Getting ready for traveling, you’re filled with emotions. You are excited about the adventure that awaits you. At the same time, you feel stressed about getting everything you need ready for your trip because there are many things to pack.
Preparing well and ensuring you have your essentials is key to having a fun and stress-free trip.
Here are excellent travel packing hacks so that you can prepare for your next adventure.
Clamshell Bag
You will want to invest in a bag or backpack which suits your needs and comfort. As well as comply with airline baggage allowance.
One of the key things when thinking of the type of bag to use for efficiency and ease is to make sure your bag opens up all the way around. Or, at the very least, it opens up wide enough for you to be comfortable packing all your items in it.
Being able to open up your bag in a clamshell way allows you to maximize your space usage since you have direct access to all the space in your bag.
It makes it easy for you to organize your items, will enable you to see all the things you’ve packed and have access to all your items easily.
Backpacks are another great option. It is recommended that you use one which has at least a chest strap or belt strap for comfort, ease of carrying, and of course, making sure you don’t break your back.
Whether it is the hardshell or softshell case, it really depends on our preference. Many people suggest using a softshell because it has more flexibility, and you can pack more into it.
On the other hand, a hardshell case is sturdier and will keep your items inside it more protected.
Another benefit to the hardshell case is that the size doesn’t change if you stuff it and then close it.
Whereas the softshell cases can get bulkier, and if you don’t check the dimensions of your bag before getting to the airport, it may not meet the baggage allowance of the airline.
Bag With Great Wheels
The carry-on bag you are using should have great wheels on them. Having an excellent smooth set of wheels makes traveling more efficient.
You can breeze through any type of flooring, allowing you to move freely. Using a carry-on with 4 spinning wheels saves you from shoulder pain.
Lightweight Bag
Using a lightweight bag allows you to maximize your weight allowance, as well as less weight for you to carry on unnecessary waste.
Some carry-on bags weigh quite a bit, and by the time you put one or two items in it, you could already be over the maximum weight allowance.
The smaller planes have less weight allowance for carry-on bags, so every pound (ounce) counts.
Know Your Baggage Allowance
Flying with North American airlines allows for more weight allowance since the planes are larger. When you travel to other countries, you definitely want to be sure that your baggage allowance meets their requirements.
The weight allowance, as well as the number of bags you are allowed to carry.
It can become very stressful and frustrating when you arrive at the airport and find out that the airline has restrictions.
This can result in you having to have more expenses you didn’t account for, by having to pay for the overages of your baggage allowance.
It can put a damper on your vacation, so make sure you are aware of each airline’s baggage allowance.
Weigh Your Bag
Make sure you always weigh your bag if you don’t want any surprises at the airport.
The last thing you want to happen, is you have to step to the side to unpack items and reorganize them, so you meet the bag weight requirements. Or, having to pay the extra fee for having overweight luggage.
When you’re home, it is easy to weigh your luggage by using an at-home scale. What do you do when you’re in another country, and you want to weigh your bags?
The best thing to do is to bring with you a small luggage scale. They’re small, compact, and do not take up much space. It’s worth every penny.
You can be confident when you walk up to check-in, and your bags meet the criteria with ease.
Another benefit to knowing the weight of your bag and knowing they meet the baggage allowance is that in some airports, you can do your check-in at the kiosk. It is more efficient and much faster than waiting in line to check in with a customer service representative.
Compress Your Clothes
Rolling your clothes is a great way to compress the air out of your clothing, and this allows you to be able to pack more into your bag.
There is also a way of folding called the Konmair method, and by folding your clothing this way, it can stand up on its own.
This method is great because you can see all your items when you open up your bag. It presents your articles of clothing in a neat way, and at the same time, you can compress them in your suitcase much better.
It’s space-saving and time-saving, allowing you to be able to choose your outfit without pulling everything out of your suitcase. That is if you like leaving your clothes in your bag.
Rather than taking out all your clothing, you can access your clothes easily and quickly.
Especially when your trip is over, you won’t have to repack everything, since some of the items you didn’t use are still in your suitcase.
Use Packing Cubes
Packing cubes are great because they keep your clothes organized and you don’t have to worry about your items in your luggage flying out of the case when you open it.
The best packing cubes to use are the ones that compress. You can keep your clothing organized, and at the same time, you can compress the air out.
Combining rolling or Konmari folding will provide you with more space in your bag to pack more items.
A neat thing about packing cubes is that you can keep your clothing inside of them, and just take the whole pack out of your luggage, and they become their own drawers.
This makes things easy as well for repacking. Especially, if you have clothing you didn’t end up wearing, you don’t have to do much folding, since they remain in the packing cubes.
Don’t Pack Big Items in Your Carry-on
There are many tips and hacks online which say to wear your heaviest clothing and not to pack them. It’s not bad advice, but if you’re more comfortable wearing joggers or tights, instead of jeans, then you should.
The most important thing is your comfort when traveling.
The items you should leave out of your bag would be things such as your travel pillow, coat, and any big headphones.
