Do's and Don'ts: Travel Packing Hacks
Travel Hacks: Packing Edition
It seems that everyone has their own travel hack. And there are countless articles out there to help you through your packing. Some are from people who have served in the army, some are from people that spent years backpacking the world. And many are from people like me that are just wandering around and learning as we go. Here are my tips that I've learned through eleven months of constant travel.Don't
Don't underestimate the power of garbage bags. Unfortunately most backpacks don't protect from rain, so by putting your clothes in garbage bags, at least they'll stay dry. This also helps organize your clothes of you have multiple legs of a trip. For example, all my clothes for Budapest went in one bag and the others went in another bag. That way I only had to pull out one bag per city. And my dirty clothes never had to touch the clean ones. |
| Budapest |
Do
Roll don't fold. Folding for some reason just takes up so much space but rolling doesn't. And a lot of times my shirts still manage to be wrinkle free when I roll them.Don't
Don't forget the dryer sheets. After long trips your clothes start to stink up your bag. Stuff a dryer sheet or two to keep you bag fresh smelling.Do
Think about ziplock bags. If you're not using trash bags, put as many items into ziplock bags and suck the air out. It helps reduce space and keep things organized. |
| View from the Buda Castle, Budapest |
Don't
Don't underestimate the power of multiuse things or collapsible things. I always travel with my collapsible water bottle that takes up no space when empty. I also like traveling with a small towel or rag because you never know if the hostel has extras or if the train pillow is clean enough. If I bring a just in case item, which is rare, it better be useful for multiple things.Do
Think about condensing. I don't bring whole pill bottles for me but keep them in smaller cases. I take things out of boxes and pack only what I need. If it's legitimate medication I will keep them with their labels and prescriptions, but if it's generic it gets put into a ting little container.
