Packing Hacks and Products

Using Cadence Capsules for my toiletries has made packing so much easier. I have a different colored one for each item, and they have custom labels. Eight of them fit in my quart bag. They are pricy, but for me, worth every cent.

Toiletries:

• Oil of Olay dry cloths cut in half to remove makeup
• Liquid foundation placed into a teeny Clinique sample jar will last a month

Laundry:

• Earth Breeze dry laundry detergent sheets to use in the sink or washer. Or use hotel shampoo in the sink.

Safety:

• I bring this from Amazon to have in my jacket at night, so I don’t try to use my phone & drop it. It’s so small that I tied a small ribbon onto it to not lose it. “ Coast KL10 100 Lumen LED Keychain Light, Pocket Sized, Black”

Adapter:

• I bring two of the very small inexpensive ones from the RS store. Place colored tape on them, so you don’t leave them behind when you’re changing hotels.

Efficiency:

• I love my newest purchase for this year’s trips - the Tom Bihn travel “tray” that’s more like a drawstring stand up circular bag. It’s perfect to take out when I arrive and have everything I use in the evening in one location, plus a great safety item. If a fire alarm goes off at night, that bag has my phone, hotel key, money belt & reading glasses in it. Grab the bag & carefully exit. (I like this TB item so much that it’s permanently on my bedside table at home when I’m not traveling. At home, it holds a pair of reading glasses, a spare car key (has the emergency alarm), a flashlight & my phone.)

Overall:

• My Cotopaxi Allpa 35L changed the way I packed and by design is more organized. The clamshell opening with the two mesh sides eliminated the need for larger clothing packing cubes. I also bring my collective misc. items in a gallon Ziploc bag, so it’s very easy to find anything visually in my bag.
• And weighing each item, each piece of clothing has made a huge reduction in the overall weight of 13.5 pounds on my back. So, a kitchen scale helps decide which pants, etc. to choose.

I bought a 2-pack set of adaptors that I love. Each one has 3 outlets, 2 USB-C ports and 1 USB-A port, all contained in a single unit. It is so handy and the newest version actually folds up to be more compact. https://www.amazon.com/European-Adapter-Foldable-International-Essentials-dp-B0CBTDJ4ZH/dp/B0CBTDJ4ZH/?th=1

For shoes, I use these disposable shower caps from Amazon. They're great for wrapping around shoes that you are packing in your suitcase. I also use them at home as a cover on bowls; like with bread rising and so on, so they have a number of purposes. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BXITJC8/

And for pills, I use these small ziplock bags that actually hold quite a few pills in them. You can easily write on the outside with a Sharpie, and keep them all together in a larger ziplock bag. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FVG5QQ

ETA: I make my own lotion bars for hands and body, and as it's solid, I don't have to keep it in the 3-1-1 bag. It's so easy to make—just mix equal parts of coconut oil, olive oil and beeswax; heat in a double boiler (or very low heat) till liquid, then pour in silicone cupcake containers (any small containers you have). They will solidify quickly (even quicker if you put them in the fridge). I love them and they are so great for dry skin.

We love our power strip…….NO ONE has enough electrical outlets……..2 phones, 2 laptops, a watch, our wifi battery…….every night all of these need to be charged and its great to put them all on the strip……..we also travel with a metal WalMart $14.99 fan…….yes, I know to some of you that is insanity……BUT…..it serves 2 purposes…….it is a GREAT sound machine to cover street or hall noise and its keeps the air stirring in your sleep when there is no air moving and you need AC…….and many times there is none! One of us makes the commitment to make space for it in luggage and we have never regretted it…..we take a somewhat heavy brick converter to use and have never had difficulty with it…..we also make certain we carry an empty canvas carry-on bag, flattened in our suitcase so that any item bought can be wrapped and put in our luggage and the canvas carry-on becomes a carry-on filled with dirty clothes that are easy to cram into an overhead bin.

Jane, this fan might be a game changer for you. Small, packs flat, powered by usb.
FARADAY Small Table Fans... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NNG7M11?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Packing liquids like makeup remover and moisturizers in contact lense cases has been a game changer. You can test it at home to see how long a case worth of product will last you. I use a cold cream to remove mascara, and one side of a case was enough for a 3 week trip.

Olay Cleansing Melts are another great products. For decades I’ve used the Daily Facial Cloths for travel. The melts are teeny tiny, and no waste.

I looked at the travel tray mentioned by Jean and ended up buying something even more expensive. The Belroy desk caddy (https://bellroy.com/products/desk-caddy?color=black&material=ripstop_recycled#slide-0). The price is a scandal, and it's not terribly lightweight. I got it on sale. It's perfect for the nightstand. Holds my evening meds, lip balm, Kindle, charger and cable, and my deodorant (which I used to carry with the toiletries, but I don't use it in the bathroom, so I was always moving it around). It stands up on its own when open. I shopped around A LOT to try to find something less expensive. A lot of my traveling friends will be getting this for Xmas, I think.

