Travelling is great. Whether for a business trip or for a vacation, you can enjoy seeing new places and doing new things. The packing for the trip however, can be intimidating. To make things easier, here are some packing tips for trips and travelling that you may or may not have heard of before:
Roll Over, Clothes
A good way to protect your clothes from looking wrinkled and days-old is to use the ‘rolling’ method of packing that backpackers live by. Working well with pants and sporty shirts and skirts, you start by laying the item face down, folding in the sleeves and rolling them from the bottom up.
Protect Your Pictures
Keep your film in your carry-on luggage, since the screening equipment used for the checked luggage will damage it. If the film is going to pass through more than five x-ray machines, ask to have it be hand-checked.
Label Your Goodies
If you’re taking a laptop computer or a travel DVD player, make sure to label it with a business card or other information that would identify it as yours. This prevents accidental switches in cramped flights or bus rides. LABEL your laptop computer.
That’s A Wrap
If you buy gifts for your friends and family while on your trip, wait on wrapping them until after you make your way back home. Sometimes wrapped gifts will need to be opened for inspection.
Just the Facts Ma’am
Just in case the worst might happen and you lose all of your important information, make a back-up before you leave on your trip. Scan your important documents, like your passport photos and paper tickets, or even the “lost card” numbers on the back of your credit cards. File these images in your web-based email system so you can access immediately when they’re needed most.
We’ve Got Your Back
If you’ll be backpacking during your trip, a good tip is to store the lighter items on the bottom and the heavier items on the top. This allows for a more forgiving weight distribution, and will make the backpack feel lighter. Having the dirty clothes packed at the bottom is an ideal choice.
A Suitcase Divided…
A cheap and convenient way to put a divider in your suitcase it to use a piece of cardboard. This allows you to lay your clothes out flat on the cardboard, and makes it easy to remove sections of your packed luggage for easy inspection.
Turn Things Around
If you’re packing things that run on batteries, there’s a good chance that those things will get turned on, either by accident or during inspection. A good way to prevent the item from being left on the entire traveling time, and thereby having the batteries drained, is to turn the batteries around backwards before you pack them.
Carry On My Wayward Traveler
Keep the important things with you in your carry-on luggage. Things like medications and important documents, as well as a fresh change of clothes can be a life-saver during long or unplanned layovers. Sometimes bags don’t always travel with the passengers, and it’s a good idea to have the necessary things with you if the bags don’t make it.
For International Hygiene
Some international destinations don’t allow any liquids to travel at all. To plan for this, look online for shampoo bars and tooth powder to make up for the liquids you might not be taking
