Travel can be a stressful time for anyone. It requires not just planning for your destination, but also planning for what’s going on at home or at work while you’re away. To simplify things, I’d like to share a few things that I do to prepare for travel:
1.) I keep my toiletry bag packed at all times. Aside from a very few items, I have duplicate, travel-sized versions of all my toiletries packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. You never know when your husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/other might want to whisk you away for a romantic weekend! Or, as is more likely the case, when you’ll get called to a conference out-of-state and have to leave…you know…right now.
2.) Speaking of toiletries–if you go some place a lot (say…your parents’ house?), see if you can leave some toiletries there. Almost everything that I would need is already at my Mom and Dad’s, so packing for their house is a breeze!
3.) I keep my suitcase in a moderately accessible place because my husband and I travel pretty often. In previous posts I’ve talked about how your proximity to an item should be a sign of its usefulness in your life. If I’m in the living room and about to sneeze, an open box of tissues in the garage isn’t going to be much help. I need the tissues to be more accessible than that. On the other hand, I don’t need the veritable pallet of tissue boxes that we got from BJs to be sitting on the counter waiting for me to eventually run out of the one open box. They can stay in the garage. We travel fairly often, so I keep our suitcases in an easily accessible storage area downstairs. If you travel a lot–make some room in your house for your luggage. If you only travel once a year–then maybe the attic, basement storage or shed is an appropriate place for your bags.
4. I choose one color scheme for clothes. It’s tempting to throw in all your favorite outfits but take it from someone who has done lots and lots of traveling–Not. Worth. It. Choose “things that go with black” or “things that go with brown” or whatever and stick with it. It’s easier to think about when planning to pack, and then it’s easier to put things together at your destination as well (and you don’t have to bring as many shoes–can I get an Amen?!)
5. I keep a list of things at work that I generally need to do if I’m going to be away from the office. It has things on it like, “away phone message” and “away email message” and “forward calls.” That way it’s less likely that I’ll forget to do something important.
Those are just a few things that I do–but I’m sure you all have ways to cope. Feel free to share your tips and tricks for staying sane while traveling! For information on easy travel accessories, check out The Daily Grommet