This is a spur of the moment blog idea inspired by a twitter friend @vansunder.

In all my travels, I’ve never had a single ceramic or wine bottle break en route - even when my suitcase was literally crushed somewhere between Rome and New York with a pit stop in Frankfurt.

Like all else, it’s best to think in advance of what you might consider bringing home. The things I usually bring home when  traveling to Italy are wine, olive oil, ceramics, and more wine (usually Vin Santo that’s difficult to find in the US). Since we can’t pack them in our carry-ons anymore - unless you do your last minute shopping at the airport just before take-off, we have to shove everything in the check-in luggage and pray to the Patron Saints of damaged luggage that they’ll arrive in one piece (is there such a Patron Saint somewhere in Italy?)

This is my short list of things I bring with me in advance:

1. 1.Thin bubble sheets. I pack them flat on each side of my laptop that I carry with me.
   

2. 2.Gallon size and larger ziplock bags. Ziplock bags should be your best travel buddies (bring some in all sizes, they’ll come in handy)
   

3. 3.Rubber bands
   

The rest of the packing supplies are things I already have with me: clothes, socks, shoes...

To shatter proof my bottles of wine or oil, I first wrap them inside a ziplock bag and seal well. This protects any outside items from the wine in case a bottle DOES break. In case of the ever present possibility of breakage, I prefer to purchase more smaller bottles of wine and/or olive oil instead of a few large bottles. It’s easier to pack in the suitcase, and if one breaks, I have more to spare.

Then I wrap the ziplocked bottle with the thin bubble sheets, and then a few layers of clothes. If I don’t have bubble sheets, I wrap the bottle with even more soft clothes like pajamas and T-shirts. I do this till I get a nice thick cocoon. You can either wrap some rubber bands around the fabric to keep it tightly around the bottle, or stick in in a clean sock if you have one large enough.

For ceramics like plates, I again wrap them thickly in clothes and secure with large rubber bands. For vases, I first fill them up with socks and other clothing items before cocooning them in more clothes. Moral of the story: bring enough clothes ;)

If the fragile objects are small enough to fit in my shoes, I pack the objects inside a small ziplock bag first, then place it in layers of socks and fit them snugly inside my shoes. Ok, these are the shoes in my suitcase, not the ones I’m wearing! :)

I never place any fragile objects around the edges of the suitcase, least of all the bottom where everything falls on top of them. Try to secure them snugly in the center of the suitcase sandwiched between thick layers of clothes, with a few less fragile items or souvenir  toting shoes towards the top of the suitcase towards the handle.  The reason I suggest the center of the suitcase is because I’ve had suitcases crushed around the edges before. Luckily, all my fragile bottles of wine were nice and safe at the center!!

The rule should always be heavier and most durable items at the bottom of the suitcase when it’s standing up, and lighter and more fragile towards the top near the handle. 

As always, I welcome any tips and suggestions I may have missed!!  These blogs are a work in progress, always growing and expanding as new information comes my way.

Happy packing!!