7 Packing Hacks

I am leaving for Cuba in six hours. This time tomorrow, I will be nicely settled on the beach with a nice cold drink.

Be Life Experience Turqueasa Varadero (taken from Transat website)

So this week, in lieu of reading week and my trip to Cuba, I thought I would make a list of packing hacks. Some of these will be very unoriginal, but I live by them nevertheless. Hopefully I can help some of you out!

1. I am a big fan of lists. Usually when I make them I do one of two things: either I think about what I need for my toes to my head or I go through my drawers mentally and think about what items I may need from them. What I mean by thinking about what I need for my toes to my head is figuring out how many socks I might need, or how many shoes. Then, you travel up and say how many shorts or jeans are needed, and what shirts and whether you need a hat or not. I find that always works. For other items, I think about what I use on a daily basis and write them down as I think about them. For example, I brush my teeth in the morning and unplug my phone so I remember my toothbrush/paste and phone charger. I also usually go stand in my bathroom and look around to remember things like Advil, sunscreen, soap, etc.

2. When getting my shirts to fit into my suitcase, I fold them into one another. I lay the first top out flat and then lay the other one down on top of it to cover half of the first shirt. I then fold the first shirt over the one on top of it (pictured below). Then I roll or fold them depending on what fits best. It also works really well for underwear.

3. I usually like to try to fit my items into a carry on, and that can be difficult when you have to have a few big items like sweaters. I always wear my biggest clothes to the airport so that I don't have to worry about shoving them into my bag and having them take up all my space.

4. #3 also applies to shoes. Wear your big shoes to the airport. I hate lugging shoes around, so I am wearing my slide-on flip flops to the airport with socks. They're the biggest shoes I'm taking, and this way when I get to Cuba, I can just throw my socks into my backpack and be good to go. If you don't like the idea of going to the airport in flip flops (I understand if you're in a place like Canada because there is currently three feet of snow on our driveway) put them into your carry on anyway so you can jump right into your vacation uniform.

5. I usually pack one or two plastic bags with me. They can be used for things like dirty laundry, wet or dirty shoes, swimsuits and towels that haven't had the chance to completely dry out yet. It makes sure the rest of your items don't become damp or ruined and keeps your bag smelling better.

6. If you have to pack a bunch of items that are small, you can roll them up and shove them into the nooks and crannies of your bag. I do this with socks, tank tops, swim suits, anything that can be bunched up and crammed somewhere. Always add these items last; you can fit more than you think.

7. This one is probably the most important! I am known to be slightly unorganized sometimes. When dealing with important travel documents like insurance, passports and plane tickets I like to have them all in one place. Use a folder, or a document organizer (like the one below). That way, whatever you need throughout the airport is easily accessible. Also make sure to put it in a pocket in your bag that is easy to get to. Keeping photocopies of your documents doesn't hurt either!

That is all I have for today! What are some of the packing hacks that you guys have? Do you have any funny stories about forgotten items? Hopefully this was helpful to some of you. I will not be posting this following Sunday because I'm not coming back from Cuba until Monday, but expect a post the following week!

Thanks for reading, have a great long weekend and reading break!