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Not traveling so sorted out the travel gear

My dear wife has said, “You’re not going anywhere till there’s a credible vaccine and herd statistics to back it up.” There is only one possible response.

Got everything travel-ish that I could find from two storage shelves, the closet, and under the bed. Laid it all out on the bed. Sorted by keep/toss. Sub-sorted by clothing, outerwear, underwear, hardware, soft goods, organizational bags, travel bags, and misc. Organized and reorganized. Conjoined like-with-like. Squishables went into a big vacuum storage bag and I sucked it flat.

Reduced three storage crates and section of the closet down to a vacuum bag and one crate, clearly labeled. Everything in one place. Two big paper bags of unnecessary and redundant stuff are going to the thrift store.

Turned out to be more fun than depressing.

Posted by
5471 posts

Sounds fun, except for the "toss" part. I didn't realize travel-ish stuff could ever be tossed. But then, I suppose that old hard-sided Samsonite suitcase isn't going to Europe in my (RS enlightened, travel light-ish) lifetime. Hmmmm. It does make good storage. The vacuum storage bag sounds ever so sensible.

I just got around to making myself a travel drawer. Until I joined the forum, I didn't realize such a thing was permissible!

Posted by
2252 posts

Congratulations, bogiesan! I'm sure you feel wonderfully "light" now! CWSocial....I didn't know you were allowed to toss anything, either. And how ever did you manage to do this "A" travel drawer? I have 4 but at least they are each organized with the stuff I might possibly need someday😉. bogiesan, you are to be applauded for your enthusiasm and commitment. That is an awesome accomplishment and I love your categories. May I apply them to my drawers, please? Vacuum bags....what a terrific idea! Thanks for posting.

Posted by
5471 posts

And how ever did you manage to do this "A" travel drawer?

Weeeeellll, there is the secret travel closet, with all the suitcases and travel bags. Actually it's that little half-closet underneath the stairs that some houses have. And not having done a bogiesan style sort-out, I can't actually swear that everything travel related is in the travel drawer. Certainly the new RS guidebooks that I picked up in the $5 sale are not. They're getting their own new shelf space. And the travel clothes - they're not in a drawer; they've got their own hanging section in the closet.

I should probably take a closer look - I may have 4 drawers worth, scattered here and there!

Posted by
361 posts

I did the same thing last month! I discovered that I "needed" a couple more Tom Bihn accessories for our next trip...whenever that may be! Ordered, received, and ready to go just waiting in the spare closet.

Posted by
5697 posts

Good for you!! I have a travel room with all that stuff. (DD only visits oncea year and she doesn't want her childhood bedroom.)

Posted by
3097 posts

Oooww! Good job! You’ve given me ideas. Two big cloth bags are hanging and taking up room in my closet. And a near-empty 3-drawer plastic dresser taking up space on my closet shelf (use for van camping, last time was 5 years ago). Time to clean out the bags, organize and fill those drawers! Clothes hang with like clothes and actually get worn occasionally.
Old suitcases went to Goodwill years ago and the remainders nest so don’t take much room. More packing cubes than I will ever use are stashed in my RS carry-on. All fit semi-neatly in a corner of my closet.

Posted by
1022 posts

I did the same thing several months ago as my quarantine project. Went to target and got a large plastic tub to put all my travel items in. On my shelf in my clothes closet. Gave away some stuff, tossed or put on eBay. My son and dil came home during that weekend and I gave them a packing class.

It was quite fun. I gave her a few things.

Posted by
6552 posts

Most of our travel stuff is just our regular stuff. At least, the clothes are. And toiletries.

We do seem to have a surprising number of travel bags, only 4 of which (two backpacks, two smaill "personal items") we use on our European trips. The rest of them are sitting patiently in our oversized linen closet, waiting for their day to come.

We did use one of them last year (and the previous year, I believe) for trips to family weddings. Ditto the packing cubes that a travel friend sent us.

Guidebooks live on one of the many bookshelves in our house, and blend in with the other, rather eclectic, collection.

So no travel room, drawer, or even closet. Now we do have some suitcases in our bedroom closet that haven't been opened since we moved into this house in 1989...

Posted by
16409 posts

During quarantine, I'm clearing out my storage unit. I have quite a bit of travel stuff. Much of it has been replaced with newer/lighter/better products. Not sure what to do with the stuff that isn't being used? Electronics, bags, travel and packing accessories, etc. I guess I could donate it to the local Habitat for Humanity store. Too bad we can't convince the webmaster to have a Trade/Sale category for us to do exactly that. Of course, that could open up a whole can of beans.