These items take up too much space in your bag. For example, if you have those big headphones, you can keep them around your neck, and you can hang your coat over your bag.
Once you are on the plane, you can put your jacket in the overhead compartment with your carry-on bag.
Bring an Extra Bag
There are very light foldable bags that you can pack, and they don’t take up much space.
It’s good to have an extra bag when you travel so that you can bring a lighter bag with you on your daily adventures.
Instead of carrying around a heavy bag, you can bring this lighter bag around and only bring with you the essentials you need for the day.
It’s also handy if you go a little overboard with shopping and realize that you don’t either have space or will be going over the weight allowance.
Pack Outfits
Rather than randomly picking clothes, you will take them on your trip. You should take some time and decide on the outfits you will be wearing. You will have to invest a little time to prepare, but it is all worth it.
By knowing what you will be wearing, you will end up bringing the best outfits and not overpack.
Instead of looking at things that you will be taking time out of your day to decide on what you will wear, you can make it a fun exercise. You can picture all the places you want to go and see yourself wearing the nice outfits you have picked out.
Accessorizing Your Outfits
You do not need to go entirely minimalistic to use this hack. It’s a great hack because you will be saving yourself space in your bags.
By accessorizing your outfits, you can minimize the number of clothes you bring, and each outfit can become at least one other outfit.
For example, you can wear the same pair of jeans, and dress them up with a different shirt. Or you can have the same tank top, and it can look different by adding a little scarf.
Wearing neutral colors work well. Black, grey, and dark blue are great options. No one can even tell you’re wearing the same thing in your photos.
Clothing Freshener
Keeping your clothing fresh can be done by using sachets, Air Purifying Bags, or dryer sheets.
If you prefer something without any scent, then use the air purifying bags, and find the smallest lightweight ones you can find.
Sachets and air purifying bags are reusable, healthier, and better for the environment.
Wrinkle Release Spray
To make the most of our bag, we are most likely stuffing our clothes in there, and a few pieces may get wrinkled.
For taking those lovely photos, we want to look our best. If you want a hack to remove wrinkles without taking time actually to iron your clothes, you can bring a wrinkle release spray on your travels.
All you do is stray your article of clothing, slide your hands across the garment to “iron” it out, and then let it hang for a few minutes. Simple enough and easy to do.
Balance Weight on Your Luggage
Balancing the weight distribution in your bag and carry-on ensure that your bag can stay upright as well as keeps your back healthy.
Typically the most cumbersome items are at the bottom of your bag.
Keep in mind if you are using a backpack, you would want the keep the items you want easy access to at the top portion of your bag.
Lightweight and Convertible Clothing
Having clothing that can serve more than one purpose can help you minimize the items you bring on your trip.
For example, pants that can turn into shorts, tops that can be skirts and long sleeves that can turn into shirt sleeve shirts are some examples of convertible clothing you can bring with you.
Another hack is to try to pack as much lightweight clothing as possible, to minimize the weight you put in your bag and also allow you to maximize putting other items in your luggage.
First Aid Kit
Better safe than sorry. It’s also good to have a handy first aid kit with you. You never know when you’ll get a little cut somewhere. There are many compact first aid kits that you can purchase, which won’t take up too much space.
Separate Laundry Bag
Bring a separate bag to keep your dirty clothes apart from your clean ones.
It not only ensures you know which clothes are clean, but it’s also a great way to keep your room from getting messy.
You can use one that compresses the air out so that when it’s time to go home, you can pack it away quickly.
Minimize Liquids and Soap
Do your best to minimize the number of liquid items you bring. Especially if you are staying at a hotel, you will be provided with shampoo and soap.
For more extended travels and if you travel with a family, and you are staying at a hotel, you can purchase your shampoo and soap when you get to your destination.
The fewer items for you to carry, the less space for these items to take up in your bags, and also fewer things for you to remember to bring.
Waterproof Your Bag or Use a Waterproof Bag
Some bags are made with waterproof material, and they are great to use when traveling.
Now, you don’t have to go out and buy one if you are already using a decent bag.
What you can do is get a waterproof cover for your bag. They are great if you happen to come across rain, and you don’t want your bag and the items in it to get soaked.
Use Mini Containers
For your liquid items, you should transfer them into a mini container. These types of cases take up less space, a small amount usually goes a long way, and it helps you stay organized.
Many mini containers also come in their own clear bag, which will be very helpful if you have to take out your liquid items at the airport.
Tag Your Bag
Tagging all your bags may sound strange, but it will be beneficial for those times you least expect.
Aside from your checked-in luggage, you should also tag your carry-on bags.
You may have an experience when you board a plane, and you will be one of the last ones on it, and there may not be any storage space left on the overhead bin if it is a full flight.
If this happens to you, typically, the flight attendants take your bag and store them with the other checked-in baggage.
If you have a generic bag, especially a black one, they typically will blend in with other bags. Therefore, having a bright tag that you can easily recognize is very helpful.
Make sure your bag is easily recognizable by you so that you’re not guessing if that bag is yours.
