favorite top,’ and you lay it on the bed and it’s like, well, that top does only goes with two pairs of the pants…it doesn’t make it into the grid,” she explained.
To try this out for yourself, Shaquer suggested picking your three pairs of shoes before deciding on your outfits. For Shaquer, she likes to pick a walking shoe like white sneakers, a weather-dependent shoe like sandals or boots, and the “you shoe” that brings out her individual flair like ballet flats or stilettos.
After she picks her shoes, Shaquer will apply this same mentality to choosing her tops, bottoms and layers for a trip. For layers, you could do “a weather-dependent layer, a more structured layer and a cozy cardigan-type layer,” Shaquer suggested as an example. You can make your chosen clothing pieces as colorful or neutral as you need it to be, but you need to make sure they match every combination. “You’re not going to have every color in your grid, you need to have some constraint around what you’re taking,” Shaquer suggested.
This constraint is what personal stylist Bridgette Raes recommends if you do this sudoku system. “Avoid anything overly specific or novelty-driven, because those pieces tend to limit your outfit combinations,” she said. “You can include one ‘hero’ piece, like a printed blouse or a standout color, to anchor the palette, but everything else should support it.”
Overall, Shaquer likes playing sudoku with her closet more than the popular “5-4-3-2-1” travel hack of five tops, four bottoms, three pairs of shoes, two dresses and one set of accessories because this method has “intentional compatibility.”
“Every piece goes with every other piece,” Shaquer said. Ideally, you should give yourself an hour to sift through your clothes and pack using this method, she suggested.
Sudoku Packing Might Not Be For Every Trip
Lisa Zaslow, a professional organizer with Gotham Organizers, said this packing hack can be helpful because it “gives people a structure to get started.”
“Anything that prevents people from stuffing a suitcase willy nilly is a good thing,” she said.
But it might not be for everyone. “While the math might work on the sudoku method, I know I wouldn’t want only three tops for a trip that required 27 outfits,” Zaslow said. “I often wear two tops in one day while traveling. After a day roaming about or doing an activity, I need a clean top at night. And I’m not a fan of doing laundry while on vacation.”
More than playing sudoku with your closet, Zaslow thinks the best way to prevent overpacking is to create a packing list at least a few days before your trip. This way, you can see clearly what works and what doesn’t. “You’ll think more clearly when you’re not rushed,” she said. This cuts down on packing stress and gives you time to plan what you do ― and don’t ― need to bring.”
Shaquer said you can modify the grid system to suit your needs, and you can add additional tops if needed.
“I’m certainly not espousing that everybody needs to use this,” Shaquer said. “But if this is the kind of packing that you want to do, this is something that we have not seen before.”
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