PACKING TIPS

• Two words: packing list. Your fail-safe way to never forget anything important.
• Leave the scissors home. Trim your mustache and cut your nails before you leave. If you really need them, buy a cheap pair when you arrive and toss them when you leave.
• To save space when packing, wrap rubber bands around charging cords for computers, cell phones, iPads, and pack them in your shoes.
• Always leave room in your bag for souvenirs. Locally produced items are the best: If you’re in Belgium, think lace or chocolate; in Ireland, think hand-knit sweaters, and so on. Functional souvenirs are preferable to purely decorative ones: clothing is often a good choice. 
• If headed to a beach destination, ditch the purse. Take a small 6 pack cooler as part of your personal item on the plane. Put your swimsuit, snacks, book for airplane reading, travel docs, and a pair of shorts into the cooler. Then off the plane and onto the beach!
• Use rubber bands when packing. You’ll be able to fit more into a smaller bag. It’s a great way to keep the clothing in your bag neat and organized.
• Pack your own healthy, TSA-approved snacks in reusable containers. Avoid paying for airport food. Refill them for your return trip. 
• To avoid wrinkles, pack blazers, suit jackets, and other lined items inside out.
• To avoid your brush from snagging or ripping something in your suitcase, cover it in a sock. 
• When packing, keep dress shirt collars neat and stiff by rolling your belt and putting it inside the neck of the shirt. 
• Pack clothing in Ziploc bags when you are running out of room in a suitcase. Then squeeze the air out… now the clothes fit.   
• If two people are traveling, split the clothing between the checked bags. If one is lost, you’ll still have a change of clothes.
• Never pack electronics, cameras, jewelry, or valuables in checked luggage. If your luggage is lost, the airline compensation usually doesn’t cover the cost.
• Bows and ribbons attached to luggage help it stand out, but they can fall off. Bright colored luggage will always stand out.
• Start your vacation off right away by packing your carry-on with a bathing suit and short sleeve shirts.
• Two words: travel size. No need to bring full size- travel size will do. Pack them in a Ziploc bag, just incase of leaks.
• Looking to buy a new suitcase? Buy one that will nest with things you already own. It will save you storage space while you travel and at home.
• Pack light! Forget dress clothes for every occasion. Dark colors, a black dress, or blue jacket will do.

• Never unpack your travel items. You probably won’t need your adapter, inflatable neck pillow, etc. in your day-to-day activities- so why bother unpacking them? Leave all of your travel items in your suitcase after a trip. That way, they’ll be in your bag and ready to go when you need them. Plus you won’t have to worry about forgetting them if they’re already packed. 
• Medicine Kit Packing List:
  Ear plugs, prescription drugs, small first aid kid (Band-Aids, Q-tips, Vaseline, Dramamine, antibiotic cream, anti-diarrhea medication, cortisone cream, aspirin), hand sanitizer, wipes, hand lotion, rubbing alcohol or foot lotion, bug spray, sun screen for body, face, and lips
  
• When unpacking at one’s destination, don’t allow belongings to stray too far from your bag, where they might be forgotten when repacking. Keep them together in a limited number of distinct areas.
  
• Place your clothes into your bag vertically so it looks like a filing cabinet; you can see the clothes you have without having to lift up or remove the ones on top.
  
• Pack items like shoes, blow dryers, and purses around the outer perimeter of your suitcase, and work your way in. Use the odd-shaped cracks between these items to tuck in your socks, bathing suits, and belts.
• When packing, store loose cables and chargers in an old sunglasses case to keep them neat and accessible. 
• Roll emergency cash and store it inside an empty lip balm container. Then, pack it with your toiletries.
  
• Always pack more tops than bottoms and stay with a color scheme. Mix and match. Make life easy. 
• Ziploc bags are your friend. Pack toiletries, wet bathing suits, and loose items in them so nothing gets wet or lost. Take extra ones along.
  
• Luggage tags with names and addresses can easily get separated. Always tape a second one inside the suitcase.
  
• When flying in the winter, wear your heaviest shoes, or boots, layer your clothing and wear your coat, thus saving weight in your suitcase for other things.
  
• If you stock up on samples of prescription creams, cosmetics, etc. given away on websites, you can leave the larger ones home.
  
• When packing, keep dress shirt collars neat and stiff by rolling your belt and putting it inside the neck of the shirt.
  
• Short on space in a suitcase? Roll. Fold your knits separately, and then roll them. The tighter you roll, the less they wrinkle.
  
  
• When packing shoes, wrap each one in a plastic bag to protect other clothing from the dirty soles.
  
• When packing to save space, bundle your clothes. Lay shorter things out east and west and longer ones north and south. Then pack around a single object, leaving the most likely to wrinkle on the outside of the bundle. It saves space and clothes will be wrinkle free.