I am pretty sure everyone struggled in getting everything (they thought) they needed inside a luggage, which could not exceed something like 23 kilos (I'm guessing it's 50 pounds for our fellow Americans). Prior our exchange we don't exactly know what we may or may not need and so we feel like we have to bring everything with us. Many exchange students made this mistake in the past and I don't want new exchange students to do the same. 

Bring Only What Is Necessary.

Thankfully, my American parents told me not to bring too much stuff, because I could have bought everything once abroad. Since we don't know how we will react to a new kind of weather, we don't know if we will get fat (or even how much) and we don't know if our outfits will fit with the culture of our country, simply bring what it is necessary. For example, I was going to spend my exchange in Colorado, so when I had to pack I obviously did not pack a winter jacket because that would have taken half of the space in my luggage. I could not wear it either because Italy is really hot in August and I did not want to arrive in the USA and hug my American family all sweaty.  I wore my Rotary Blazer, which was still light because there were only a few pins on it, so I was sure I was not going to lose any of them. I simply got everything I needed for the winter in Colorado, which was cheaper anyway than buying things in Italy.

Bring The Same Amount Of Stuff You Would Bring To A Short Vacation.

I know that the thought of having to pack your whole life in a luggage is driving you crazy, so simply do not bring too much. I think it is better to go abroad with only one big luggage and a carry-on. The amount of money you would spend to add a second bag can be used to buy the clothes you will need later on exchange. And I suggest you leave your home country with only one big bag because when your exchange will be over, you will have double of the stuff you arrived with.

Packing After The Exchange.

Now, this is the trickier part because you will have to pack everything you brought from your home country but also everything you accumulated in your host country. If you did not know how to pack your whole life in a bag, imagine having to pack two lives into one bag. You brought a lot of stuff abroad because you thought you needed everything but the truth is that you will end up buying clothes and things in your host country, even if you have everything from your home country. You cannot avoid it. You will also receive gifts from people, souvenirs, and everything else, and you will have now to decide what it is more valuable and what you need to bring home. 

This is my personal experience: I arrived in the USA with a big bag, my laptop, and a carry-on. I left the USA with two big bags (I literally thought that one of them was going to explode), a backpack that weighed 11 kilos, and a carry-on, but I still had to leave some things behind or even worst, throw them away. From the baggage claim to the arrival, it was just a short walk but I literally did not know how to bring everything in one trip, so I started to push everything until I walked through the gate and saw my family. They didn't even move to help me so I was like wtf, but I eventually found out that it was just because they wanted me to notice that my best friend was there with a huge poster and wanted to surprise me.

Packing Tips.

I will briefly tell you what made packing easier for me. First of all, rolling your clothes is better than folding them. By doing so, you will also reach the corners of your luggage and will save space.

Another life saver is a vacuum pack. My luggage was already full when I only had put 16 kilos in it, but I was allowed to bring 23 kilos, so what I did was putting my clothes in a vacuum bag, sealing it, and suck the air out with a vacuum cleaner. 

One thing that people do is to divide their luggage into sections and use them for each different kind of clothing. Instead, I think it is a better idea to fill up dead space with underwear and socks rather than putting them all on one side of the luggage. 

An important tip is to put the heavy stuff in your carry-on. For instance, for my latest trip I put shoes in my carry-on because shoes take a lot of space and they are heavy, and since most of the time they don't weigh carry-ons, it worked out great! 

Organize your electronics and your bathroom essentials in smaller bags or pockets of your backpack, so when you get to customs you can easily reach them and take them out.

Last but not least important is to put at least one outfit in your carry-on. If the first half is full of shoes, use the second one to put a pair of underwear, a t-shirt, pants and so on because you never know what can happen to your big bag. Sometimes checked bags lose their connection flights and it takes days before it arrives at your final destination.

I hope that these tips and suggestions will help you out making better decisions when it comes to packing for your memorable exchange. Please feel free to drop a comment if you have more things to say, like secret hacks and such.

- Cris