Travel and Packing Tips

I love the thrill of packing light, as odd as it sounds. I love to have a goal of making weeks worth of necessities fit into a carry on, with room to spare. If not a carry on, then a regular size piece of check in luggage.

Tips: 

1. Plan your outfits
•  This is the best way to save space and not carry extra outfits. How often do you come back from a trip and think, "I didn't even wear half the stuff I brought"
•  I know this is tough for girls who are more indecisive about what to wear.. So ladies.. try to make some "tough decisions" and pick an outfit. 
2. Bring easy mix and match items
• Pants - If you think about it, normally, we wear the same 2 or 3 pair of jeans repeatedly for months. So why change it? Bring 2 pair of jeans, (1 that is darker so you can use it at a fancy restaurant), and wear 1 on the plane/bus/train/car, etc. (if your traveling during the winter, bring 1 more pair so you can rotate if 1 gets wet from rain. 
• Tops - bring a different shirt for each day, shirts are easy and thin enough to pack. Bring 1 fancy shirt in case you go to a nice place for dinner
3.  Shoes
• Shoes take up the most room. So wear your biggest pair (ex running/tennis shoes) and pack your dress shoes or flipflops that take up less room. 
• Ladies - look for fancy sandals that can double as casual everyday/walking shoes but can also be worn to a fancy restaurant. 
4. Wear your biggest items
• examples - wear your sneakers, jacket, sweater, etc that your plan to bring. It will save you space in your suitcase. 
5.  Reuse Old Contact Lens Cases
• This is my favorite tip that I learned from another friend. Since you're only gone for a week or so, you dont need a WHOLE bottle of bathroom amenities. Just squeeze the amount needed into the lens case. Lens cases are dishwasher safe. 
• Also you can grab small sample containers at Sephora.
6.  Use Samples
• often samples will last you enough for a weekend trip.
7. Unless your camping or away from civilization, buy things when you get there. ex. Buy toothpaste. You don't need to pack it. 

Now putting it all together. 

1. Roll your clothes
•  Biggest/heaviest on the bottom, smaller/lighter/thinner items on the top
2. Put items that take up more volume (shoes) on the bottom because you can squeeze smaller things in-between spaces. 

Happy Traveling!