The “Reverse Nesting Method” Is a Brilliant Way to Pack Your Suitcase

I travel more often than most of my friends, so they are usually the ones who come to me for packing advice. However, a friend I hadn’t heard from in a while reached out to me after reading about the “nesting method” I started using when I plan to do more than a bit of shopping on a trip. My nesting method involves putting your fully packed carry-on inside an empty large suitcase so that you are only carrying and checking in one bag to your destination. When you’re there you can separate the bags and fill up the larger one with any items you buy on your trip.

She thought the idea was interesting, but flipped the script by telling me that she uses a “reverse nesting method” to accomplish the same goal. 

My friend lives in a small apartment with very limited storage. She has a set of collapsible Rollink suitcases that help her save space as they can collapse to be just 5 inches wide, and she stores them inside a larger suitcase she owns. Because the collapsed suitcases don’t take up much room inside the larger one, she’s also able to store other things inside.

A few weeks ago, my friend planned a shopping spree in London to refresh her wardrobe. She realized that the easiest solution to get her haul home was to travel with her collapsible carry-on still packed in her larger suitcase, the same way she stores it at home. 

The solution was genius. My friend’s collapsible suitcase fits on one side of her larger suitcase, leaving the other side completely free for the items she brought to London. She was also able to fit additional items in the spare space around and on top of the packed collapsible suitcase. That way, she only had to check one bag and had an easy way to bring her haul from London home with her. 

Once my friend arrived in the UK, she simply removed the collapsible suitcase from her larger suitcase. That way, she not only gained space in her bigger suitcase, but also had a carry-on she could use to bring home additional items. 

Although my friend is generally credible, I didn’t believe the system worked as well as she claimed because I had never seen a collapsible suitcase. I wanted to see how the reverse nesting method worked for me. I asked her to bring her collapsible suitcase over to see if it would fit in my favorite checked suitcase, an Away Flex Expandable Suitcase. To my surprise, the collapsible suitcase easily fit inside my checked bag, leaving a lot of extra space around and on top of the packed suitcase, just as she said it would. 

I examined my friend’s Rollink collapsible suitcase more closely and determined that it appeared sturdy enough to withstand frequent travel and rolled smoothly. I was sold. Since the suitcase takes up almost no space when collapsed, I decided to order one for myself. I can easily imagine using the reverse nesting method next time I travel and am excited to try it. Although I’m used to being the travel expert in my friend group, it was nice to learn such a new trick from someone else.