The other new item I brought on my recent trip was the Matador flat pack soap bag (https://www.matadorequipment.com/products/flatpak-soap-bar-case?srsltid=AfmBOorU1OlhF4Br4CbtenexMgKM8WSWdDq5qoenhqXdYN2qexXf7pr9). Inside, I have a small mesh bag with soap and a little suction cup hook to hang it on the shower wall. I stay in a lot of AirBnBs, which sometimes don't have soap (or don't have soap I like). It's a dry bag, so even if I put the soap back wet, it doesn't make a mess. It also came in handy on a recent camping trip where the shower didn't have anywhere to put your stuff.

I don’t like moving soap bars each time I move accommodation, so during the year I save the last bit of the bars at home, dry them out and take enough along to have one to use in each place.
Keeps your bag smelling nice till the end of the trip.

Each night, I unpack my day bag, check to see if everything is there that I need next day, and repack it in exactly the same way each night.
That way, I always know where everything is at all times.
Then, flashlight and tiny personal alarm by my bed at night.
Ready to go even in an emergency.

I bring a lanyard from home, and put my apartment rental keys on it, then thread it through a belt loop so the keys are in my pocket attached to me, not in a bag where they could be lost.

Simple things, but all of these things make us better travelers.

Not a product, but a method. When traveling together, place one half of each person's clothing in each bag. If one bag gets misrouted, there should be enough in the remaining bag to get by until the wayward one arrives.

Nivea Travel Tins
Twist ties
Universal Convertor
Snap together travel tray
Chums for Sunglasses and glasses
Small tins of Altoids
Dryer Sheets to keep clothes smelling good
A few safety pins
Leather coin purse
Dental Floss
Kleenex packets
Carabiner Clips
Kerchief

Last minute wrinkles.....I bring along a small 2 oz empty spray bottle. The night before I need to wear a shirt and it has wrinkles, I spray it lightly with water, hang it up, and usually by the morning, the wrinkles are gone. I forgot to do this and this morning and my shirts were wrinkled. (I traveled yesterday and the shirts get somewhat wrinkled being packed.)

So, I sprayed them as normal, then got the hairdrayer and dried the shirt. Wrinkles gone.

I hate to iron.

Of course, it depends on the material used for your clothes.

Phone alarms. If you use your phone as a wake up alarm, don't keep it next to your bed where you might just turn it off and go back to sleep. Put it across the room so you have to get up to turn it off.

If the drapes or the curtains in your hotel room don't close all the way and the morning sun wakes you up, see if you have pants hangers with clips. Use the clips to keep the curtains shut.

It will look something like this:

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/10/28/USAT/455b90d6-de03-467f-ad9f-569356bbaf56-IMG_7133.jpeg?width=390&format=pjpg&auto=webp&quality=70

Instead of separate containers of moisturizer and sunscreen I pack a 3 oz. bottle of cetaphil cream with 35 sunscreen. For foundation color I mix the cream with a tiny free sample of foundation from MAC. It’s a little smaller than a contact lens container. I’m a fan of solid shampoo bars cut into 1 inch cubes.

The biggest packing game changer for me has been to stand packing cubes and zippered pouches on their skinny edges in my suitcase and in my clamshell style backpack, rather than stacking them flat on top of each other.

Over time, I have bought enough small and medium packing cubes and clear zippered pouches that are the right height to stand in each case. A medium cube holds tops and layers. Zip pouches - shorter ones for my backpack and taller ones for my suitcase - hold chargers and cords, meds, scarves for churches and mosques, underwear, etc.

I use the Rick Steves "small" cubes as my "medium size" to stand on their long edge in my suitcase.

1 or 2 larger packing cubes. holding items such as pants, dresses or skirts, jacket/vest, etc, lay across the top of my suitcase. In my hotel room, when I remove those 1 or 2 larger cubes, everything underneath is directly accessible, zippers staying unzipped during longer stays.

Another thread about spinners rolling away on the train reminded me that I often stuff a big bungee cord in the most accessible place of one of my bags to be able to hook my bag up to a railing or other place (yes, I know the easier solution is to put a spinner on its side. I am talking about other situations.) I also bring a couple of smaller bungee cords and a thing I got from Muji that can be hooked onto a rail or somewhere for the bungee cord to be attached to.

It's hard to describe that, so here it is

https://www.muji.com/sg/products/cmdty/detail/4550002547431

@G3rryCee, I am glad to hear that you like the Matador soap holder. I considered asking for it last Christmas but wasn’t sure if it was worth the cost. I do prefer bringing a bar of soap that won’t dry out my skin, instead of some hotel bar soap or the tiny packets of combo shampoo/gel.

