The good news: You’re going on a trip! The bad news: You have to pack.

Knowing how to pack for a trip—whether for work, for fun, or a little of both—can be damn near impossible to get right. Either you overpack and wind up wondering why you thought that three-piece tuxedo would be necessary to lug to your folks’ house in Indianapolis for Thanksgiving, or you underpack and find yourself running to a mall in Toledo just before closing time the night before a huge presentation to a new client to buy new versions of half of what you already own but inexplicably left out of your bag like shoes, shirts, toothpaste, hair gel, and underwear.

Enter: Hitha Palepu. As a former exec for an international pharmaceutical company and avid traveler, she’s flown nearly a million miles and packed countless suitcases for all kinds of trips. She’s also a Style Girlfriend travel contributor (holla), new mom, and new author. That’s right; she literally wrote the book on packing, and it’s coming out in March.

We talked about everything from the eternal ‘rolling vs. folding’ debate to the most overhyped travel destination (sorry, Tulum).

Listen to the latest episode of Undressed featuring How to Pack author Hitha Palepu here, and check out the highlights below: 

• 2:10 – On becoming a new mom and new author in the same week
• 4:13 – Who packs smarter, men or women?
• 6:34 – The importance of downsizing when it comes to travel
• 7:50 – Why you never want to eat at the hotel restaurant in a new city
• 9:24 – How not to be an a**hole in the TSA line
• 13:59 – A science lesson from Hitha on the importance of hydrating pre-flight
• 16:20 – And now, a word from our sponsor! Evolution of Style
• 18:12 – In-flight drinking…how much is too much?
• 21:00 – Tips to survive a long flight
• 25:38 – Quick hits!

Pre-order her book, How to Pack, here.

A couple notes: 1) We recorded this episode at a co-working space that is usually super dead in the late afternoons but on this particular day was crazy jam-packed. Please excuse the background ruckus, and 2) in listening back to the introduction, I worry I sound like I’m making light of the recent travel restrictions happening in the United States. I promise you I’m not, and I’m sorry if anyone feels offended by my coming off flippant. It’s a weird time; I think we’re all dealing with it as best we can.

Listen to episode 25 of Undressed featuring “How to Pack” author and SG travel contributor Hitha Palepu

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And be sure to check out our sponsor, Evolution of Style. The custom suiting company helped get Style Girlfriend off the ground (listen to the episode for their role in our origin story!), and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with them for Undressed.

(Interested in sponsoring Undressed? E-mail [email protected] for more info)