If you're like me, you live for travel…exploring new places, fascinating architecture, places of historical significance, cultures different than one's own, the local food and the people! Do you also agonize over how to pack; what to pack and what not to pack? Here are some packing hacks to ease your trip – tips and tricks to travel light, but also to pack everything you would possibly need:
Carry practical, comfortable and hard wearing clothes; not your fanciest clothes. The fancy clothes are fussy, impractical and out of place; most of them come back unworn. Pick dark colored stuff that doesn’t need frequent washing, clothes comfortable for walking and lounging in; the same goes for shoes. My thumb rule: two tops for every lower item of clothing.
Some travelers advise rolling all the clothes; I recommend stacking and rolling because this makes it easier to unpack (and I always unpack my bag at the hotel). When fitting things into your suitcase, stack some clothes but also roll some clothes to fill up the nooks and crannies.
Also known as travel organizers, packing cubes help you sort your clothes, smalls, shoes, dirty laundry, electronics, toiletries and so on. You don’t have to pull out everything to look for just one thing and your stuff does not get all muddled. Many of these are waterproof so you're safe from inadvertent leakage.
This is very important if you have gadget hungry kids and also since we don’t seem to be able to function without our own gadgets (and also because you don’t want to be stuck somewhere without Google Maps because your phone battery died). Buy a good quality one with at least two charging ports so up to two devices can juice up simultaneously.
For me, a capacious cross-body bag is a must while traveling (and yes guys can carry them too). There is room here for wallet, phone, charger, a book, at least one travel sickness bag, brush, lip balm, mosquito repellant, sunscreen, a hat and other paraphernalia.
A basic box of meds is a must: include dettol, bandaid, pain reliever, sachets of lactobacillus and antihistamines. Some wet-wipes, a couple of tubes of Fevikwik and hand sanitizer are a must to carry along I feel. They take care of an emergency call of nature, a broken shoe strap or sole that comes unstuck and dirty hands when there is no soap and water around but hunger strikes!
If you're going abroad, you may need a charger adapter. If you're going off the beaten track, carry mosquito repellant, sunscreen and other stuff that may not be available locally. If you're going to be walking a lot, carry one extra pair of walking shoes per person. Think ahead and prepare for possible eventualities.
Don’t pack too tight to begin with (think about the disaster a split zip will cause). Leave some space in your suitcase. If you're an inveterate shopper, it is a good idea to carry along one of those foldable bags that open out to give you extra packing space when needed.
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