Travel Packing Tips And Hacks – Packing for a trip, whether it’s a long weekend or a 6-month world tour can be stressful. Although I’ve talked about my favorite travel clothes for women to wear, I’ve never given my two cents worth of travel tips abroad. I have been traveling for over 10 years on everything from winter vacations in Europe to summer adventures in Mexico, from short 2 day trips to serious 5 months across Asia.
Needless to say, I tried many travel maps along the way. Some are absolutely fantastic and some are horrifying. It’s designed for travelers who want to take all the essentials but don’t feel pressured to pack everything. I am by no means a wrist strapper and I am fine with that.
Travel Packing Tips And Hacks
One of the best ways to make sure you don’t overpack (or underpack, and that’s probably a thing for some people?) is to plan what you’re going to wear for each day of your trip. It’s really easy if you’re only going somewhere for a week or less. But it is easily done for long journeys as well. Think about whether you will be able to do laundry while you are traveling. If that’s an option (and it always is), you really only need to wear it for a week to 10 days.
How To Pack Like A Pro (plus Your Ultimate Packing Checklist)
When you plan your outfit not only do you wear the right clothes, but you also basically take all the stress out of every morning of your trip because you only have a limited number to choose from.
While most of the world has probably already told you about packing cubes, I prefer to use smaller bags to organize my stuff. Mostly because I already have the small bags, but they are also very useful and I think they are much more beautiful than the general packing cubes that you can find on Amazon. Although if you came here looking for a cube recommendation, most of my friends love these Eagle Creek Packing Cubes ($22.99).
For my makeup, I swear by Pamela Barsky canvas bags. They are fun, stylish, easy to clean and the perfect size for travel. They promise never rice
I use small bags, usually the kind you get as a free gift at the makeup counter, to put dirty underwear, toiletries, first aid supplies and jewelry. I don’t worry about packing my clothes because the next tip is much better than packing your clothes.
Ultimate Packing List: Travel Checklist & Vacation Packing List
I have been a fan of recording for many years. I actually only joined the layers group two months ago. It’s amazing how much space you create when you lay your clothes flat instead of folded. Obviously this only works if you are traveling with a suitcase, not a backpack. If you’re packing, rolling your clothes is still the best way to pack.
However, if you have a bag, start at one end and lay your clothes flat, one piece at a time, clockwise until you have even layers of clothes. It also keeps them from riding up which is always a problem I have when I roll my clothes.
It should go without saying, but if you’re wearing shoes, don’t waste space inside. I usually put socks and underwear in my shoes or bottles of delicate things like perfume that I want to protect and know won’t explode. Not only does it take up less space, but it also maintains the shape of your shoes. There’s nothing worse than hitting a nice pair of shoes in your bag to get rid of those wrinkles.
If you bring snowshoes, thick coats and big coats, pack them on the plane, don’t even think about trying to fit all those big things in your luggage!
Tips To Save Space When Packing Your Suitcase
If you’re going somewhere and you’re carrying large sweaters or jackets, wear them instead of zipping them up. A thick woolen jacket or sweater can destroy the entire balance of your bag and take up too much space. Plus, if you’re going somewhere cold, you’ll want to wear all those warm clothes when you arrive anyway.
You know when you pack your bag or backpack, then unzip it and stand up straight for it to fall? Because the scale is wrong. I used to think it was a problem that my suitcase was already heavy, then I realized that it was because I put all my heavy stuff at the top instead of thinking about it with the suitcase lying flat.
When wearing a backpack or backpack, be sure to pack heavy items near the wheels or on the back of the backpack. That way it won’t end and it’s easy to carry.
Instead, use little hacks like squeezing concealer into a contact lens case. It was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. I used to roll my entire makeup bag with a full size face cream, a full size foundation, all my brushes, and at least 6 tubes of lipstick because you never know!
Travel Packing Hacks To Change The Way You Pack
Now I buy a few lipsticks for travel because 1) I get bored of colors before I use anything and 2) they are so easy to travel with – even when I use them day-to-day in my purse. I don’t bother bringing foundation and concealer when I go somewhere hot because I’ll be working with this since I sweat so much that everything melts.
My travel makeup bag usually contains waterproof mascara, my favorite Anastasia eyebrow pencil, some of my favorite lipsticks, and my eyebrow pencil because eyebrows seem to grow faster on vacation.
This is by far the best investment I have made for my travels. There is nothing worse than wondering if you are overweight or not. This is true for your hand luggage and checked baggage. If you only pick one travel package from this list, this should be it. I bought this scale from Amazon a few years ago and the battery just died. They are cheap and easy to replace and work well now that the batteries have been replaced.
Most good scales allow you to convert between pounds and kilograms so no matter what the company tells you about the weight, there is no question. They are also really small, so you can pack them on your trip and when you’ve bought all the Mexican souvenirs, you can check the scale to make sure you don’t pay that extra.
Easy Suitcase Packing Hacks
For some reason, I resisted such purchases for years and years. It wasn’t until mid-2017, when I did a lot of one- or two-week trips, that I realized what I was missing. They make it easy to take on short trips, they’re easy to clean, you can literally carry your favorite face cream, sunscreen, bug spray, shampoo, body lotion (I can walk) without worrying about carrying 10-pounds. Agricultural production value. They also fit easily into a handbag or tote bag and don’t take up nearly as much space as your regular bottles.
It’s an AND travel pack map and hack-friendly. I used to use large freezer bags to put all my beauty products in, so that if they did explode on the plane, they wouldn’t spill over into everything else. When I started traveling more, I really started to realize how wasteful it was, I even tried to reuse it as much as possible. Unfortunately, at some point they would explode or tear and I would have to replace them.
Wouldn’t you know, they make special bags for that purpose and you can use them over and over again. The best part is that it has a lining that makes it easy to clean and the one I recently bought (this L&FY) is so cute that it fits myself and my boyfriend’s toiletries (and he loves good travel toiletries).
I have a camera bag that doubles as a purse. So we don’t have to bring both. I have a pair of comfortable, stylish, and modern hiking boots that I can wear during the day to explore and dress up at night with better makeup and clothes. I have a belt that I can wear with jeans or cinch in the waist when I go out to dinner. Wear something that you can use not only for one thing, but that will be useful for several outfits, at different times of the day, and not something that can be used during this. Leave such things at home. I am very type A when it comes to packing. I have to