Tuesday Tips – Traveling without the Mess

Having to pack not only clothes but promo items made me think of all the things you can do to travel with a little less mess! With another month left to the summer, I hope some of you have plans to take a few days off and that some of these tips will help.

1. To reduce the weight of your bags, lose the wheels on your luggage if you can.

2. Go with soft-sided luggage which expands and is generally more lightweight.

3. Buy those travel size deodorants, shampoos, etc. Not only will it make it easier to go through the TSA lines if you’re carrying on the luggage, but it will also help lighten the weight of the luggage.

4. If you’ve got shampoo, mouthwash or some other liquid product, remove the cap and place some plastic wrap over the mouth of the bottle. Then slip the cap back on over the wrap. That will help reduce spills. Of course, to be doubly sure, place the liquid products in a zip/slide top plastic bag.

5. For sensitive paper documents/photos, use a zip/slide top plastic bag or get a wide mouth sports water bottle and roll/slip the papers within the bottle. Not only will the bottle keep them from getting wet, it’ll keep them from being torn or crushed.

6. To save space and keep your shoes from being crushed, slip your socks or other small unmentionables into your shoes.

7. Roll t-shirts and other soft fabric goods. The rolling will save more space and also avoid wrinkles.

8. Bring a large bag for your dirty clothes along with a scented dryer sheet. Slip the scented dryer sheet in with your dirty clothes to help keep your suitcase smelling fresh.

9. If you need to display some of the items you are carrying, look for collapsible storage bins to hold the items instead of baskets or other hard to pack items.

10. For those quick need something to drink in the hotel room, bring the individual dry mixes to add to tap water. They’re available now for most powdered drink mixes. Why tap water? Think about the carbon footprint for bottled water, namely, the packaging, transportation and recycling for something that most people can get right out of their faucets!

Hope all these tips help make your next trip a little easier! Bon Voyage.