February 15 - Packing Strategy

Over the weekend I did a mad dash of next-to-last-minute store runs, a bunch of house cleaning, and buckets of laundry to prepare for the coming week. Once my vacation clothes were cleaned, dried, and lined up, I began to pack for real.

And I must say... Space Saver bags are absolutely and without a doubt worth the money. Although if anyone inspects our carry-ons I'm afraid they'll think we're trying to smuggle freeze dried clothes out of the country, as the air-less sealed packets resemble MRE's more than they do packed clothing. Appearance aside, we can not only fit far more stuff in our suitcases, but our clothing is well protected from moisture and dirt while traveling as well.

We used these last year and I was impressed with their durability, however you don't want to ever pack anything wet inside the bags... as the moisture gets into the chamber and renders the magic "air can get out, but can't get in" feature useless. The bags that we managed to keep dry, however, have lasted a full year and are being put to good use again.

I recommend packing a few extra bags as well - because the tetris configuration of the suitcases is never the same coming home as it is going out, is it? A couple extra empty bags take up no space, and are handy for when you find yourself unable to squeeze those last few souvenir t-shirts in.

Another packing strategy I learned from my parents... pack some of your stuff in a smaller suitcase, then put that inside a larger suitcase for the way out of town. When you arrive at your destination, you now have an extra suitcase to haul all your stuff back. Nowadays that requires you to pay a fee for checking an additional bag, but in the end it's more convenient than trying to find a post office and ship your belongings back to yourself in the last stretch of your vacation.

And finally... luggage tags. Buy the brightest, most annoying colored luggage tags for your checked bags. Gone are the days of us standing in baggage claim, trying to determine if that black suitcase roughly the size of ours is the right hint of faded black/army green or not. Now I look for the neon luggage tags and I can yank my suitcase off the revolving belt with confidence. Honestly, as much as I avoid pink in my wardrobe... if I could talk D into a bright pink suitcase with yellow polka-dots, I'd totally buy one.