Organizing Tips When

Packing For Trips

Getting ready for a trip requires planning. Here are a few of the tools and techniques our family relied on to get and stay organized on a recent vacation to New York City:

1. Get Rolling - The last thing I want to do on a trip is iron clothes. That's why, when packing for New York, I took a professional organizer's advice and rolled my clothes up before placing them in the suitcase. I am pleased to report that our family had a great time in "The Big Apple" and the iron never left the closet of our hotel room.

2. Be Wise about Color - When traveling by plane, minimizing baggage is not just desired, but required. One way to avoid paying a fine for exceeding the number of bags or weight-per-bag allowed by the airline you are flying is to pack outfits that fall into one or two color schemes. When getting ready for New York City, for example, almost every clothing item I packed was white, tan or brown. This reduced the number of shoes and accessories needed and increased the number of possible outfits I could create.

3. Compartmentalize Accessories and Other Essentials - The key to any organizing project (packing included) is to divide and conquer. Here are a few of the organizing tools I used to keep packed items both out-of-the-way and easy-to-find:

Toiletries - The flat-pack organizer below sells for $14.95 at Magellans.com. My husband and I each have one. I take mine with me whenever I travel because, with pockets on both the front and back, there's room for all of my shower, makeup and hair essentials.

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Jewelry - This travel organizer by Whitney Design keeps jewelry organized and tangle-free. I ordered one online more than a year ago and recently noticed that it's also at Target for $9.99. I take mine on every trip and, for the money, think it's a terrific buy.

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Important Documents - Several weeks before a trip, I place a transparent, side-load envelope (like the blue one below from Office Max) near a suitcase I plan to take on my trip. I then place all important travel-related documents inside to ensure that airline tickets, driving directions, hotel information, and other important papers do not get left behind.

That's all for now. I'm on a two-week trip as I type this and speak from experience when I say that it's always wise to organize when taking trips of any size.

Keep digging!

 

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