Top 5 Tips for Traveling Easy, Quick & Light
With missionary life comes travel experience…both from my travel and from watching all the teams that come to visit us in Romania. As we get closer to holiday travel season, I thought it would be fun to share some of our best practices when it comes to planning for travel.
Chances are you and the family are planning some vacation or holiday trips in the next few months. Whether you’re going on a three-day business trip or preparing for a two-week vacation, here are some guidelines for maximizing suitcase space, minimizing your load and keeping it simple!
Checked baggage fees, small overhead compartments, and long waits at baggage claim are just a few reasons it pays to pack light.
If your flight is canceled or delayed (something I’m all too familiar with), having your bag in hand can be the difference between getting on with your trip or spending a miserable night at the airport. However, I tend to be in the over-packer camp, but I’ve got some tips for those of you who bring everything and the kitchen sink as well!
My hope is that these tips give you some insight into your own journey when it comes to travel!
TIP #1: CARRY ON FOR THE WIN!
If you are able to travel with just a carry on bag, you will infinitely reduce any extra travel stress. If you have connecting flights that get delayed you risk losing your checked baggage, so by traveling with just a carry on, you don’t have to worry about losing anything or filling out lost luggage reports.
Be aware that the airlines have started cracking down on inspecting carry ons as of late, both domestically and internationally. They are often now weighing your carry on and measuring it. Be sure to check the standards required by your chosen airline.
TIP #2: SPACE AND TIME SAVERS!
So, if you are not great at packing light (like me), then here are some products that might help you fit everything in nice and neat.
* Packing Cubes are a great product that help you pack quickly and keep things organized. You can find them here: PACKING CUBES
* Compression Bags are helpful when you have a lot to fit in your luggage, which I find myself using after a trip home to the States. 🙂 This particular one I like, because you just roll the air out of the bags and do not need to get your vacuum cleaner involved. You can find them here: COMPRESSION BAGS
TIP #3: GET OUT OF LINE!
We all hate waiting in long lines, but especially when you are anxious about making your flight. There are a few ways you can cut the line, but one of the main ones is by signing up for TSA pre-check (Global Entry and CLEAR are other programs).
If traveling in Europe, you can purchase Security Fast Track to get out of those lines and keep moving towards your gate.
TIP #4: FLUSTER FREE SECURITY CHECK!
A few tips for making sure you don’t get held up when it’s your turn at the check point is to make sure and follow the TSA rules. Wear easy to slip off shoes and be ready to put your laptops and devices in separate bins. It will help to have your toiletries in a small clear bag on top of your luggage, ready to grab to put through the check point. Here are some TSA rules to help you with traveling with liquids.
TIP #5: SMOOTH SAILING!
I have had people take my bag before on accident or I’ve been stood around the luggage carousel forever trying to pick out my suitcase from a sea of others that look the same. Here are some fun luggage tags I found, that will hopefully make people think twice before accidentally grabbing your bag, and will also help your bag stand out a bit.
If you’re traveling internationally, don’t forget to grab some converters for your electronics. Just a heads up, you will need to check your device to see if it is 110/220v compatible. If not, and it is simply marked as “110v”, then you will need a transformer as well…otherwise you will blow your fuse on your device and a curling iron can get hot enough to burn a clump of your hair off, so check those labels first. 🙂
Last tip, keep up to date on your flight and gate changes in real time by using apps such as MI FLIGHT, to keep you in the know.
Question: Are you traveling anywhere this upcoming season? I’d love to hear where you’re going and what you do to keep travel manageable. Leave a comment or write me back, I’d love to hear from you!
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