Fold or Roll?

I know Perry suggested when commenting on an earlier post to give 10 days for packing. But I'm a girl and this is my first time leaving home, and I'm neurotic and, well...I decided that I'd start packing a little sooner.

The plan is not to pack completely, but to get an idea of how much actually fits in my suitcase. So here I sit with a pile of clothes on my bed and an open case on the floor. I look at the bag, then at my bed, then at my bag again.

I never really thought of myself as much of a clothes addict. I'm pretty sure there are many people with a greater love for clothes than me. I know that there are many people with a better taste in clothes than me. And yet... 

To make matters worse, I know that the clothes are just the  beginning. My books, perhaps more than the clothes, must be given room. I am, however, okay with the idea that certain books can be replaced quite cheaply when I get there and since I'd rather get the nasty clothes bit out of the way, I thought I'd start with my clothes. The books, after all, need to be neatly sqeezed between the clothes and not all lumped together, I think. I also need space for my dear hedgies, and countless other important items. I haven't decided exactly which hedgehogs I'll be taking yet, but they will probably all be in my hand luggage, so I'll worry about them later.

So here I am. Stuck with my pile of clothes. Why is it that warm clothes have to take up so much space?

And I have another question. How exactly should I pack these clothes? Do I place them in the case the way I would in a normal toggle bag, or do I position them more appropriately, knowing the bag will be turned vertically upright as  is normal with wheelie bags? Also, having a light, soft bag is all very well, but the bars of the handle are in the way a bit and affect the way the clothes lie.

My greatest uncertainty is whether I should roll or fold them. A while back, someone advised me to roll up all my clothes; "it takes up much less space". In theory that makes sense. But does it really take up less space? I think for small and thin clothes like t-shirts the answer is yes. But as I look at my rolled up corduroy trousers and jerseys, I'm starting to think that flat folding might be more economical after all. One advantage of folding over rolling is that rolling takes up a lot more energy and effort. For rolling to be efficient, you need to roll the clothes tightly so there are no unwanted air gaps. And some of the more thickly rolled stuff is rather fond of unrolling itself as soon as you're not looking, undoing all the hard work you just pout into rolling it in the first place.

Perhaps the solution is a combination (those are generally the best types of solutions, if treated correctly). I think I might start off folding the larger items flat, and then rolling and tucking in smaller items in the gaps. Unfortunately that still leaves the question of what happens when the bag is turned upright on its wheels. I guess my poor clothes are going to need a good amount of ironing on the other side.

*sigh* Why is packing so complicated? I think I'd much rather sit around drawing syntax trees, reading ERP studies or translating Plato than packing. 

I guess it's a necessary evil. Having taken a break to type this out has cleared my mind a little. It's back to figuring out how much actually will fit in my case now.

Images from Microsoft ClipArt