Travel packing tips and tricks to pack like a pro

Finally, the time has come when readers are asking me to share my favourite travel packing tips and tricks that help me pack like a pro. Friends often ask – you travel so much, how do you manage to pack & unpack your bags so frequently? Isn’t it a hassle? Well, not if you know about these travel packing tips and tricks!!

The essence of these travel packing tips and tricks lies in making use of the right travel packing solutions like Travel packing organizer bags and several other travel packing aids available out there in the market. Then knowing how to pack compact and only the essentials that you need. Also, having different travel packing hacks. Last but not the least, being organized with your travel packing list really helps a lot. Let me elaborate on each one a bit. And in the process, explain how I myself do my packing using these Travel packing tips and tricks that immensely save time and effort for me.

Travel packing tips and Tricks #1

Use Travel Packing Cubes

There are several Travel packing solutions out there in the market. But I can’t imagine life without my travel packing cubes. I have one travel packing cube per member of my family. Believe me, on my recent 4 days trip to Indore, or 7 days trip to Andaman or even a 2 weeks trip to Europe, I accommodated all my travel cloths in a single travel packing cube!! So, what are travel packing cubes? In simplest terms they are cube shaped cloth bags with zipper to segregate cloths and other travel related stuff. I personally have these as well as these and I love both. Together, they are able to accommodate all these for me:

1. One travel packing cube per family member
2. I use one of the pouches for my baby’s diaper bag to keep her diaper changing essentials
3. We use one to segregate all electronic cables and wires that can tangle

The obvious advantage is having each member’s things segregated. And not having to rummage through the whole suitcase to find one small piece of cloth.

So my number one travel packing tips and tricks is to use packing cubes. There are so many variations available online. Click here to see some.

Let me give you an additional bonus tip from my travel packing tips and tricks here – Roll cloths when packing into the travel packing cubes. This way, you fit a lot more in each cube and the cloths don’t get wrinkled.

Travel packing tips and Tricks #2

Segregate the items in categories

When I say segregate, I mean categorize the items. Use separate containers for each category – plastic boxes, poly bags or the travel organizer cubes or travel packing cubes whatever works well.

Here’s my own broad category of items:

• Travel cloths in travel packing cubes
• Toiletries in small reusable travel size toiletries bottles or travel kit of toiletries stored in ziplock bags
• My handbag
• Our travel documents
• Essential electronics
• Kids snacks, electric cooker & some raw food to cook meals for them if required (Not always!)
• Some basic toys, books and entertainment stuff for kids. Here’s a list of travel friendly baby toys that you can choose from
• Some books for elder kids. Mine totally loves her kid’s travel books.
• Travel medicine kit

Travel packing tips and tricks #3

Keep some of the above stuff always packed & ready!

Yes, you can keep some of these stuff that I mentioned above, always packed and ready to grab and dump into your suitcase. Isn’t that cool! You will find half of your travel packing work already done this way even before you start packing! I have these home organizer cubes that I love (I am an organization freak!). And I have labeled one of these as “travel essentials”. And everything that can be kept always ready, goes here in this cube. So, all I need to do is when I start packing is to grab this cube and just take out the items needed and add them to my suitcase. And I am done with more than half of my packing! This list includes :

• The ziplock pouch of small toiletries bottles (And I will show you what all it contains) – one for us, one for kids
• Some electronics and travel essentials like earphones, eye masks, camera charger, power bank.
• My Travel medicine kit
• A pouch of sanitary essentials for travel which goes into my handbag
• One set of home keys

In the below section, I give you a peek into each of these items as well as the categories listed above.

Travel packing tips and tricks #4

Save space big time on packing toiletries

You don’t really need to carry those big bottles of toiletries with you. I have just 2 of these small zipper bags, always packed. One for our toiletries and one for the kids. To save space you can go for either of these approaches:

• If you can’t let go of your favorite brands, you can use these travel size toiletries refill bottles. Label them and fill them up with your favorite ones. Like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hair oil, face wash, makeup remover, cream etc. Also, now a days many makeup and toiletries come into mini versions of 50ml or smaller. You can buy those as well if they are available for the brands that you use.
• But if you are flexible, apart from the above travel size toiletries bottles, you can as well use travel size toiletries kit . They are cute and highly effective when it comes to saving space for your toiletries. Some of these available in Indian market are the following:

Recently I started using this brand “Seer Secrets“. The first thing that I loved about their product is that they are all organic and herbal. Something that I have become cautious about recently. Next, the packaging is absolutely travel friendly. I got the products delivered in these outer packets, that are really protective of the content inside. And also help prevent spillage. Something that we are always worried about when traveling.

