Avoiding the Packing Nightmare – Packing Tips for Air Travel

Do you pack light and never miss what you didn’t bring? Or, do you pack heavy and wish you had packed light?

Packing is universally a personal thing, but there are some packing tips to make it easier.  Let’s look at what you can do to make it work the best for you.

“Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”! As the saying goes!  Packing of itself is often a huge undertaking – especially if you’re packing for both yourself and your children, or if you’re going from one climate to another by just a plane ride.  Will it be cold to the point that you need your winter coat?  Will it be so hot that I will want to live in swimsuit?  Your travel agent can be a huge help.  Here are some packing tips to start you off:

First packing tip, and most important of all: have a packing plan.

Second packing tip to consider is to research the weather in your destination area.

Once these two items are accomplished, you will eliminate that last-minute panic state thinking you forgot something important, and be able to have clothing for whatever comes your way.  And a little known packing tip is that your list and plan for packing to get to your destination, serves as a great guide to make sure you don’t forget anything in the hotel room when you leave.

Packing tips to consider when planning include:

1. Remember to be thinking about the various events and places you will be going to daily.  If the hotel doesn’t have laundry service you need clean changes for each day.  But even if they do have laundry service you may not want to pay the prices.  Best idea to minimize packing too many outfits is to pick clothes that center around a basic color theme (i.e., black and white with a snitch of color to mix and match, and you may only need one or two different styles of black shoes to compliment seven days of outfits).
2. Never take expensive jewelry that could be lost or stolen or broken.  Don’t take items that have huge sentimental value either.
3. If you have a spending budget, determine what items could easily be purchased once you arrive such that you don’t have to take a whole bunch of it with you (i.e., film).
4. Defy wrinkles by using your non-wrinkle items to “fill” your items more at risk to wrinkle.  In other words, roll, fold, scrunch and support the at-risk items with the non-wrinkle ones.
5. Reserve your rental car before you go! Don’t take whatever is available when you land. You may even find all cars have been reserved or taken and you’ll have to pay for a cab.
6. Know your airports and airport security procedures.  It will affect your packing for luggage and carry-on.  But it will also affect how easily you go through the security check areas.

One great packing tip not too many people take advantage of is to call the hotel concierge of where you will be staying, in advance.  It can’t hurt, and usually they will be more than happy to make sure you are going to be happy and comfortable for your trip.  What can he or she help you with?:

–Reservations for events you will attend at your destination city or area.  Don’t wait until you get there.  You may find all reservations have already been taken and you’re left out in the cold.

–Reservations at special restaurants you’ve been told to try by the concierge of your hotel – jump on these if you want good meals.

–Car service to and from your hotel.

–If you have special medical needs, find out what medical arrangements need to be made to insure you don’t have an emergency (i.e., what if you lose a prescription and need a renewal; wheelchair or other similar needs)

Travel should be fun when it’s vacation.  When it’s business, maybe it isn’t “fun” but you do want to do everything you can to minimize hassles and stress.  Getting packing under control way beforehand will take some of that stress off the actual night before and day of travel.