Packing Woes and Travel Hacks

From the epic battle of folding clothes to the pleasant feeling of surprise that washes over you when you discover your bag can contain one or two more souvenirs, packing for a trip is one hell of an experience. It is one that comes with lots of laughter, and comical or outrightly annoying mishaps. But most of these mishaps can be averted when you pack like a pro. I know you do not know how a pro packs his stuff but chill, we got you covered. 

Today, we will feed you with our trusted travel hacks, most of which are so ingenious that you’ll go “Why didn’t I think of that?”. Wanna find out if I’m for real? Then come with me on this journey!

Number 1: Roll and Compress Your Clothes

One trick that I never fail to use is rolling my clothes when packing instead of folding them. Now, what’s the reason for this? Rolling your clothes before packing them into your suitcase/bag significantly reduces the amount of space taken up by your items. No one loves travelling with humongous luggage after all. 

Even better, you can use a reusable and compressible plastic bag to pack your stuff. What extra advantage do these bags offer, you might wonder. I’ll explain.

When you pack your rolled clothes into these handy travel bags, there is no extra air left in them. Every single bit of it is squeezed out. This has advantages – it prevents your clothes from wrinkling. This means you can still look presentable when you get to your destination and won’t have to bother yourself searching for an iron to use in straightening out your clothes. Most importantly, it saves you space. 

Roll and compress (inside reusable, plastic bags). Don’t fold.

Number 2: Prepare to Balance Your Bag

When I want to catch a really good laugh while travelling, I slow down a bit to watch people who failed to pack their bags in a balanced manner. Have you ever seen them? Their bags are certainly the worst-behaved bags! 

Now, you have to avoid making yourself an object of ridicule by the manner in which you pack. Try to pack your bag in a balanced fashion with your heaviest loads sitting pretty at the bottom of your bag. These items might include your shoes, bottles, heavy souvenirs and liquids. Place them at the bottom where the wheels are and then keep the lighter items on top. Trust me, your bag will be on its best behaviour till you get to your destination. It might look trivial but believe me, nothing is as annoying as a badly behaved bag. You will be frustrated, disorganised and might even topple over!

Number 3: Don’t Forget Your In-Flight Essentials Bag

If you love travelling, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to invest in an in-flight bag. It could be a small pouch. It could be slightly bigger but anything at all to avoid being that person that’s always found in the aisle of the plane, digging through your carry-on, searching for one thing or the other. This small bag will be responsible for carrying your in-flight essentials such as your phone, tablet, tickets/itinerary, headphones, chargers, pen, gum or wallet. This will make your boarding process as smooth as possible. 

In your larger carry-on, you can store away stuff like your passport, your laptop, some cash, traveller’s cheques, credit cards, jewellery, travel insurance etc.

But as for the pouch, keep it handy as you board your flight and we are good to fly!

Number 4: Travel with a First Aid Kit

I know none of us get on a journey expecting to fall sick or get diarrhoea on board but you’d be making a big mistake if you travel without a first aid kit because illness could strike at the most unexpected time! 

What should this kit contain? Get some paracetamol in it, cold and flu tablets, stomach irritation medication, band-aids, Neosporin, and anti-itch creams. If you have any personal prescriptions, consider getting a refill way ahead of your trip so you do not run out of it mid-flight. By the time you do all of this, you’re 101% travel ready.

Number 5: Pack a Spare Outfit

Think it’s not a bad idea to travel without a complete change of clothes in your carry-on? Then you’ve probably not experienced your baggage getting lost or its arrival being delayed. And this could drag on for as much as 2 days or even more!

This is where packing a complete change of clothes can be very helpful – including underwear and socks! At least, you will have something to sleep in till you get reunited with your luggage and will avoid being stuck at home for lack of what to wear outside for the next few days. Have you imagined that? Very painful stuff.

Number 6: Request a “Fragile” Sticker

If you want to make sure your bag is handled carefully even in your absence, I have a trick that you could use. Do you want to know how? Just ask the check-in counter attendant for a fragile sticker and viola, your bag gets more protection than a crate of eggs. And you can get this without having even a single breakable thing in your luggage.

Another advantage of this is that you won’t have to wait too long for your luggage at baggage claim. Baggage marked “fragile” are usually the first to be taken off the plane. Smart move, right?

Number 7: Waterproof Your Bag

You could come across any type of weather while travelling and that is why it is a genius idea to waterproof your bag. Do this by placing rain boots at the bottom, plastic zip lock bags with toiletries on the sides, and a rain jacket or light waterproof jacket spread across the top and you are good to go.

Number 8: Utilise Packing Cubes

If you love keeping things separate and in order like me, then you will absolutely love packing cubes. These zipped cubes will make you feel like the most organised traveller ever! They come in different sizes and make the categorisation of luggage easier. Secondly, they can be slipped into hotel drawers comfortably, thereby reducing the stress of unpacking when you get to your destination. With these cubes, rifling through suitcases will become a thing of the past.

Number 9: Wear Your Heaviest Clothes

If you’ve ever seen some travellers all kitted up in very heavy pieces of clothing and wondered why, I just want to let you know that it’s one of the secrets of preparing for a trip. This trick’s importance is that it helps save you some space! 

Now, here’s how it works. If you’re bringing sneakers and flip-flops, it’s always better to wear the sneakers and pack the smaller sandals. The same logic applies to clothing. If you wear that puffy jacket on the flight, you get to layer your underneath clothes so you can strip down when you get too warm. It’s even cold on planes anyways, so it’s a double win.