Packing tips…the main course

The great quest to become the most awesome-ist packer in the world.

Unlike Mr Bean below lol

This is part two of my quest to become the greatest packer ever; this post is all about packing your main case.  As I said in Part one, Calvin and I have one large suitcase each, and we can travel with one case each for a whole month.  Yep you read correctly one case each, one whole month.  I personally travel with a hard-shelled case (matching set of beautiful red ones- one large and one carry on case), Calvin on the other hand is an old fashion chap with a stock standard black soft fabric suitcase (another matching set, one large and one carry on).  Each person has their own style, and even thou there is so MUCH talk over many blogs on soft or hard case shell I personally think it really doesn’t matter and what is important is the weight of the case itself and how much it can handle.  Both Calvin’s and my cases are the new lightweight kinds.  So if your thinking that your old (heavy) case is worth its ‘weight’ in gold because of how long it is lasting, then maybe you need to pop it on the scales empty, you might be surprised where all your luggage weight is really coming from.  If the case is over 3kgs (6.6lbs), well then you are wasting weight in your case – and it’s time to replace!  We argue over who’s is lighter or who’s is easier to travel with but when it comes down to it there are pro’s and con’s for both types (hard or soft shell) and really when I pack both Calvin’s and my own, I get about the same amount in both, which means pretty much its all down to personal taste and style again.

Top 8 quickies – the one-liners do think about:

1. Make a list.  (Can you tell I love lists yet?)
2. Pack ahead of time!
3. Don’t go from wardrobe to case.
4. Couple travelers – don’t put all your eggs in one basket
5. Space savers they really do save on space!
6. What’s the saying, drop and roll?  Well let’s change it to fold and roll!
7. Don’t stress about the mess just don’t take them?
8. How many is too many?

Whose one-liners confused you?  Well here are all the details…

1.  Before opening your suitcase, the best plan is to make a list, that way you can take exactly what you need, you are not packing by impulse and not taking stuff that you wont even use.  Having a list will also help you not to forget stuff as well as taking too much stuff – cross it off as you’re packing.

2.  Unlike Calvin, who if he had his way, we would be packing an hour before we had to leave for the airport.  Seasoned traveller or first timer, just before you get on the flight is the most stressful time of any travels.  Missing the plane/connection forgetting stuff anything can set your stress levels up.  So why not pack the day before, if you are missing something you have time to go out to the shops to get it.  Packing the day or night beforehand leaves you more time to causally re check.

3.  Grab your list and pull everything on your list out and place it on your bed, then fold or roll outside of the case.  Sounds like double handling, right?  Nope this way you can visually work out sets of clothes, you can mix and match sets and from there you might be able to cut back or see that you are missing stuff.  I then fold all the bulky stuff place them on the bottom of our cases and then roll the small stuff and pack all around to fill the gaps/holes.

4.  If you are travelling with someone else (partner or friend), do a half and half pack.  We have been very lucky and have never had our luggage lost or delayed (knock on wood), but we have had many friends who have.  What I have learnt from this is I pack our cases with a half and half mix – my case will have half mine and half Calvin’s clothes and so will Calvin’s case.  This way if just one case is lost or delayed we both still have at least some clothes to get by with.  If you’re solo, well just skip over this step and hope nothing is lost or delayed.

5.  If you are limited with the size of your case, as in how big the actual case is and some carries do have size restrictions (really good idea to check every time you travel), get some of those space saver bags.  You fold your clothes into them this roll all the air out of the bag, they will reduce the overall size of your items and though you are packing a smaller sized case than you might normally would, you are still able to take the same amount of gear.  They have been around for ages, but for some reason people don’t overly use them for travel?  They are also great when you are unpacking as well, because if you made a list you sorta know this top with go with this bottom etc etc and you can group stuff together and only put out what you need at the time you want it.  But on a side note, just before you go out and buy a load of them thinking you will be able to pack twice as much into your case – REMEMBER YOUR WEIGHT LIMITS!!!!!

6.  Why go with one method when you can use TWO.  I both roll and fold my clothes in my case.  I fold the larger bulkier clothes, like jackets, jeans etc and roll the lighter smaller stuff, like tee shirts etc.  I fold and stack from the bottom and then fill all the gaps/holes with stuff that I have roll up.  I tried going all fold or all roll methods, only thing I can say is that yes both work great but when you combine – AWESOME.