Posted by
911 posts

Most of our bags and travel stuff live in an upstairs closet. Earlier in the spring pre-covid I had brought down some of the smaller stuff to sort and figure out what I was taking this year. Finally bowed to reality and took everything back upstairs a few weeks ago now that our trip has been postponed til at least 2021. Kind of a sad moment.

Posted by
4297 posts

I periodically go through my travel stash and really just reorganize it. I never seem to actually get rid of anything. I do have some clothes which I have put on the side for our trips. Like others, I don’t want to ‘wear them out’ around town because unlike travel bags, etc, clothes are harder to replace, especially for women. I did start to go through my travel files. I have brochures and maps from past trips, magazine and newspaper articles for future trips, and other pieces of paper which I should probably pare down. I want to make a “definately going bucket list” and a “maybe we’ll get there someday” bucket list.

Posted by
7877 posts

Sounds like I need to start shopping! LOL! My stuff is either stored inside my suitcase - packing cubes, money belt, passport, adapters, etc. or in the LL Bean toiletry kit on a closet shelf.

My travel clothes are just a subset of my regular clothes, and I wear my favorite Keen sandals - various styles even when not traveling during the summer.

I had some friends taking their first trip to Europe a few years ago, and they heard I travel light. They were at my home for a social coffee, and I showed them that I could literally be packed in 5 minutes in just a carry-on. Oh, to be able to do that again soon!

Posted by
1531 posts

I have a drawer in each bathroom with random appropriate toiletries, etc. Bet I could come up w 30 one ounce tubes of toothpaste each w a day or 2 left in them. Sometimes for driving trips I make myself start there....

Posted by
7877 posts

Doric8, have you tried refilling your toothpaste tubes? It’s an easy process after a little practice. Squeeze the air out of the tube, place it nose-to-nose with a regular toothpaste tube. Hold both tightly together and squeeze it into the small tube.

The toothpaste tubes from dentists are usually only about half full. I open those and fill them, using the same method, so I can have a few tubes last for a 3-week trip.

I started this several years ago when I used to travel for work and didn’t want to constantly be paying for travel-size items.

Posted by
4627 posts

I'm waiting until I get the stuff out to pack for a trip when I can travel again.

Posted by
174 posts

I don't have a lot of travel gear or special clothing for travel, but I do save trial size makeup, skin care, shampoo, body wash, etc. to use when travelling. Not knowing when we'll travel again, I've decided to use those up, which will give me an excuse to start collecting them again....

Posted by
7877 posts

Frank II, I’ll save my $7 for two extra gelato stops! ; )

I see the adapter just takes the place of my second hand holding the tubes together while I squeeze the larger tube.

Either way, it’s good to reduce the quantity of waste heading to the landfills.

Posted by
11946 posts

Travel Toothpaste--

Had to go look at mine to see what the content amount is. Found 3 tubes of different kinds; found 3 sizes ranging from 0.8 oz. to 0.88 oz. Call them an ounce.

My solution requires no $7 gizmo or finger acrobatics. When I get back from a trip I just finish off the partial tube and start with a new one on the next trip. No waste and no extra expense. ( There is no law that prohibits using a travel size tube at home!)

The tube connector is clever, but I see it as a variant of chrome plated muffler bearings

Posted by
8 posts

I have spent some time during COVID-19 cleaning out the travel closet/room. We have collected a lot of travel stuff over the past 45 years of international travel. A friend gave me a good idea. When she pulled out the things she thought she would ever need, she set up a "travel closet" in a cabinet in her garage for friends to come and "shop" from her duplicates when they were planning a trip. I have enough packing cubes for an expedition- I decided to pick out our favorites and to save 120% of what we normally travel with every year. I have a lot of duplicates/triplicates/upgraded to a new one...

Posted by
4627 posts

I"m thinking about buying a second home to store some of my regular clothes(that haven't been worn at all in 2020 and are languishing in my luggage)and then I could hang up the rest of my travel clothes in my closet. At this point, though, it's only a thought.

Posted by
2792 posts

Just a note... if you want a larger "travel size" toothpaste head to the dollar store. They have 2 -3 oz tubes for a buck!

Posted by
834 posts

Using the travel/dentist sized toothpaste tubes gives you the satisfaction of actually lightening your load (albeit only a little) as you travel.