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Pack Like a Pro
Use these travel packing tips to streamline your travel packing process. Pack lighter, smarter, and faster with these tips, tricks, and hacks.
Read: Travel Packing 101, How to Pack Your Luggage
Read: Best Tips to Pack Light on Your Next Trip
50 Travel Packing Tips, Tricks, and Hacks
Tie a colorful ribbon or fancy duct tape to the handle of black luggage
Keep all items you will need at the airport in easy reach
Photocopy all travel documents and keep a digital copy in the cloud
Take a picture of your checked bag to show the airline if it is lost
Hide a little bit of money in your suitcase and hope you won’t need it
Do not leave packing to the last minute, you might have to run to the store for a forgotten item
Use a packing list
Check the airline’s luggage rules
Never check essential items, such as chargers
Purchase a medium-sized suitcase and force yourself to pack light
Do not expand the luggage before you leave
Save enough space for souvenirs
Create a capsule wardrobe of lightweight clothing around a color palette with mix and match options
Lay your clothes out on the bed before you pack, put half of them away
Pack by outfit and leave that skirt that doesn’t match anything home
Bring a weeks’ worth of clothes, no matter how long the trip is
Don’t pack an equal amount of tops and bottoms, it’s easy to re-wear bottoms
Do not pack anything you will wear only once
Save space and avoid wrinkles by rolling your clothes
Bring along an empty squirt bottle to spray the wrinkles out of clothes
Pack a few packets of single-use laundry detergent and a stain pen
Bring only comfortable shoes and place them in a shoe bag or cover them with a shower cap
Pack one pair of comfortable shoes and flip flops for the hotel room and pool
Pack sweaters and jackets in reusable compression bags
Shrink dirty clothes in a compression bag
Use color-coded packing cubes to organize belongings of each family member
Place a dryer sheet in the bottom of the packing cube to keep clothes smelling fresh
Wrap fragile items in socks and stuff them into shoes
Follow TSA 3-1-1 policy for liquids even when you are checking your luggage
Ditch the fancy toiletry bags and go with clear allowing you to see what you’ve packed
Refill toiletries after each trip and keep them prepacked
Add a piece of plastic wrap under bottle caps to prevent spills
Ask for sample sizes at the makeup counter and pre-pack basic make-up
Fill contact lens cases with liquids or gels
Place a cotton ball in your blush and compact to protect from shattering
Store your curling iron in an oven mitt
Reuse an old prescription bottle for cold pills
Use scarves and jewelry to dress up outfits
Buy a roll-up jewelry organizer
Pack earrings in a 7-day plastic pill container
Thread necklaces through a straw and clasp before packing to prevent tangling
Use old chap-stick containers for pills, pill bottles for Q-Tips, and tic tac bottles for bobby pins
Bring a plastic grocery bag or large Ziplock bag for wet bathing suits
Use a zippered pillowcase to store dirty undergarments
Pack the heaviest items at the bottom of the luggage, usually shoes or jeans
Swap out 2 outfits with a travel companion in case your bag is lost
Purchase an international adaptor with 4 USB plugs
Pack a safety door stop, safety whistle, and a small flashlight
Do not pack anything “just in case you need it”, you can buy it if you need it
Stash an extra-large garbage bag in your suitcase in case you get caught in a rainstorm
Travel Packing Essentials
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