One of the trickier parts about frequent travel is actually effective packing. Before I became a frequent traveler, I found myself packing a lot more than I actually needed. This added needless weight and increased the size of the luggage that I needed to use. This became particularly annoying when I purchased my crew roller bag. There were any number to choose from, but these bags all have one thing in common: they tend to run a little on the small side. This forced me to get clever with my packing so I didn't bring extra stuff that I didn't need.
Packing cubes are my favorite way to keep my bag organized. If you haven’t used them before, they are basically little pouches for your clothing that zip shut. They come in different sizes, so you can pick which ones best suit your needs. They also have a compression effect on your clothes so you can fit a bit more into your suitcase than you would if you weren’t using them. Lastly, if TSA decides to go rifling through your bag, it's much easier for them to put everything back neatly.
I like to use one of my packing cubes for the little burritos I make with my undershirts and socks. This is a really good trick not only for organization but also for space saving. Take an undershirt and fold it in half down the middle. Then I put a pair of socks down and roll it up like a burrito. Each night before bed, I’ll pull out a roll and drop it on the table where it’s ready to go for me the next day. Quick and easy!
Between Trips
When I'm at home, I use a little something I like to call a reset routine. This is a routine that I use when I get home from a trip in order to get my bags back to the ready state. I try to be disciplined and do it within a day or so of getting home, although I totally get lazy with it sometimes. It goes something like this: any dirty clothes go into the laundry. Once the laundry is done, I reset all my undershirt rolls and put all my clothes into my packing cubes (usually I've got three of them). I then fill up all my reusable toiletry bottles as needed. By the time this is done, all that's left to do is prep my food bag and charge up my headset and company iPad.
Something that streamlines the reset routine is having dedicated travel items that stay in your suitcase. For example, I've got duplicates of everything that's in my toiletries bag so that I'm not constantly packing and unpacking it when I'm at home. Eventually, I'll get around to buying some tennis shoes that just live in my bag so that I don't have to pull them out of my suitcase when I'm at home and want to use them. It costs a little extra money up front to have these items, but it’s a lot less packing and unpacking to worry about.
Speaking of toiletries, the travel size shampoos and mouth washes that they sell at the store tend to be a waste of money. You’re paying way more per ounce with these than in the bigger sizes. The better bet is to actually buy the empty bottles and fill them with your own stuff from home (or start with the travel-sized bottles and just refill those). It’s far more cost effective, and it doesn’t take more than a couple minutes to fill up the bottles. Flight crew members in uniform are allowed to bring full-sized liquids and gels through so that is an option if it applies to you, but I still prefer the small refillable bottles. They take up much less space and it’s not as painful when you accidentally leave a bottle of your good shampoo at a hotel. Ask me how I know. The best part, at least for me, is that bringing my favorite shampoo from home is like bringing a little slice of home with me on the road. Besides, refilling the bottles has just become part of my reset routine. And who really likes hotel soap anyways?
Other Tips
- If you’re worried about the airlines losing your bag, don’t be. While they aren’t 100% foolproof, the systems in place used to keep baggage going where it needs to go are near-perfect these days. It doesn’t hurt to have a change of clothes in your carry on, but just know that there’s less than a 1% chance of your bag getting lost.
- If you buy yourself good quality luggage, you’re doing yourself a huge favor. If you’re on the road a lot your bags are gonna get beat up, be it by rough handling or local weather. My bags looked like I’d had them for years after maybe 4 months on the road. This is especially true if you travel by air; rampers don’t always have time to be gentle and I’ve watched bags fall out of the compartments on airplanes before. Depending on the plane, that could be quite a distance to fall! By buying something that costs a little more, you’re saving yourself money down the road by not having to constantly buy new bags.
- I alluded to this above, but just make sure you only pack what you need. If there is an item that you're packing but aren't using, consider leaving it at home because you'll likely continue to not need it. This holds particularly true in winter time because you'll need extra space for more layers. Remember to pack seasonally though! For example, I realized that I kept packing my little crushable down jacket even though I was overnighting in hotter locations. I freed up a ton of space when that went in my closet!
- This might be more of a crew member problem because we overnight in different locations every day, but keep in mind that depending on the time of year, it’s perfectly reasonable to go from a warm climate to one that’s pretty cold, so pack accordingly! I try to check the weather in the places I'm going ahead of time so that I have a better idea of what I need to bring.
- A wise captain once told me to keep an umbrella in my bag because you never know when you’ll pull in somewhere and have it be raining. Within a matter of weeks of buying one, I had already used it more than I thought I would. You might find that you have the same experience!
- If you want to keep your dirty laundry separate from the clean laundry in your suitcase, a bag for laundry won’t take up hardly any extra room in your bag since all you’re doing is transferring where things are kept during a trip. Reusable options are best; there are plenty online or you can use any old drawstring bag or something that you might already have laying around at home. Alternatively, you can use the ones that are found in most hotel rooms (usually a plastic bag hanging in the closet) or any old shopping bag. Breathable bags do work best though because you can easily squeeze all the air out.
- Speaking of dirty laundry, it never hurts to throw a couple of laundry detergent pods in your bag (you'll at least want to double bag them in case they pop) just in case you need to do a load of laundry at your hotel. Make sure you have some loose change or cash with you as well! The going rate in the US at the time of writing seems to be about two dollars per wash and another two per dry, but this obviously might not apply to all hotels.
- I think just about every hotel I’ve been to has stuff for you to iron clothes. This comes in handy, but just be careful because sometimes the irons are scorched on the bottom which can very quickly ruin clothing. You’ll either want to test the iron on something like a towel, or bring a piece of old cloth to lay over the top of your clothes while you iron them to protect them. Alternatively, many people just hang their clothes up in the bathroom while they take a hot shower so that the steam gets the wrinkles out. I honestly haven’t found this to work as well as an iron, but it’s better than nothing.
- Athletic clothes are easy to pack because they typically run a little thinner than other shirts. Take advantage of this if you want to have more options on things to wear but want to avoid taking up too much space at the same time. Keep in mind though that you might regret this if you go somewhere that’s cold!
- If you want to be able to work out but don’t want to bring a bunch of extra clothing for it, you can always utilize work undershirts from the previous day. I personally do a combination of both athletic attire and undershirts depending on the length of my trip.
- Put together a little pill box with the essentials in it like ibuprofen and what not. It’s way easier than lugging around a bunch of pill bottles which would eat up precious real estate in your bag. I used to bring a whole bottle of vitamins with me, but it’s way more space-efficient just to keep a few in the container and reload it as part of the reset routine.
- Another kit that is good to have is a small first aid kit. A few bandaids, some sterilizing wipes and whatever else you might need are good items to keep around. Hopefully you won’t need it often, but I’ve used mine a couple times. You can buy them pre-assembled or just build one one yourself.
Hope this helps some! I'm sure I'll have a follow up to this at some point because I'm always finding new ways to improve the process.
Notes
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