For many, the most cumbersome part of traveling is packing. They never know what to pack, sometimes, they end up taking too many clothes, and other times too little, not to mention that sometimes they take clothes that don’t serve the purpose of the trip or don’t suit the country that they are visiting.
Fady and I have been on more than 12 trips together and a lot more than that if we count individual trips. We have reached a point where packing is the easiest part of our trip. Yet, I must admit it, I still pack my bag the day we book our tickets and he packs his bag one night before our flight. We also bet on whose bag is lighter. Knowing me, an organization freak, I feel that my trip starts when I start packing my bag.
Here are some of our advice on packing your bag(s):
1. Know your destination:
One would think that the best thing about seasons is that there are four and when you travel you need to pack for one of the seasons. Little do we know that in some countries seasons are different, in a way that it can be very humid and hot, yet it still rains, and when it rains, it pours. In some other countries, the weather changes depending on the city or state we are in.
So, the best thing for you to do is to research your destination to determine the weather conditions so you can know what to pack in advance. For example, during our motorcycle ride from the West Coast to the East Coast, across the southern states of the United States of America, the weather changed dramatically even during the same day; from a scorching desert sun to a dry chilled wind at night. From hostile weather conditions while crossing Nevada desert to pouring rain and floods in Texas Houston.
Keep in mind that even if you are traveling to an exotic location on a beach, you still need to pack a light jacket for your flight and for places equipped with air conditioner. We recommend that you read some forums about the weather at your intended destination, and keep an eye on the weather forecast specifically during the time of the year during which you are visiting. Islands do not always have summer weather, sometimes they have tropical storms and rain.
2. Know your trip’s duration:
This is simple, you should know the duration of your trip to pack accordingly. Packing for a three-day vacation is very different than packing for a 10-day vacation. Plus, you need to decide if you will wash during a longer trip, or if you want to take different clothes for each day.
3. Save old clothes:
One thing that we usually do around the year is saving some of our old clothes and we take them with us when traveling. This way, we can wear them, then donate them after using them. Thus, we can free space in our bags for anything new that we buy and we would feel lighter. Moreover, someone else will enjoy them as much as we did.
4. Try to travel with only a backpack or a carry-on:
The best thing about traveling with only a carry-on is not having to wait by the airport baggage carousel. This is important when having connecting flights and especially when it’s a local flight between islands, which was the case during our trip to Koh Samui and Koh Tao in Thailand. Traveling with just a backpack or a carry-on saves us the hassle and reduce the stress of losing our belongings. We were saved on more than one occasion when we did not have luggage to check-in and had our bags with us.
5. Pack your clothes smartly:
After several years of experience in packing bags, we found out that there are two ways to pack our clothes that will take less space. The first is rolling our clothes and the second is using packing compartments. We use both methods combined. Rolling clothes takes less space, and we usually use travel compartments since we travel light and can fit all our clothes in them. Using travel compartments can help us organize our clothes and divide them, then when we arrive at our destination, we can take out the compartments from our bags and stow them away in the hotel closet. Usually, we roll our clothes, then add them to the travel compartments. When we are not traveling light, which is very rare, we limit the use of compartments to underwear and toiletries.
6. Use Ziploc bags:
Put your toiletries and any other liquids in Ziploc bags to prevent any unwanted spillage. We suggest putting your spare or slippers in larger Ziploc bags, you do not want to mix your trecking shoes with your clean clothes. On some of our trips we had to travel super light, we assembled a shirt, underwear, and socks in a few Ziplocs and label them so we can easily pick a bag and get dressed in less time.
We specifically used this packing method when we took off on a motorcycle ride from Lebanon to Turkey and reaching the golden sands in Bulgaria and back. Our packing capacity was limited to the motorcycle 29-liter saddlebag, of a maximum weight of 7 Kg each.
We also take extra Ziploc bags since they always come handy during trips. Sometimes we pack left-over food inside them, other times, we pack new liquids that we bought during our trip like coconut oil for example.
7. Know what you can take on the plane:
We always read our flight details and onboard baggage allowance to know what we can take with us on the plane and how much we can pack. Usually, most planes allow a carry-on and a handbag, others only allow a handbag and some only a carry on. Some airlines have different limits for liquids and some airports are more lenient than others. We are always careful about these things, we do not want to buy a fancy perfume and have it confiscated on our way back home. Remember, when you buy things from the duty-free, they only have a 24-hour shelf-life for being allowed on any other airplane, even if you did not open the airport bag.
Now here are some general packing lists of the basics that we usually pack, you might pack more or less. Most of these items are unisex, so feel free to omit some things that you don’t use:
Toiletries:
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Mouthwash
- Dental floss
- Tweezers
- Party-liners
- Sunscreen
- Baby oil
- Contact lenses/solution
- Face cream
- Shampoo/conditioner
- Shower gel/ soap
- Makeup
- Nail File
- Nail Clipper
- Razor/shaving cream/after-shave lotion
- Hair comb or brush
- Hair accessories
- Nail clipper
- Perfume
- Deodorant
- Creams
- Q tips
Clothes:
- Dress
- Tops
- Bottoms
- Denim Jeans
- Shorts
- Sweaters
- Shirts
- T-shirts
- Shoes (Running shoes, hiking shoes, evening shoes, sandals, flip flops, etc.) 2 types of footwear is usually enough.
- Jacket or light jacket
- Underwear
- Socks,
- Belts,
- Pijamas,
- Swimsuit
- Sports clothes
- Microfiber towel
Electronics:
- Camera
- Camera charger
- Phone
- Phone charge
- Earphones
- Memory card
- iPad or laptop
- International adapter
- Power bank
Medications/First Aid:
- Pain relievers
- Hand plasters
- Antibiotics
- Vitamins
- Motion sickness meds
- Medicines
In your airplane handbag:
Make sure to take a comfortable handbag. Here are some of the things that you can put inside it.
Personal hygiene:
- Wipes
- Tissues
- Hand gel
- Eye drops
- Sleeping pills
- Hand cream
- Lipsticks
- Perfume (Preferably a tester)
- Gum
- Listerine strips
Personal Items:
- Sunglasses
- Traveling pillow
- Eye Mask
- Book
- Magazine
- Snacks
- Water bottle
Official Documents:
- Ticket
- Itinerary
- Passport
- Hotel reservation
- Insurance
- International driver’s license
- Debit and/or credit cards
- Cash
- Insurance
- Map
- Pen and pencil
- Emergency Numbers
Electronics
- Phone
- Phone charger
- Earphone
These were some of our tips and recommendations on how to moderately pack for a trip.
Did we forget anything?
Is there anything that you pack that we forgot to mention?
Share your thoughts in the below comments.
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