7.   The amount of times I have opened my suitcase to find my shampoo bottle has split or the lid had popped open.  Really I have tried everything, from tapping the lids, or either tapping and putting them into plastic zip lock bags, oh and even where they are in my case, on the side, in the middle at the bottom!  I give up!  I don’t travel with them anymore.  I use the hotels shampoo and soap the first night.  Then I go out and explore wherever is local and buy replacement at the shops.  It’s not like I haven’t had to do this even when I have travelled with my own shampoo and really who are we kidding, like you are not going to go to at least one shop during your travels!

8.  SHOES, really how many can you wear on one trip?  Why do we take so many of them?  They just take up extra space and weight!  I have limited myself to a max of 3 pairs only; two packed in the case and the set I travel with.  Wear the heaviest pair on the plane (thank God they are not weighing us YET).  I take one night or good going out shoes, one causal pair, and one walking shoes (which are the ones I normally catch the plane with).  I might add, I stuff my undies and sox’s into my shoes, more space saving tips, plus it helps keeping the shape of the shoes when they are squashed into my case.

Hope that helps a little, for the next and the final part, I am going to go over all about the small things.  Little things I go to make my packing easier, stuffing undies into shoes is child’s play.

Till next week.

 

MJ

xxx

Packing Tricks, the carry on case…

 The great quest to become the most ‘awesome-ist’ packer in the world.

You find so many posts about packing, and since I have packed a few times over the past years I thought that it was time I got my 2 cents in as well.  If you Google ‘packing tips’, you find a lot, no REALLY there is a LOT, I found 27,900,000 in 26 seconds.  I only read about 5, after that it was information overload and that was when I decided I wanted to make the list 27,900,001.

This topic is so massive and can’t be mash it into one little post as I would have to either leave so much out OR go on and on for so long that no one would get to the end, sooooo I am going to carry packing tips over 3 posts.  This is part one.

The carry on case… one of the most important case when travelling!

Why is the smallest case the most important you ask?  Well though it has never happened to us (knock on wood) I know stacks of people who have lost luggage or had luggage delayed for a day or two, so what are you left with?  Your carry on case!  So pack wisely!

In the beginning of our travels, like any first time traveller, I HAD NO IDEA.  I would just throw in everything totally randomly, all a mess and without a care, then have Calvin sit on top of the case to try and zip the case up, I would throw stuff into my carry on case that pretty much didn’t fit in the bigger bag (about to burst open).  Thankfully those days are long forgotten  – yes they never happened and lets not speak of them again!  Nowadays, totally new style to the process, I can pack, travel 12 plus hrs and go straight from case to business meeting without a care in the world of a wrinkle OR having to totally ‘up end’ all my cases onto the hotel bed to find anything.  Over the years I have fine-tuned here and there, but I am at a stage now where I think I have pretty much got the whole packing down packed!

First up, don’t think your carry on case is for the minute stuff you forgot to pack in your main case or you couldn’t fit into it!  See it as the first three days of your trip and pack it like that’s the only case you are taking.  Actually if I am taking a short trip, like 3 to 4 days, I can live from my carry on case (yes my beautifully BRIGHT RED hard-shelled roller carry on case that Calvin dislikes greatly).  I fit my delicates (undies people), x2 ‘day’ outfits (1 business or smart dressed, 1 causal) and x1 evening outfit, all my makeup, x2 pairs of shoes, toiletries (limited to travel restrictions) and my trusty laptops charger and plug adaptor, yep all in my little red case.  I travel to and from in the same clothes so I can add x1 more day outfit and x1 more pair of shoes to that list.  That is more than enough clothes for 3 days, with a few unexpected delays on top.

When I am travelling only with a carry on I find that I roll my clothes over the folding method, and stuff my shoes with my delicates, and the small stuff in the ‘holes/gaps’ when everything is in the case.  I normally roll my clothes, not because as everyone claims that rolling has no wrinkles but because I find that I can fit more in my little carry on case from rolling over folding.  I pack my carry on like this whether I am travelling overseas or domestically.  The only thing that has any impact on what I take is if I am travelling overseas I have more restrictions with what I can take on the plane with me in regards to liquid size restrictions.  If going overseas, I normally use the motels shampoos and soaps, saves having to take them on the plane AND the stress of them bursting open mid flight and causing a mess, and if the trip is for a longer time, simple I go to the local shops and get normal sized shampoo and soaps when I have time.