If you see, some of these like the facial serum are so sleek, a bliss for frequent traveler like me. I am really excited about traveling hassle free with these products next. The next thing I liked about them is that they have a wide range of products for almost all skin and hair types. So, I don’t have to mix and match multiple brands. Finding everything under a single roof really helps!! Now, some of these like the serum are the ones that are going to go in my ziplock bag directly when I travel. And some others, I will take out in my reusable travel bottles and carry with me!!

I always have these ziplock bags ready – one for us and one for the kids. As products last, I repurchase or refill. It’s ready to grab and go. And it hardly takes up space. Plus it looks nice 😀 . In fact, now that we travel so frequently, I even have this toothbrush case for travel with a set of our toothbrushes and a small toothpaste tube always packed!

PS: When on air travel, and if carrying your toiletries in cabin luggage, as per the rule, you can carry one set of maximum 10 bottles, maximum 100ml each, in a clear and transparent pouch.

Travel packing tips and tricks #5

Always have a ready to go travel medicine kit

I use a plastic box as my family’s travel medicine kit to keep all my travel medicines in one place. If anything from here gets used during travel, I replace that without waiting for the end moment. And every few months I keep purging the expired medication. This is the list of medicines in my travel medicine kit:

• Latest prescription per family member who are under any medication (Like my father is diabetic and he takes insulin injections and for the kids it shows what medications they generally take)
• Cough, cold and fever medication for us and kids
• Stomach Flu or stomach infection medication for us and kids
• Some band-aids & ointments
• A thermometer
• Motion sickness medicine

And believe me, sometimes these medicines have been life savers. Like when I was in Coorg and got a stomach flu. Or, when the whole family had motion sickness on our Shimla and Manali trip. Also, sometimes you can get into difficulty if you don’t carry your medication. Like my father forgot his during our 5 days Singapore trip. And it was simply impossible to procure fresh medication there.

Travel packing tips and tricks #6

What to pack in the handbag

Traveling with kids means you have very limited space left for yourself 🙂 . you have to carry them and their bags and luggage. So, I have one small backpack purse or handbag with the basic minimum needs. But again, it is very organized. Here’s a peek into what I pack in my handbag. Hope it will give you a fare idea on what to pack in your handbag or purse when traveling:

• My wallet (ofcourse!)
• Earphones tucked neatly in this cute pouch
• Phone and it’s charger
• One warm yet super thin pashmina shawl like this one, which doesn’t take up much space and acts like a shawl/stole/wrap as needed.
• My basic makeup in this cute small pencil pouch. I only require couple of mini lipsticks or lip crayons that are nude shades and save space, one eye kajal, a sleek 18g pack of my BB cream and a 18g pack of my day cream. That’s it!
• My comb
• Documents – Passport, any other doc, air/bus/train ticket when boarding or day tour tickets when out on a day trip.
• This pouch to segregate and carry all my sanitary essentials which include a small wet wipe pouch, a small pouch of dry tissues, one hand sanitizer and a Pee Safe Toilet seat sanitizer.
• Some basic snack item for kids

In fact, now that the kids are growing a bit , they both love to pack their own small backpacks or bags in which they can carry some snacks, some tissues, and a small bottle of water. The elder one also loves to carry a book with her. Recently we received a small kids ergonomic backpack from Tinipak . Not just did my kids love the pastel color of the bag, I was also very happy with the multiple compartments that this bag has, which helps pack different items segregated. And there is a separate compartment outside to tug in the small water bottle as well!! Here’s some snaps of my kid enjoying the bag after packing her favourites in it. Click this link to buy this product for your tiny traveler before you embark on your next trip.

 

Ishi was so excited that she didn’t leave the bag from the moment it arrived until she went to sleep. And as expected, on our recent travel to Goa, she carried it with her. With her lunchbox, water bottle, a wet wipe pack, a dry tissue pack and a set of her colouring book and favourite crayons in it. She still didn’t feel tired. I guess that is because of the ergonomic straps and shape of the bag.