Use Locks
Even if you don’t always want to lock your bag, especially if it’s your carry-on, you should bring a couple of locks. In case you decide you want to add a little more security to your bags.
Make sure you use TSA-approved locks, this ensures that if security needs to check your bag, your lock won’t be damaged.
There may be a time if the overhead bin is full and you have to check in your bag. Or, if you decide to check in your bag instead of bringing your carry-on with you in the cabin. You’ll want to feel secure knowing that you have locked up your items.
Packing Checklist
For you to be sure that you bring all the items you need on your vacation, it’s good to keep a list. If you have ever created a checklist for packing before, you will know that it is pretty much the same every time.
There might be slight differences depending on where you are traveling to. So, it is a great idea to have a list that you can always refer to when you are preparing for your trip.
Using a reusable packing list, or a digital one is very handy.
Use Shoe Bags
Keep your other items clean from your shoes by first packing your shoes into a shoe bag.
And if you pack them correctly in your bag, you can save space. You’ll be able to pack your shoes tightly in your bag.
Keep Shoes to a Minimal
Having two pairs is ideal, where you are wearing one pair, and the other one is packed. Now, if you have flip-flops, then you may get away with three pairs of shoes.
Lightweight Shoes
Shoes can be weighty and take up much of the weight allowance in your bag. Try to pack your lightest shoes, or own some lightweight, versatile shoes.
There are shoes that are categorized as zero shoes, which can be runners, they’re lightweight and compact, and they look suitable as day-to-day wear for walking.
Use Space in Shoes
You can utilize more space in your packing if you do not want to squeeze your pairs of shoes together. Put some items inside of your shoes, for example, your socks or underwear.
Cardboard Straw for Jewelry
You’re on vacation, and you want to look good. The last thing you want to do is untangle your jewelry from one another.
Use a cardboard straw to separate your jewelry from one another. You can cut up the straw for bracelets as well.
Have Liquids Accessible in a Clear Case
To keep things flowing at airport security, you’ll want to have any liquid items you bring stored in a clear case. It’s much easier to scan and look through.
For Backpacks, Pack Accessible Items on Top
Whether you do one-bag travel or use a backpack as your carry-on, make sure you put the things you tend to want access to at the top.
Have your toiletries bag close to the top of your knapsack as well, if you are asked to take it out at airport security, you can quickly grab them out of your bag.
Bag with its own laptop compartment
Owning a bag that has its own compartment to store your laptop will save you time by having easy access to it.
Especially when you are going through airport security, and you have to take it out of your bag. It will also be much faster to pack it back into your bag.
It’s also much better than having to carry around a separate bag just for a laptop. Fewer items to carry around with you.
Don’t Bring Big Hair Tools
If it is at all possible, try not to bring your hair tools. They tend to be bulky and awkward to pack and take up space you could use for more substantial items.
The one tool which isn’t such an awkward shape is a hair straightener. If you like to straighten your hair, then this may be an excellent hair tool to bring. There are straighteners, which are travel size, but they are more work than they are worth.
If you must bring something to do your hair or groom yourself, carry only one. Just make sure that there are no restrictions from the airline themselves. Especially if you’re traveling with only a carry-on bag.
Hotels and other places for accommodations usually have a blow dryer, so this is one hair tool you don’t have to bring.
Going with a more natural look is also a great option. And, your hair will get some breathing room from all the hot styling tools you tend to use frequently.
Use an Electronic Organizer
An organizer for your electronics is beneficial if you tend to have a few tech items you’re bringing since you will have multiple chargers.
Using a bag to organize your devices and charges, saves you time from having to figure out where you put your things since bags can have many compartments.
By organizing your wires and electronics this way, you can simply grab this bag and have access to all your chords and devices.
Wet Bag
Typically, when most people go on vacation, they either end up at a beach, a pool, or use a hot tub.
At the end of your trip, you may have a couple of wet items such as your swimsuit and trunks.
So you’ll want to separate them from your other clothing, so your bag doesn’t get soggy inside, wet the other items, and have a funky smell you have to deal with when you get home.
Microfiber Towel
Some people are more comfortable using their own towels rather than the hotel rooms, or they may be staying at a family member’s home. Therefore they have to pack their own towel. A microfiber towel is a great option.
Microfiber towels come in all sizes. They are lightweight and take up very little space. If you want to pack a small one to conserve space, it is possible, because they also absorb water well and dry fast.
Since they dry fast, you also don’t have to worry about a wet towel in your bag.
You can also carry around a small size wherever you travel around, to use to wipe sweat for warmers seasons. Because they are compact, many times, you can put them in a little bag and put them inside your purse or other bags.
Conclusion
Following these travel tips will prepare you well for your travel adventures. You will be organized, and there is a higher chance that your process through airport check-in and security will run smoothly.
You’ll have space in your bag to bring the items you want most and even some extra space for the shopping you might do abroad.
You will enjoy your travel more since you’re well prepared.
In the end, bring what is most important to you, which will enhance your enjoyment of your trip.
Happy Travels.