Photo: . I first encountered packing cubes in the year 2015. A friend was traveling around the country with a backpack , and when she crashed on my couch and unpacked it, a neat stack of boxy mesh pouches kept her clean and dirty clothes separated and organized on the coffee table. It seemed like such a good idea that when I started traveling in earnest myself, packing cubes were the first items I purchased. Over the past decade I’ve tried out numerous brands and styles, from bulk-purchased