Packing for your trip is stressful and usually the thing you look forward to the least. Trying to pack everything you need in a small space can be daunting. Fortunately for you, we’ve developed our own packing hacks to make your next trip a breeze!
Decide What Kind of Packing Is Necessary
Whether you’re taking a trip or vacation, your packing approach will be vastly different. Packing for a trip, where you’ll be moving around to different locations will cause you to live out of your suitcase. Contrast this to a vacation like a resort or beach where you have a more lax approach to packing as you’re able to unpack your entire suitcase once you arrive.
Check Your Airline’s Baggage Restrictions
It’s always smart to know the rules of the airline you’re flying on to maximize your ticket’s value. Traveling domestically in the US on the larger airline carriers *typically* allows one small personal item and one carry-on item.
Baggage restrictions tend to become more strict as you travel internationally. For instance, many budget European airlines provide one personal item (for under the seat) and charge you for a carry-on item. The net savings for these budget airlines are well worth it, so we recommend you shop around once you’re across the Pond.
Many of these budget airlines have strict size requirements, so we recommend you check their website to ensure you’re not charged at the last minute for not planning appropriately. Do not take these limitations lightly – we’ve seen airline agents pull out measuring tapes and deny customers if their carry-on is too large. Do your research and use a measuring tape of your own!
Two more tips regarding airline baggage restrictions:
- Your wheels count towards the overall height of your bags – don’t measure just the compartment of your suitcase but the entirety of it. Sometimes this can be make or break for your baggage requirements.
- Budget airlines will charge you based on your checked baggage, but paying for these at the time of booking will usually save you $$$ instead of last minute at the airport.
Mark Your Luggage
Growing up, Mrs. Thrifty’s mom always had brightly colored luggage and ribbons on the handles. We’ve taken this tip to heart as we’ve traveled the world. These little differences can make a world of difference when trying to differentiate your bag in the sea of black bags at baggage claim.
Here are some of our other favorite ways to mark your luggage:
- Bright colored duct tape – you can pick these up at outlets such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, or Target. Placing a large strip on the side of your suitcase will help you identify it quickly.
- Bright or fun luggage tags – Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, and Target have luggage sections that have cute, bright, and fun luggage tags. The brighter and more obnoxious the better! We’re currently using bright orange tags that are easy to spot from across the terminal.
- Cloth ribbons – tie a ribbon to one handle on your suitcase. Make sure it’s cut short, at most 6 inches on each side, so it doesn’t get caught in the machinery. You can re-purpose old ribbons found around your house that you won’t use again.
If you really want to differentiate yourself, you can create a custom piece of luggage with a picture on it that is specific to you. We haven’t gone this far yet, but we’ve seen some interesting pieces of luggage in the airport with pets or their favorite sports team. You could even go as far as this guy!
Packing Cubes
Packing cubes will change your life. They usually come in packs of 3/4/5 for less than $20 that come with different sizes. When you’re using your packing cubes, put similar clothing together:
- Smallest cube – undergarments, socks, pajamas
- Medium cube – tops/shirts
- Medium cube – bottoms/pants
- Large cube – coats, sweaters, jackets, rain coats, etc.
You can also use your cubes to pack by day when you’ll be on your trip. When you get towards the end of your trip, consolidate the cubes and start using one for dirty clothes. This makes it incredibly easy when you get home to open a cube and dump it into the washer.
Random Packing Hacks
- Keep in mind how your suitcase moves when packing. Packing your shoes at the top will push everything below it as the suitcase is standing upright. Our rule of thumb is to pack the heavy stuff at the bottom (by the wheels) and lighter as you go towards the top.
- Rolling your clothes instead of folding them will keep them wrinkle free and it saves space.
- Socks, underwear, belts, etc, can be consolidated and packed inside shoes or hats that take up space. Be creative!
- Bring a few plastic bags with you on a trip – you never know if you’ll need them for muddy shoes or a wet swimsuit to avoid ruining the rest of your clothes.
- Double wrap small toiletries. Pack them once in a small ziplock bag, then aggregate all your small ziplock bags into a larger one. That way if one blows up, it won’t affect all of them.
- Find a toiletry bag with a hook so you can hang it up in any place you go for easy access.
- When packing toiletries, cut small squares (approx. 3″x3″) of cling wrap. Unscrew the top of the toiletry bottle and place the square over the opening, then re-screw the top and you have an extra layer of protection. If you can’t tell, we prefer to avoid toiletry messes on our travels.
What are some of your favorite packing hacks? Get in touch and let us know!
