Packing for trips

I don’t travel A LOT like some people do, but I do take a couple of iternational trips a year and many domestic.  I do REALLY want to learn to be an expert packer.  I want to see how small I can go!

I am departing Sunday for a 5-week trip through Spain and Morocco.  Luckily, it will be hot and sunny in most parts so smaller, thinner clothes are in order.  I do plan on living in bathing suits and cover-ups half the time but I will need proper coverage for occasional meetings, dinners out and visiting mosques.  Also, I will be packing for a 4-year old – my traveling companion Ellie.

After doing some research I found a good article on packing at CNN.com.  I think you will find it very informative, I know I did.

My personal favorite tips are:

1) Get baggage that stands out – I just bought a really cool set from Columbia at JCPenneys during a big sale at a great bargain (really cool shade of blue – to match our eyes).

2) Create really cool personal luggage tags with a laminator.  I still have one lying around so we are making personal tags tonight.  It’s a fun family project that will make it much easier to find your luggage.  It’s especially useful if you have black luggage 😬.

3) Roll everything.

4) Err on the side of packing light – take stuff plan on donating and find a donation center on your trip before you leave.  Then you will have all that room for souvenirs!

5) I have never broken anything, and believe me after living in France for stints, I carried lots of glass in my luggage.  I save all my bags from shopping, put each bottle/breakable in two bags – then wrap it with clothes so it’s insulated all around.  I’m telling you I’m 20-0 on breakage.

6) If you have an outdated phones – old iPhone, take it with you.  I couldn’t get much for it here in US, but in Dublin I got 80Euros for it!   Just be sure it’s set to factory mode so there’s no personal data on it.

7) Be sure there is plenty of storage on all your devices.  In this digital age, you can take so many iPhone photos and forget about them.  My friends love DropBox for storing photos and I just bought extra storage on iCloud in case.

IF YOU HAVE ANY GREAT TIPS, please post them on our Facebook page, Kangaroos and Kimonos – love to hear them!