 

 

Travel packing tips and tricks #7

What food to bring for a trip

Many a times I have seen people carry a lot of food where ever they go. These can be packaged food or snacks etc. But, I try to keep them to minimal. Since, we mostly travel to places where civilization exists. Yes, being vegetarian does pose some challenges at times. But we have found our ways around that. How? By packing some basic travel food and then doing a shopping from local grocery store and cooking for ourselves when possible. (Like we did on our trip to Florence, staying in the apartment at Palazo Dei Ciompi. You remember? ).

Checkout some of our earlier writeup around food during travel

How to survive as a vegetarian in Europe

Healthy Travel snacks for kids

Having said that, I do pack some basic essentials for times when we might not be in position to get food right away. Like:

These go in handbag or baby bag:

• A small pack of nuts and dry fruits
• Few health and nutrition bars
• A couple of dark chocolates

These go in the bigger luggage (check-in luggage):

• Some soup pouches if going to winter destinations
• A few ready to eat oats packs
• Couple of ready to cook meals packs

And then once we land on the destination, we do rest of our shopping. We heavily rely on fruits, egg and bread for some of the meals if not many vegetarian options are available.

How to pack baby food for vacation

When traveling with baby and infant, food does become a challenge. As those less than an year or two years old may not be ready to eat that much of outside food. I do the following for my baby whom I started traveling with as she turned 6 months old:

• This travel size electric cooker goes with her everywhere. I have been profusely using it. It can be used to cook rice, pulses, halwa, boil apple and other fruits and cook homemade baby formula food as well.
• I have some sleek Tupperware boxes in which I pack the following essentials for the baby:
  • Homemade baby formula (I will share the recipe if you want, leave a comment)
  • Couple of readymade formula
  • Sooji / Rawa , Gur and little ghee used to cook her halwa
• I carry couple of these steel lunch boxes (no to plastic!), a couple of spoons and a small steel glass which can be used to carry her food during the day trips and commutes. And you know what is the best part? All these snugly fit inside the electric cooker!!
• She eats fruits like banana and apple (boiled) which we get pretty much anywhere we travel.

Travel packing tips and tricks #8

Travel documents packing

We are old school when it comes to travel documents. So, while we are switching to electronic and digital copies, we do keep one set of travel documents in a A4 size file. These are essentially the travel documents that we carry. You can make use of stasher luggage storage for keeping your documents safe while travelling. I keep adding a printout to the file as and when I do the bookings so that I don’t have anything pending at the last moment:

• A copy of commute tickets – bus / train / airplane
• Hotel booking confirmations
• Any day trip booking confirmations
• Birth certificate for the infant or baby
• A copy of essential Id proofs that we carry with us

Travel packing tips and tricks #9

Electronics to carry during your travel

It’s the era of electronics. We all own so many electronics. But do we really need to carry all of them on our travel? Perhaps not. I personally see many of them as distractions. And thus try to carry the minimal. So that I can enjoy my vacations.

On most of my trips of less than 5 days, I was able to accomplish most of the things using my smart phone only. As long as a wifi connection was available. Which all the accommodations provide now a days. Sometimes, I carried my kindle. But you know, with two kids traveling with you, relaxing with that kindle in your hand is just a dream!! Some of these trips include Coorg, Chikmagaluru, Wayanad, Hampi, Goa, Kabini, Kerala (Munnar, Alleppey, Thekkady, Kumarakom), Yercaud, Pondicherry, Mahabalipuram, Ooty, Kodaikanal, Meghalaya, Indore & Mandu and even Singapore.

Having said that, following is the list of electronics that we carry almost on all the trips:

• Our camera
• Smart Phones and chargers
• A power bank
• A universal adaptor (if traveling international)

These are the electronic items we sometimes carry on our trips:

• Our laptops and their chargers
• Ipad
• Kindle

Like stated earlier, we put all the chargers in a travel packing cube to keep them sorted and at one place.

Travel packing tips and tricks #10

How to pack baby bag for vacation

Surprisingly, babies take up the most part of our luggage. I carry a baby bag with us on all day trips and commutes to keep her daily essentials sorted. Earlier I used this baby bag which I found to be cumbersome carrying. Recently I switched to this diaper backpack baby bag which is bigger and better and doesn’t feel heavy at all. I am liking it a lot as it has compartments to store different stuff and keep them organized.

