Know when to fold 'em. 

​Know when to walk away;

And know when to run

When our youngest daughter's favourite bear and shoes went walking we knew something was slightly amiss.

We stumbled through with a second-rate pair of shoes and a stand-in soft toy. 

Then when she got low on socks and smalls, I had to get to the bottom of it - so to speak.

I found our five-year-old's Hello Kitty suitcase neatly packed with all of her travel essentials - including Fairy Bear - for a family trip that was three months down the track!

Her pants were packed in bundles of three into four ziplock bags.

Her walking shoes, colouring book and pencil case were nestled into the remaining crevices in the compact rolly bag.

It was a work of art, much more visually pleasing than the purple Texta murals on her bedroom walls.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" I enquired.

"YouTube," she replied.

"We might have to unpack you until it's actually time to go," I said. Heading away for a weekend last month, I was closing my cabin bag in the entry when my exasperated nine-year-old weighed in on the horror of the situation.

"You haven't even rolled your clothes!" she chided.

"You can fit much more in when you roll your clothes instead of folding."

I replied: "I don't want to fit much more in."

"Well, you'll have crinkled and creased clothes!" she scoffed.

I paused long enough for her to take heart.

"Don't worry, you can pack right for the holiday in winter."

Having been the one who packed for the whole family for any trip in the past decade, the sudden interest from the under-10 set was astounding.

My nine-year-old sources Pinterest and a number of vlogs for her newfound authority on the topic.

Last week, when I gave the all clear to our daughters to finally pack their bags, the eldest was not keen.

"I need to video it and the light is not good this afternoon," she said.

"I'll do it in the morning."

Turns out it's a heavy burden to pack right and in the best light.

I cannot blame the light for my last-minute approach.

I had only packed things for our faraway friends and family: Rutherglen muscat, T2 tea, Uimi merino scarves, The Northern Folk CDs, Swans guernseys and Australian fiction and magazines.

Already low on space, I found I had to break with folding tradition and roll all of my clothes to fit them in.

Our eldest demonstrated with a dress and then proceeded to pack my whole case.

Not wanting to miss out on the roll your own action, our youngest weighed in too.

Rest assured, any creases will come out in the wash!

On the shortest day of the year, we are heading the longest way away for a month of northern lights.

The only thing we all agree on - we need to pack a lot in to our overseas trip.