008 | 3 Tricks for Packing Efficiently for Any Trip

Jan 9

Jan 9 008 | 3 Tricks for Packing Efficiently for Any Trip

As often as I travel and no matter where I go somewhere in Atlanta or halfway around the world, there are three tricks to packing efficiently. Bonus is it makes your pack time so much faster! Here are Kelly’s three tricks to making packing easy: 1)packing cubes, 2)prepacked toiletries, and 3)”travel pack”.

The first thing every traveler needs is packing cubes. I know, I know. It sounds silly. I wasn’t a believer myself for a long time and then, I tried them. Can we say life changing?!?

Packing cubes help ensure you packed everything…not too much and not too little on top of making sure nothing is missing. They also assist you in repacking between destinations, organizing, and packing to come home. You can pack any way you prefer…by day, by type of clothing (i.e. pants, dresses, exercise, etc.), activity. I always bring a few empty packing cubes for laundry, rearranging, and souvenir packing. It keeps everything organized through any length of trip or activity.

The packing cubes I personally use are Eagle Creek. You can also find cubes at most luggage stores, Container Store, and on Amazon.

This brings to me my second trick…prepacked toiletries. So simple!

Always, always, always have a prepacked toiletry bag. In fact, I have a whole drawer in my bathroom dedicated to prepacked toiletries, specific travel supplies, and refills (shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, moisturizer, etc.). I actually keep about 2-3 toiletry bags ready-to-go: an international handbag/carryall organizer, a small set-up for a beach bag, a regular necessities bag, and even a hanging toiletry bag loaded with the works! In these bags, I group necessities of needs for different occasions.

My rule of thumb is to replenish the toiletry bags when I return home from a trip. This way, when I am packing for my next trip, it is easy as pulling the specific toiletry bags I need for that trip. Now, if I am being honest, I don’t always do the refresh when I come home as I should. Using this method, even when I don’t, it is a really fast packing trick.

The final item to consider upping your packing game is what I like to call a travel pack. I created a go-to bag of odds and ends which I keep in my suitcase (read: never unpack…yes, these are duplicate items) to bring on every trip. The beauty of a “travel pack” is it is a personalized grouping of items you need to have for an enjoyable trip. For my pack, I include a sleeping mask, wine opener and stopper (I can’t tell you how many times I have been at a hotel, rental, etc. without quality wine accessories), extra wash cloth, hair ties, and anything I choose to add. On a side note, I highly recommend going through this pack at least once of year to simplify and make sure the pieces are still valuable to your travels. (We all know how easy it is to acquire unnecessary stuff!)

These are my three recommendations to efficiently pack for any event or trip. If you don’t want to worry about packing for each and every trip, try these tricks.

So the next time you get that call from your friend, family member, or significant other with a last minute trip idea, you’ll be ready to roll! 😉

Love,

Kelly