This is how I pack the baby bag for vacation:

• Baby’s essential medicines & Vitamins in the front pouch
• Some snacks / food packed in small steel lunch box inside the bag
• Portions of formula measured and packed in this cute baby food container
• One diaper pouch that contains 5 diapers, one changing mat, one wet wipe and a dry tissue pack . Just grab it and go when baby needs changing.
• This small thermos with hot water to wash baby food containers or prepare food/snacks
• One small water bottle with boiled and cooled water for the journey
• Couple of socks, bibs, hankeys and caps in a small ziplock pouch
• One blanket or wrap
• 2 changing set of dresses in one of the travel packing cube pouches inside the baby bag.
• To keep toddlers and kids engaged during long trips, we also pack some of their favourite books and games. This is a nice list of airplane activities for kids, which is a life saver for long flights.

Update : My younger kid is 4 years old now. And we are way beyond the diaper age. Still the diaper bag is going strong and accompanies us on each and every trip. Because it is so specious, I use it tp still pack one extra  set of cloth for Ishi, her favourite snacks for the way, her water bottle, some wipes and tissues and SOS medicines for her. If there is still left, I am able to pack my own handbag essentials like wallet, ID and basic makeup in one of the compartments in this bag. And then I need not really carry a separate handbag for myself 🙂 It’s hands down one of the best investments that I have made in any bag in my life.

Travel packing tips and tricks #11

Create travel packing lists

I swear by my travel packing list. Since, I can’t seem to recall all that I need to pack at the end moment. So, I always have my travel packing lists saved in my phone. And as I go packing, I tick tick tick!!! But a single list doesn’t work for everything. Here’s the lists that I have. If you want to check what items are there in each of my travel packing lists, I have put those at the end of the post for you.

• An uber travel packing list for items that go with us, no matter where we travel
• Summer travel packing list
• Winter travel packing list
• Kids travel packing list
• International travel packing list
• A beach packing list.

Travel packing tips and tricks #12

Choose the right packing gear

Now a days we have so many options for packing gears. That it can get confusing. In fact, finding the best luggage for family travel is nothing short of an art. We have backpacks, suitcases, trolleys, rucksacks and so many more. So, how do you choose the right packing gear? There is a lot of debate on the internet and in travel forums on backpack vs trolleys or rucksack vs backpack. I have trolley bags in all 3 sizes – cabin, medium and large. In fact, I recently got this set as a good deal on Amazon. We also have some cabin size backpacks including this one and this one. And then for our kids, we have a kid’s trolley bag. We don’t have rucksacks as I personally don’t like digging into them. And many of them don’t come with an option to lock them, Here’s my two cents on how I use the gears that I have :

• If we are traveling to a single destination where we will be stay put in a single accommodation – one or more of the trolley bags depending on the duration of the travel. Since, they keep things organized and easy to access
• When we are going to places with lots of cobblestoned pathways, lack of lifts in hotels and a lot of hopping between destinations – yes, I am referring to Europe 🙂 – then we prefer the backpacks, kid’s trolley and maybe our cabin size trolley
• I do prefer packing the kids’s trolley and keeping it as a cabin luggage with us during air travel. So that God forbid, if any issue happens with checked in luggage, at least kid’s essential clothing and needs will be with us.
• Apart from the above, a handbag or purse & baby diaper backpack bag goes with us everywhere we go.

If you prefer traveling with backpacks, then having a comfortable and sturdy one is really important. Check this list of the best travel backpacks to help you pack efficiently.

Last but not the least – Pack only the essentials

The most important of my travel packing tips and tricks is to pack only the essentials. This way you pack fast & keep your luggage light. There was a time when I would carry one cloth for each day of my vacation. But then over a period of time I realized that model doesn’t scale. And many of the items come back in the suitcase, unused.

And you know what – I realized you don’t need to go beyond 5 pair of clothing, however long your trip may be. Since you can always keep washing or using the laundry service at your hotel. And then re-wearing the cloths!! This is how I accomplished my 2 weeks Europe trip with just 2 pair of denim trousers and 5 tops!! Do you know during this trip we spent 6 days in Italy, spending time across Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice and Murano. Then we went to spend four days in Switzerland covering Lucerne, Bern, Engleberg and Mount Titlis, Grindelwald and Interlaken. After that we spent 3 days in Paris and couple of days in Amsterdam. Just imagine if I had carried 15 pair of cloths to wear on this trip. It would have been a nightmare to drag my heavy luggage to so many places !!