Kim, that S and O shaped thing is really cool!

Not everyone likes to do sink laundry but I’ve started taking 2 gallon ziplock bags and let the clothes soak in the tub or shower. I think someone on the forum gave me the idea. I can get multiple washes out of each bag. The stoppers never worked well for me. I also like these https://a.co/d/gjdJbEI for drying

We go on bike and boat trips in Europe so we need to wash bike shorts every day. Bought double sided hat clips to secure bike shorts by the window so they dry quicker and dont fall into the river outside.
We wash in 2.5 gallon ziplock bags. Works great.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B48XTBL3/ref=ppx_yo_tab_ap_asin_title_o01__s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Oh you influencers! I told myself that I was not going to buy any more travel related paraphernalia for a while but so much for that plan!

For those of you using ziploc bags for sink washing, you may want to look into dry bags such as this one:

Sea To Summit Dry Sack

I just got a new one. I used the last one regularly for five years. . It weighs about an ounce.

Another vote for the Matador Soap Bag.

I also like the Matador soap bag. I used to use one of those rectangular plastic soap cases and it took up so much room. And the soap never dried and got too soft.

Somehow the Matador bag allows the soap to ‘breathe’ and dry out, but without leaking or making a mess. And it takes up less and less space as the bar of soap gets used.

Incidentally, I also have the Matador flat pack toiletry bottles but I don’t like them as much. They’re kind of awkward to use and they’re hard to get cleaned out at the end of a trip. I’ve gone back to the GoTubes for cleanser, conditioner, etc.

Just a note, I was very intrigued by the Belroy desk caddy G3rryCee mentioned above. travel with my electronic accessories, plugs, etc., is always the biggest packing mess If you’re willing to take it in sage green - it’s on sale I just ordered the green one. One note I paid for it using Apple Pay and it defaulted to nine dollar express shipping - since I’m not going anywhere even on business for a month i changed that to free shipping.

A USB toothbrush charger was huge for me as going from electric toothbrush to regular was tough.
https://a.co/d/dI5xw9M
We pack 2 heads, the charger and one handle. We can also take it camping in our trailer.

Drying hand wash can be a problem in some rooms as there are places with few places to hang stuff. Our solution was to get one of the braided rubber lines for hanging clothes. We went to a hardware (or outdoor) store and bought about 20 feet of "para-cord". Very light weight, and takes up very little space. Attach ten feet to each end with really good knots and you'll never have a problem finding a place to tie off the line. A couple of light weight plastic trash bags are placed under the drying items in case there are any drips.

Binder clips. Holding curtains closed or out of the way! Replacing clothespins! Keeping bags of snacks closed! Holding together tickets and brochures from sightseeing for scrapbooking! And you can get a big box at an office supply store for very little. (Or, uh, amass a collection from your workplace.)

TC mentioned one of my habits

Not a product, but a method. When traveling together, place one half of each person's clothing in each bag. If one bag gets misrouted, there should be enough in the remaining bag to get by until the wayward one arrives

For one-night stopovers, like before the flight home or on the way between destinations that are far apart (looking at you, Milano) we pack what we need for that one night in a packing cube. One cube for each of us with nightclothes and whatever we plan to wear the next day. That cube plus the toiletry bag goes on top of our respective bags, minimizing the unpacking, repacking, and pawing through the whole suitcase.

I also bring a couple of smaller bungee cords and a thing I got from Muji that can be hooked onto a rail or somewhere for the bungee cord to be attached to.

Kim, how does that thing from Muji work? Is it magnetic or is there a stretch cord inside? I can't figure it out, but it looks very useful!

Mardee, no, it's just plastic. I don't know how to explain, it just unfolds to make an upper and lower hook that you can then use to hang something else from. I wish I knew how to describe it better.

Mardee....here's the webpage again for the product. It has lots of photos showing it in "action."

https://uk.muji.eu/products/multi-purpose-hanging-s-hook-10205

And yes, of course I have one. Although I no longer take it with me.

Another useful hook thing is the Nite Ize s-biner. Comes in loads of sizes. Can be used to "lock" zippers on your bag. Or with the bungees as described above. I used two to hang my packable duffel off my rolling bag on the way home. Very secure.

https://www.rei.com/product/131703/nite-ize-s-biner-aluminum-dual-carabiners-package-of-3?sku=1317030001&store=&CAWELAID=120217890004619867&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=137430129561&CATCI=pla-554701112132&cm_mmc=PLA_Google%7C21700000001700551_1317030001%7C92700069750613457%7CNB%7C71700000091053287&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD_DTlyTasZZLfkJViEZn4l6AD3be&gclid=CjwKCAjwreW2BhBhEiwAavLwfDF9ZPVsNqsmgX_LcrCveznaBuDRVcer4fa9OJLYbSEbQ6Rai2hO2xoCIVgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

For me the biggest payoff has been using organizational bags for everything. All electronic cables go in one bag, All socks/underwear go in one bag. All non-prescription meds in one bag. Makeup in one bag. Misc toiletries in another bag. I have a bunch of smallish Blu-Q bags that I use for things like this (packing cubes for clothing though). It's most amazing on the airplane where I can just pull out the electronic cord bag and get my cord/headphones/etc without digging and then when we stay to be able to easily find the Ibuprofen instead of digging around the toothbrushes in a bigger bag :).

