After last year, this summer feels like the ultimate time to get back to traveling. We are so excited to start exploring the world again. With traveling comes the uprooting of your daily routine into something new and unknown. Who else feels like everything is a mess when you're traveling? Whether it's by car or plane, summer vacations can feel a little chaotic. Try these tips for your next trip to help you stay organized and feel more relaxed.
Tip 1: The Seat Essentials Bag
Within your larger carry-on bag, have a ‘seat essentials bag’. This will save you time and legroom. Identity the items you’ll primarily use on your trip: headphones, sanitizer, kindle/iPad, snacks, and water. When you get to your seat in the plane or car, get out just this bag to keep with you and put the rest away. It makes it so much less stressful instead of trying to get everything out with antsy people behind you.
Tip 2: Packing Cubes by Day
Organize your packing cubes by day or section of your trip. This is especially helpful if you’re going on a trip with multiple locations. Each cube is dedicated to clothing for the specific day, that way you don’t have to take everything out to find one item. Then when you’re done, you can put your dirty clothes back into the same cube to save on space and keep them separated from your clean clothes. Bonus tip, bring a travel-size laundry detergent in case of emergencies, you can always wash clothes in the sink and hang dry them if you need to.
Tip 3: Duplicate Your Product Routine in Travel Size
Invest in a good leak-proof small bottle set to replicate your ‘at home’ morning and evening routine. Get enough bottles to hold all your cleansers, lotions, shampoo, conditioner, etc, that way you don’t have to make compromises on product quality and you don’t have to worry about not having what you need. My favorite is this Nalgene Travel Set that comes with the wet bag. The bottles are durable and won’t get liquid everywhere. I label them and keep them full, that way I can just throw this in my bag when I’m stressed out the night before.
Tip 4: Create a Home Checkout List
Have a home ‘checkout list’ that you keep in a drawer and run through before leaving the house. I realized that I would write these every night before a trip and they were basically always the same so I decided to make a permanent one. It should include: Trash out, dishes done, thermostat down, water plants, close blinds, etc. It keeps the final moments before you leave less stressful and you can divide up the responsibilities. Bonus tip, when using a Dish Pad before traveling you don't have to worry about a soggy towel developing mildew while you're away.
Tip 5: Travel with a Portable Vacuum
This is going to sound odd, but I promise you won’t regret it if you have kids, pack a small, portable vacuum. This one is from a mom-founded Utah startup, Ayla & Co. It’s perfect for the plane when you or the kids stand up and are embarrassed by the mess left on the seat. I love it for my car because I hate crumbs in the cushions or cup holders so it keeps me sane during road trips. It’s chic and looks like a water bottle.
As you can tell, we LOVE a clean, organized space. That means we like to keep our vacations just as clean. Happy traveling!