I try to mix and match my cloth pieces to create variations so that it doesn’t become boring during longer trips. But I stick to 5 pieces that go in one single travel packing cube for me.

Summary of my travel packing tips and tricks

So, finally, to summarize the travel packing tips and tricks that I had to share, here they are:

• Use travel packing cubes and travel packing organizers.
• Segregate the items into categories and pack all items of one category together.
• Keep some of the items always packed and ready to dump into your travel bag or suitcase.
• Have a travel medicine kit ready all the time.
• Keep toiletries into small refill packs or use smaller toiletries kits than carrying the huge ones.
• The toiletries can also be kept packed all the time & refill when they last, don’t wait for last moment.
• Choose the right travel gear – backpack or trolley or suitcase or rucksack depending on your travel requirement.
• Keep arranging your travel documents on the fly as you make the bookings.
• Only keep essentials in your handbag, organized.
• Also, keep the basic baby essentials in the baby diaper backpack.
• Create your travel checklists so that you don’t miss anything.
• Carry only minimal food and electronics.

My travel packing lists

General / Essentials travel packing list

• Travel Toiletries Kit
  • shampoo
  • conditioner
  • body wash
  • hair oil
  • face wash
  • makeup remover
  • night cream
  • baby massage oil
  • baby body bath & shampoo
  • body lotion or cream for the baby
  • combs for kids
  • hair accessories for kids
  • Mini shaving kit for husband
• Travel Medicine Kit
  • Latest prescription per family member
  • Cough, cold and fever medication for us and kids
  • Stomach Flu or stomach infection medication for us and kids
  • Some band-aids & ointments
  • A thermometer
  • Motion sickness medicine
• Basic Electronics
  • Phone & charger
  • camera & it’s charger
  • power bank
  • Universal adaptor
  • Earphones
• A set of slippers or flip flops per family member
• Quick drying towel per family member
• Travel documents
  • A copy of commute tickets – bus / train / airplane
  • Hotel booking confirmations
  • Any day trip booking confirmations
  • Birth certificate for the infant or baby
  • A copy of essential Id proofs that we carry with us
• Essential ID proofs
• Travel Handbag Essentials
  • Wallet
  • Earphones
  • Phone & Charger
  • Thin Pashmina Shawl
  • My basic makeup & comb
  • Documents (see above)
  • Sanitary essentials in a pouch:
    • wet wipe pouch
    • dry tissues
    • one hand sanitizer
    • Pee Safe Toilet seat sanitizer.
  • Some basic snack item for kids
• Food and snacks
  • Some dry fruits
  • A few packs of ready to cook meals if going places where vegetarian food options are limited
  • Some energy bars and dark chocolates
• A set of home keys
• Essentials when taking a long flight

By the way, here’s some tried tips to find cheap flights, all the more important when you travel as a big group or family!

Kids travel packing list

• Baby Diaper backpack essentials
  • Baby’s essential medicines & Vitamins
  • Some snacks / food for the day
  • Portions of formula measured and packed
  • One diaper pouch that contains:
    • 5 diapers
    • one changing mat
    • one wet wipe
    • a dry tissue pack
  • A small thermos with hot water to wash baby food containers or prepare food/snacks
  • One small water bottle with boiled and cooled water for the journey
  • Couple of socks, bibs, hankers and caps in a small ziplock pouch
  • One blanket or wrap
  • 2 changing set of dresses
• Kid’s cloths – no matter which season, I pack 3-4 of full sleeve winter wear cloths and 3-4 of half sleeves summer wear tops and t-shirts for layering. At least one hooded jacket for the air travel or road trips that start early in the morning.
• 10 pair of cloths for the infant (as they spoil dresses often, so 2-3 pair will get used up per day).

Summer travel packing list

• Sunscreen
• Herbal Sunscreen for kids
• Hats
• Sunglasses (a must during summer trips)
• Lighter summer cloths
• An umbrella

Winter travel packing list

• 2 jackets & 2 full sleeve sweaters or pullovers per kid
• Thermal inners
• 2 shoes and 2-3 pair of socks for each family member
• Gloves
• Woolen caps
• Some ready to drink soup packets
• Body lotion
• 1 jacket & 1 pullover for each of us

International travel packing list

• Passport
• Visa (if applicable)
  • Make a list of Visa related documents if it is Visa on arrival. And arrange for them a little in advance.
• International roaming enabled
• Right amount of forex as per the trip duration and visa requirement

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