Pack Smart: 5 Essential Tips for Traveling
Summer is almost here and that means a lot of us will hit the road and head out on vacation. Some of us are over packers, some of us are under packers, some of us don't even pack ourselves. How do we pack and travel smart?
When you're traveling you don't want to overwhelm yourself with packing clutter, you only want to pack the essentials and the necessary items.
1. Make a list.
This should be the first step of packing for any trip. Include of of the things you use on a regular basis that you always have in your house - toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, brush, floss, phone charger, etc. Those are often the things we forget when we travel.
2. Pack by outfit.
I find that the best way to ensure I don't over or under pack is by planning my outfits. For the most part, you know what your trips will entail - beach, dinner, exercise, sleep, lounge, etc.. Plan for each part of your day and decide your outfit. With this method you should always pack one to two extra outfits depending on how long you are away. You can plan for weather and certain things, but you never know what will come up. You don't want to have prepared so well that you can't acclimate to any unforeseen circumstances.
3. Bring only what you know you'll use.
This one is key. Sometimes when we travel, we bring things that we never actually use in our day to day, but we think we will all of a sudden feel a need to use it when we travel. We won't. Vacations or work trips or whatever your purpose of travel - typically won't give you the opportunity or push to pick up that new hobby. It also won't encourage you to wear that dress you bought 4 years that you haven't worn yet - but this just might be the time to wear it. Think before you pack. Pack what you already use, wear and know.
4. If you're flying - pack clothes in your carry-on.
This one is pretty common knowledge - if you are flying and checking luggage, pack some clothes in your carry on in case your luggage decides not to travel with you. I also highly recommend packing clothes even if you don't check luggage, as you never know when you might be forced to check your bag at the gate. I am speaking from experience on both of these things that it does happen, and it happens often. Be prepared for anything.
5. Pack snacks.
Don't laugh. It's true. How many times have you been traveling - whether by road or plane - and you get hungry but the next rest stop is 85 miles away or you have 10 minutes to get to the gate and the Starbucks line is very long, or worse, they ran out of bagels (True story)! When you pack snack (only your favorites of course), you know you won't go hungry, and you save some money in the process. When we travel, we spend so much money on food - packing snacks can help cut down that cost, even just a little bit.
Pack smart. Pack light. Don't forget the essentials.
I hope you enjoyed some of my favorite packing smart travel tips!
-Shannon