Travel Packing Tips: A Grandma’s Guide

Last fall, Steve and I spent 3 1/2 weeks in nine cities: Nashville, Chattanooga, Savannah, Charleston, Asheville, Roanoke, Richmond, Gettysburg, and Alexandria, (VA). Half were one-night stays. Now I’m sharing my favorite travel packing tips from that unique challenge.

I’ve done a lot of traveling for work and on vacations, both in the States and abroad, and I’ve streamlined my packing strategies through the years. But each trip gives me more ideas for more efficient packing, and I still make mistakes.

Putting the Travel Wardrobe Together

Here are personal rules I abide by when selecting clothes for a trip:

• Stick to darker colors and include a few prints; they show soil less.
• Separates that you can mix, match, and layer give the most mileage.
• Try on everything you plan to take and note shoes and accessories needed. Sketch or take photos of your outfits, or write up a checklist to ensure you don’t forget anything when you pack.
• Google the long-range weather forecast of your destination. It was so unseasonably cold at Gettysburg that dressing in layers didn’t keep me warm enough–I had to buy a jacket.
• Select clothes that hand-wash and dry quickly. If your bathroom sink has a faulty stopper, or if you’re squeamish about using the sink, set a large plastic bag in the sink and wash a few items in the bag.
• Select other clothes that are machine washable and dryable. On a long trip, we’ll hit the laundromat at least once if we are staying in a hotel; more convenient is an Airbnb with laundry facilities.
• Break in new shoes before you go because sore feet can ruin a vacation. My biggest challenge is in finding comfortable, dressier-than-sneakers shoes to wear to dinner. Usually, getting to a nice restaurant requires a walk to a metro station and more walking at the other end. I’ve had good luck this trip with Allbirds flats.
• I take two purses. One everyday bag that will go with every outfit and that can hold my daily essentials while touring, and one clutch bag for evening. Both get packed in the suitcase. Avoid a bag with too many pockets. It’s hard to keep track of your stuff.

Accessories that Make Travel Easier

Sometimes, it’s worth investing in a few travel extras. Here are some I can’t do without.

• A hanging cosmetics bag–one with zipper or mesh pockets and a hook for hanging. Hang it on the towel rack and you can access everything without having to pack and unpack at each hotel; when it’s time to move on, roll up to secure the bag, and go.
• A sturdy, foldable duffle or tote, packed in your suitcase. Use it when you buy gifts for your grandkids and need an extra bag. For the flight home, transfer the least valuable things to the duffle and check it through. Sometimes, we bring a larger suitcase than we need to accommodate anticipated travel purchases. Fill the extra space with bubble wrap to ensure that a soft-sided suitcase is full and firm, which keeps it from getting damaged in transit, until you fill it with your purchases.

• Packing cubes. Packing cubes help to keep your clothes organized. Compression cubes have a second set of zippers to squeeze out excess air between clothing, making your packing more compact. Buy a quality brand; broken zippers render the cubes useless.
• Another way to organize is to use ordinary zip-top freezer bags. You can do some compression packing by filling the bag and sealing it almost shut. Then roll up the bag and its contents toward the open end to push out the air and seal shut quickly. You can also buy travel space bags specifically designed to compress air and compact your clothes.
• An oversize tote that fits under the airplane seat makes a better personal item than the typical purse, because it can hold more things, including an extra pair of shoes and a change of clothes if your suitcase gets lost.

Travel Packing Tips

• It’s good to have a staging area for your packing. We have a seating area in our bedroom where, a few weeks before our trip, we begin to gather items we don’t want to forget, as we think of them.
• For T-shirts, knits, and jeans, rolling, rather than folding, is more efficient and keeps clothes from wrinkling less. Rolled clothes are also easier to stuff into nooks and crannies.
• Wear the thickest, bulkiest items on the airplane so you don’t have to pack them. This goes for boots and coats.
• Don’t throw away any clean paper or plastic shopping bags you acquire as you travel, until the end of your trip. They come in handy for all sorts of packing needs.
• Maybe this applies only to us, but Steve and I often bring back a few specialty food items in jars–honey from Provence, for example. To pack, put the jar in a plastic bag and twist closed tightly (or better yet, use a sealed zip-top bag)–a precaution, in case of breakage. Roll a T-shirt or other article of clothing around the wrapped jar. Pack wrapped jars tightly between layers of clothes. What you want is a thick cushion all around the item to fit snugly, so there’s no room for jostling when your bags get tossed around by baggage handlers. Try this at your own risk; but we’ve never broken a jar yet.

Things not to Forget

Among our travel packing tips, we can’t forget some essentials.

• Sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer. Use the wipes to clean your chair and tray table before settling in for the flight.
• An emergency snack. Toasted almonds are a good choice. It’s handy if you’re sitting for hours on the tarmac due to a flight delay, or if you could only get late restaurant reservations.
• Band-Aids, moleskin, etc., if you are prone to sore feet.
• Extra zip-top freezer bags. They take almost no room and will always come in handy.
• Upon returning from a trip, while the memory is fresh, make a list of travel packing essentials in preparation for your next trip.

Traveling as Light as I Can

When we were young, Steve and I used to be able to travel to Europe with just carry-on luggage. Today, we check roller bags at the airport. However, we stick to small suitcases and I try to eliminate every extra ounce of weight.

• I don’t believe in contingency packing–what I might need, in most cases, is what I’ll never need.
• I like small, travel-size toiletries because they take up so much less space. Target has a good selection.
• Instead of paperbacks that add weight and take up space, I load my Ipad with e-books, downloaded from the public library.
• Before I go, I review every item I plan to take with me and consider whether or not I really need it; if I’m not sure, I leave it at home.

What are your favorite travel packing tips?