Carrie

Carrie, I do the same! Nothing goes in loose if I can help it. Tom Bihn also has some great little pouches and clips to attach them in larger bags. I used to lose my Swiss Army knife in the bottom of my purse or backpack. Now I put it in a Tom Bihn pouch and clip it to a D-ring and can find it right away.

The biggest thing for me that I learned years ago was to use contact lens cases for moisturizer. They don't leak and they hold plenty, and take up minimal room.

I have packing cubes, but don't like them for everything. I do however use the small ones and I puts socks in one and bras and underwear in another. Those are the small things that if my bag gets pulled aside at TSA, that I don't want strewn all over.

I have a bright orange little bag that is only for my electronic charging items. So an adaptor, phone cords, my brick, and headphones for on the plane. With it being bright orange, I can find it quickly in my day pack.

I use a Hero Clip on my personal item. Comes in handy for many things, but the main reason is for use on the plane. I clip one loop to the shoulder strap of my personal item and the other clip to the seat back pocket. If I need something from my bag, I don't need to bend over and contort, I just pull up on the shoulder strap hooked in front of me. For putting it back, I just lower it onto the floor and push it back under the seat with my feet. This way, I don't have to put anything in that dirty seat back pocket or overly organize my bag guessing what I might need at my seat during the flight.

The other new item I have is a wrist band, Sprigs I think, which has a zipped pocket to hold cards; ie, passport card, debit, and credit card. There's another pocket that's supposed to hold a small phone, but I put my health insurance numbers, and other important information in there. So everything is not in my Travelon Purse when I haven't made it to my hotel yet. I am not a money belt or neck wallet kind of person, but as I get a little paranoid when I read some things here, and my leg wallet that I used to use is not calling to me, I'm trying this. I travel solo. If I were with someone, I wouldn't worry at all. Because I usually don't travel during hot weather, I will have long sleeves on, at least in transit; ie, blazer or such. I don't worry about my passport. I'm doing a trial run to Georgia in a couple of days so I am trying to pretend it is Paris... I still don't understand how, if locked up, someone can get into my small purse, into the zipped pocket, but divide and conquer! I also purchased a bra envelope, but it doesn't feel secure to me...as most safety items don't to me. It is nice for dividing and do use it in my purse on occasion for organization.

I also have a Tom Bihn travel, well two actually...both sizes, that is on the bedside table so in the morning, if I'm in a hurry, I can just pack the entire bag in my suitcase for the next night. I do take my phone out, though.

Runs to Google Hero Clip...

Posted by mikliz97
The biggest thing for me that I learned years ago
was to use contact lens cases for moisturizer. They don't leak and
they hold plenty, and take up minimal room.

Yes! Isn't it amazing how long that little contact lens case of face cream lasts?!!?

If you haven't tried it, fill one with your face cream, write down the date, then use it daily, without being frugal, til it runs out. See how long it really lasts.

Do the same with your 3-oz or 2-oz or 1-oz bottles of shampoo, conditioner, liquid soap, etc.

Then label the container with "Face Cream 6-wks" or as applicable.

And yes, mine lasted 6 weeks. Cream in a jar, not lotion in a pump bottle.

khansen--I have different size bottles for shampoo/conditioner depending on the length of the trip. I use 3 oz for long trips and 1 or 2 oz for shorter ones. Great idea to jot down how long it lasts!

In the category of lighter, more efficient & I would add safer - A wrist pouch like what Wray recommended but smaller, it basically looks like a sweat band. Living in Guatemala for 3 months it was all I carried. It's inconspicuous, mine only holds a credit card & some cash. I gave it to a friend going to India so if anyone knows of a small one LMK!

Kinesio tape - this stuff is amazing. I can walk further without pain if I tape my feet & achilles tendons. It has a learning curve, best to watch some videos and tape at home. I pre-cut the strips and roll them up in a rubber band, the tape stays on for 3-4 days. I use Sparthos brand.

OK, weirdly I carry a small specimen bag - (it looks like a ziplock bag) for ice. It's the only thing I've found that keeps ice from leaking. Nice to have for those aches after a long day walking.