Some Simple Packing Tips

Hey everyone!  As some of you know (those who read my blog), The Man and I just got back from a 2-week road trip vacation.  This vacation involved not only simple sight-seeing, but also two reunions and several visits with friends.  There were only two times when we would be staying more than one night at a time, so I wanted to pack carefully and try not to have just a jumbled mess in our suitcases. So what do you do when you need suggestions......PINTEREST, of course!  I found some FREE printables that I used and found to be very helpful.

The form below was so helpful in just having one place to jot down all the things we did not want to forget.  I simply kept this out on the kitchen island for a few days prior to our DD, so The Man and I could write down things as we thought about them.  The last category on this form, Entertainment, is where I listed things like: snacks & water, electronics & cords, reading-writing materials, my crochet (I like to crochet in the car), etc.  When we are car-tripping, I always use several sturdy tote bags to make things easier to find......one for snacks & water, another for the electronics stuff & paper goods (including our travel agenda & hotel reservation confirmations), and a separate one for my crochet & my iPad (we listen to audio books on that).   

Source

I really like this next form and used it to plan out my outfits for each day of our trip.  My plan (and it worked beautifully) was to have everything in one suitcase that we would need on-the-road and not have to haul in both suitcases -- The Man likes to use one of those fold-over type bags.  

Source

I packed the completed form right into a pocket in my suitcase, incase I forgot what I planned for a particular occasion, or if I would be doing some mixing and matching for additional outfits.

PSST.....I am now using the above form to plan outfits for my everyday wear.  I have a section in our master closet where I can hang several outfits and not have to decide each morning what I will wear.  I'll share more about this trick later when I reveal our master closet redo -- it's almost finished!

Okay, it's time to pack those bags!  I found this Source on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  It's pretty ingenious as far as I'm concerned.  You simply pack "outfits" in the Jumbo Ziplok bags.

I neatly folded tops and bottoms, plus a little bag of the matching accessories, placed them in the zip bags, pressed out the excess air, zipped it up, DONE!

If what I was packing might wrinkle easily, I didn't squeeze out so much air.

This was a medium-size suitcase, and I had all of my clothes (*minus shoes, purses -- those went in a tote bag), The Man's travel clothes, & all the undergarments for both of us zipped into separate bags.

*The tote bag with shoes and purses is not something I ordinarily do, but we had plenty of room.  I just decided each day what shoes/purse I wanted and grabbed them from the bag -- no need to take the whole tote bag in each time.

This system worked so well.   It was so easy to find what we wanted each day without disrupting the entire suitcase.  Each night I would pull out the next day's outfit and hang it up so any wrinkles could fall out -- that worked well, too.

*FYI -- all of my toiletries, including makeup & hair stuff goes into a zippered tote bag.  I usually carry this inside the car, especially during warm weather.

When we got home, I only had 2 outfits that had not been worn, but were still nice and clean in their zip bags and ready to re-hang in my closet.  After unpacking everything, I simply tossed all the zip bags right back into the suitcase to reuse on our next trip.

Well, that's just about a wrap for this post.  I would love to hear how you pack for trips -- tips, tricks, etc.  Trips-vacations are such fun but also a bit chaotic, so it's great when you have some tricks up-your sleeve.  Hope you enjoyed and maybe "packed" (wow, I'm so funny) up an idea or two.

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Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Mondays

Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday

Leslie at House on the Way for Twirl & Take a Bow

Mary Beth at Cupcakes and Crinoline for Project Inspired
Suzy at Worthing Court for The Scoop

Karin at The Style Sisters for Centerpiece Wednesday

Kelly at Live Laugh Rowe for Live Laugh Linky Party

Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home

Pamela at From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Natasha at Natasha in OZ for Say G'Day Saturday Party