25 Ultimate Packing Hacks For Your Travels
How many times have you looked at your suitcase before packing and thought to yourself, there’s no way in hell that everything I need for my vacation trip is going to fit in here?
The good news is that instead of giving you a headache, packing can actually be a fun experience. There are many efficient and simple ways to save space in your bag and make the whole process less stressful. To learn more about these packing methodologies, check out my list of the best travel packing hacks that will come in handy when preparing for a trip.
1. Roll Your Clothes
The times of folding your clothes are definitely behind us. To save up space in your suitcase while packing for a trip, I suggest rolling your travel dresses and tees. You will see the difference straight away and never want to fold your clothes ever again.
Another tip is to take the rolled clothes and place them inside compressible plastic bags which will squeeze all the extra air and save you even more space when packing.
2. Shower Caps are Your New Best Friend
Putting a shower cap on your head won’t probably help you pack your suitcase, but you can try a different approach and use them for something else.
Shower caps can come in handy when packing for a vacation and I often use them to pack shoes and sneakers. That’s right! Since my suitcase doesn’t have a shoe divider and I don’t want to get my clothes dirty from the shoes, the thing that works best is slipping my sandals or shoes in a shower cap and placing them among my clean clothes.
I also use shower caps to wrap shampoo bottles, just in case there’s too much pressure on the bag and they leak. This prevents the other items in my makeup pouch from getting all covered in shampoo or lotion.
3. Bring a First Aid Kit
This is actually a no-brainer. To make your vacation a stress-free experience, make sure to travel with a first aid kit.
Nothing is worse than having health problems when traveling without proper medicine to help you get better. There is also a chance that a pharmacy in another state or country doesn’t have the medications you need, or sells them only with personal prescriptions.
To avoid these problems, make sure to pack things like band-aids, flu tablets, paracetamol, and tablets for stomach irritation. Also, pack extra of any regular medication that you take.
4. Don’t Forget to Pack Cubes
Tired of folding and unfolding your clothes while traveling and seeing new exotic destinations? I’ll let you in on a little packing secret. After rolling, packing cubes are one of the best ways to organize your luggage.
What I like most about these cubes is that they come in different sizes which makes it way easier to categorize your things. Whether you wish to organize your clothes by color or by clothing type, packing cubes have got you covered.
The other thing I just love about packing cubes is that you can easily put them in drawers once you reach your destination, making unpacking a breeze.
5. Always Separate Dirty Laundry
I often visit multiple destinations when traveling, which means that sometimes I might get stuck with dirty laundry. Instead of mixing them with clean clothes, I usually pack a small lightweight bag inside my suitcase and use it for dirty laundry when heading back home. It doesn’t even have to be a special bag and you can use a reusable compressible bag which can be often found in hotels.
6. Utilize Extra Space
Utilize hidden and extra space in your suitcase as much as possible. For example, I recently got myself a new backpack which has so many hidden pockets that it took me some time before finding every single one. I especially like the backpacks that have those pockets on the side where you can put your reusable water bottle.
7. Sarongs are Amazing
I strongly believe that sarongs are a major must-have for every traveler preparing to hit the road. They are useful in so many ways. You can use them as a light blanket if it gets cold on a bus ride, you can lie on them at the airport during long layovers, or use them to cover your shoulders when visiting religious sites like churches and temples in more conservative countries. You can also use sarongs for what they were really created for – while chilling by the pool.
8. Keep Your Jewelry Safe
Packing your jewelry items like earrings and necklaces doesn’t have to be a hassle anymore. Instead of getting them all tangled while traveling, I suggest putting your jewelry in one of those boxes.
There is also the option of purchasing those cool zip-top bags which are an ideal place to store jewelry and organize your precious belongings in the safest way possible.
9. Pack a Re-usable Water Bottle
Besides being eco-conscious and saving planet Earth from pollution, using a reusable water bottle has many advantages while traveling. For example, you can stay hydrated while on long-haul flights and won’t have to waste money buying bottled water on the airplane.
If you are renting a car to travel, you won’t have to stop at every other gas station and purchase water. Instead, fill up the reusable bottle from the tap.
10. Put Mini Containers to Use
Many travelers want to have their favorite body lotion and hair shampoo with them at all times. However, some of these gels and lotions take up too much space in a suitcase and many people have a difficult time packing them when hitting the road.