Making a list, checking it twice

Making a list, checking it twice

Written by Heather

Topics: Uncategorized

Recently I packed more for a 1-week trip to London and for 1 week at the beach than I did to start my year-long adventure in Australia. How is this possible?!

1) On shorter trips, I tend to pack more “just in case” items and articles of clothing. Perhaps on longer trips I know I have no choice but to keep it simple!
2) I carried the same amount of luggage to London as I did Australia but I managed to fit more in — my packing skills went from very good to GREAT.

Just an hour ago a friend who will be crossing the Atlantic to visit me later this week asked for a few packing tips. In addition to my favorite tip (rolling clothing really does save SO much more room than folding), I shared what usually makes the cut of going into my 3 bags — a Good2Go travel checklist, if you will.

My 3 bags — a suitcase just an inch or two bigger than carry-on allows, a small backpack, and a purse (which is actually a D-SLR camera bag)
Bags I'm traveling with

What’s in my purse?
D-SLR (Nikon D3000); wallet with driver’s license, two credit cards, cash; prescription sunglasses; chapstick; iPhone; a few other random bits

What’s in my backpack?
On travel days, it carries: a sandwich and piece of fruit for the flight; a water bottle I buy at the airport; travel documents such as my passport, flight intinerary, boarding passes, confirmation details for hostel; laptop (netbook); cords and chargers for laptop, electric toothbrush, iPod, iPhone, and camera; adapter for plugging in electronics overseas; mini umbrella; pair of underwear and maybe a thin, lightweight outfit in case my checked bag is lost.

What’s in my suitcase?
This varies with each trip and I’m getting better at cramming more inside O:-)

Travel towel (the thin, lightweight, dries-in-minutes kind)
Tempurpedic travel pillow (a necessity with my back + neck issues)
Flip flops for the hostel showers
Feminine products (I just can’t see myself switching to the cup, but hats off to you ladies who travel with one!)
A travel-sized hair dryer
Underwear (7-10 pairs for a week — I only wash once a week, like a clean pair every day, and like to have extra…I just can’t go with less)
Bras (2-3 depending on trip)
PJs (usually one bottom and two lightweight shirts)
Socks (4-5 pair)
Bottoms — usually 3 and they vary based on weather (to kick off winter in Oz, I packed a pair of decent black pants, 1 pair of jeans, and a pair of khakis) — I wear one of these on the plane so it’s not actually in my bag
Tops — 4-5 short sleeved shirts, 1-2 3/4 length shirts, 1-2 long sleeved shirts

I somehow also manage to squeeze in a toiletry bag:

L.L. Bean toiletry bag

Inside you’d find my electric toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, body spray, hand lotion, facial soap, moisturizer, fingernail clippers, tweezers, razor, razor blades, shaving cream, Q-tips, foundation. I know I’m missing another item or two.

Most travelers’ bags look fairly similar but it’s always fun to see the few items that differentiate us. To my friend who now needs to pack to cross the pond — GOOD LUCK and see you in a few days.

Disclosure: This post contains a sponsored link and the company who sponsored it compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it.

Featured image via creative commons.

8 Comments Comments For This Post I'd Love to Hear Yours!

  1. Gav says:

    Nice post, some good travel tips. It’s not something I’d follow completely though – it would be weird for me to have packed feminine products :-P.

    As for switching to the cup, I’m okay with that, mug or cup tea tastes the same 😉

  2. I love seeing what other people pack!

  3. Shel says:

    Those “just in case” items are killer! I always have some and surprisingly enough they never get used. It’s difficult to believe that one dressy outfit will not be needed on a two-week trip, even when visiting family who are into hiking, camping and soccer pretty much exclusively. But given that my luggage is almost always overweight in at least one direction I really need to rein it in! Books are the other one – I read a lot, so travelling is the one situation I can kind of understand the appeal of a kindle.

  4. Jaime says:

    jaja love it… I so do the same. I came home from 4 months on the road went to visit my granparents in Mexico for a weekend and packed so much more… I dont know why we do it but we do…lol!!! I think its cus we wanna be sure we have everyhing just in case.

  5. Nicole says:

    I agree that it’s easy to pack more on shorter trips! Sometimes I think it’s also because you may not have to lug your suitcase around with you as much, which can be a concern on long-term, multi-city or multi-country trips.

  6. OMG. I thought you would have learnt how to pack by now. I guess if you’re just taking the luggage from the car to your room… it’s not as bad. I regret not packing lighter for my trip: http://bit.ly/nReEp7

    • Heather says:

      HA, what makes you think I can’t pack? ! That wasn’t what I hoped people would get from this post 😉 I’ve never used a backpack — have chronic back problems and a backpack would just be a bad, bad idea.

  7. Gav says:

    The tips worked great for me, saved so much space which enabled me to bring other clothes if the weather changed. :-). Including 3 pairs of footwear!

    I also had space homebound for all the nice things I picked up on my trip 🙂

Leave a Comment Here's Your Chance to Be Heard!