One thing I do, doesn’t matter if I am traveling overseas or not, long or short trip, I always have a little travel pack with me which contains a small (sample sized) bottle of perfume, deodorant, tiny toothbrush and mini tube of paste plus with a hair tie and comb.  Trust me getting off the plane/train/boat is always more refreshing when you have clean fresh teeth/breath and your hair doesn’t have the ‘I just woke up’ look.

Always check with the carrier that you are using to see what carry on restrictions/requirements that they have.  They all have different ones, some have more, some have less – and they always check!

The next post is, I suppose the main course.  Part 2 will be on packing for longer trips in your main case.  The must takes, all my little tips and tricks I use to pack both my and Calvin’s large suitcase, and we can survive one month in ONE case each.

MJ
xxx

Food… fact of life, you have to get it sometime don’t you

Since I have become a student, I have been at home a lot more than normal.  I MEAN A LOT, so after I left work last month my life changed dramatically.  Since I am home more than Calvin and Percy it’s only logical that I am doing the daily routine household stuff.

#ONE:  Food shopping and I have never gotten along. 

You would think that since I love to shop this would transfer to food shopping?  Short and sweet answer to that…

NOPE.

 When both Calvin and I were working, I would always try and wiggle out of doing the food shopping and Calvin would end up doing it all himself.

Now that its all mine, I have found that using a few of following tips over the last month I have turned on the once hated errand to now half enjoy it.

So here they are, some are if you ask me the – duh ya think? Tips but I am adding just the same:

1. Keep a list going somewhere handy – sounds like a ‘duh tip’, but think about how many times you have returned home and forgot the milk?  Or brought milk to open the fridge and someone else grabbed some on the way home from work the night before.
2. Actually take the list with you when you go shopping!  Really everyone else takes a list, you’re not the only one getting old and forgetting stuff!
3. Plan your meals once a week, its helps to know what you plan to make the coming week before you go do the shopping!  Bonus to this is that you will eat out less; this saves on the wallet and you waistline!  WIN WIN.
4. Try and stick to your list, impulse shopping is never good – unless it’s a well-needed handbag!
5. After saying stick to your list, I now say, if you see something you would normally grab on special BUY BUY BUY.  Today I brought four tins of beetroot for 5 bucks saving me $2.  Tin stuff doesn’t go off so why not.
6. Use the cloth bags, now I do this for all the non-eco-friendly reasons.  I am normally shopping (now) during the middle of the day, so I am bringing all the shopping in by myself.  I like to make one trip from the car not three plus trips.  I can get what they pack into about seven plastic bags into three of my cloth shopping bags.
7. I’m not a bulk buyer, unless there is a savings for us.  If there is then I buy bulk, but only for stuff that isn’t going to go off.  What’s the point of saving a few coins on buying the 1kg bag of tomatoes when at the end of the week I have to throw out half the bag due to the tomatoes starting to go off?  Be a savvy bulk shopper.
8. Talking about food going off – CHECK the used by dates on stuff before you waste your money.  Lost count at when I have been in a hurry and gotten home and opened something to use that was already off before I left the shop.  It happens and EGGS are a biggie – open the carton and check each egg one crack can ruin that whole lot with rotten gases.
9. NEVER NEVER shop when you’re hungry!  I go out for lunch then go shopping straight afterwards.   I notice that I don’t buy as much bad junk food when the belly is full.  Working again the wallet and waistline.
10. Reward cards, while Calvin pooh pooh’s them I on the other hand LOVE them.  Keep and eye out for your shops reward card specials; even getting 10 little cents off something for having the shops reward card it worth it in my eyes!

Hey after a while those few cents turn into a few dollars and before you know it there is a few hundred and OMG a new handbag magically appears (just about the same time the money did wink wink)

My tips aren’t rocket science most of you will be thinking, “already knew that” or as Calvin likes to say – the duh list.  But I like to share and you never know just one might be new, and I helped someone.  Or I am just ranting for no reason, and the next stage I will be buying up cats to chat with.

MJ

XXX