Packing Tips Never Get Old

Just when you think you have packing figured out, you hear new packing tips.

Why? There’s nothing about packing that changes. It’s not that packing changes, it’s our free time that changes. We’re always looking for ways to streamline mundane processes like packing.

An anecdote

In a few weeks I’ll be heading out to Costa Rica on a group trip with my ladies-only travel squad. One of my friends has been packed for a month. The other vows that she won’t pack until the night before.

She proclaims that she can’t be that organized.

As a matter of fact, she’s adamant about it. She loves traveling but she hates packing. By the time I’m done sharing my packing tips with her, IN PERSON, she will change her attitude.

Right now, she’s a packing atheist. I’m 99.8% confident that she doesn’t have these packing tips in her arsenal. When she sees how simple it is to pack after putting a system in place, she’ll feel like a packing rockstar.

Packing Tip #1: Pack Early

I get it. A large percentage of us moms are last-minute. We have so much going on that we either tend to forget or we adapt the “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it” attitude. Admittedly, it’s a personal mantra of mine.

Yet, I also love getting things out of the way. Packing is one of them.

In the video below I go into a neat trick you can employ that will force you to pack (at least some of) your clothes early.

Packing Tip #2: Use Packing Cubes

Packing 201: packing cubes are your friend. I don’t know how I survived life not having packing cubes all this time. I love packing cubes no matter what size shape or manner they’re in. Several years ago I spoke to the beauty of using space saver bags. And although I think vacuum sealed bags are cool because you can get more clothes in a bag and use a fraction of the space you would if you didn’t have the bags.

Packing cubes are different. They help with organization and compartmentalization, especially when you are sharing your luggage with someone else.

All packing cubes are not created equal. I own sets from Eagle Creek, Travelon, and Victorinox Swiss Army. Of the three I have a definite favorite. From the picture you can tell which one. Find out in the video below why.

Packing Tip #3: Lists are your Friend

I’m always talking about lists. They simplify your life. Lists keep you organized. They remind you what to do.

Packing 101: Packing lists are the bomb. They help to turn the packing process into a well-oiled system. No thinking about what essentials to bring. Lists help to keep you on track to remember everything.

I designed packing list cards when my children were little. I made them for the whole family. I always used pen and paper to create a list every time I traveled. My husband wanted me to pack for him as well.

That. Was. Not. An. Option.

I had to remember items for a baby, a preschooler, and for myself, in addition to managing the travel plans. The best option was to create reusable pre-formatted packing cards for everybody. This way we could leave the cards in our luggage.

Whenever it was time to pack, all we had to do was grab our cards and work from the list.

Even the kids had their own list. I wanted to empower them from an early age to be savvy organized travelers.

If you want to do the same for your children, grab a set of the family packing list cards. You’ll thank me for it later.

Packing is just one part of the overall journey when we travel. The sooner you create an easy system for it, the easier it will become for you.