How a packet travels in a network

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Accepted Answer

A packet travels in a network by being encapsulated at each layer of the OSI model and then routed through switches and routers.

Packet is created at the application layer and then encapsulated with headers at each subsequent layer (transport, network, data link).
Packet is then transmitted over physical medium (copper wire, fiber optic cable, wireless) to the destination.
Routers and switches use IP addresses and MAC addresses to forward the packet to the correct destination.
Packet may be fragmented and reassembled along the way if it is too large for the network's maximum transmission unit (MTU).