| General packing tips.
For additional reading on Packing Light, click here to read Annabella’s article on this topic.
- Don’t take old clothes to Salvation Army, take them with you on vacation and leave them behind. We travel with the clothes that we are ready to discard. Rather than worrying about washing clothes on a longer trip, we just pack up the things we’re tired of and toss them along the way. When traveling in developing countries, we leave the clothes neatly folded on the ground right next to the trash can. If we speak the language, we leave a little note to the effect of “Please take,” or else we leave it in English. I pick up t-shirts and flip flops at yard sales or thrift shops, and when we’re done with them we just leave them behind. This also frees up room in our luggage for souvenirs. We left so much stuff behind in India that we had an empty suitcase that we gave to some of our shopaholic co-travelers.
- Divide your clothing between your bags in case anything gets lost or stolen. Generally we travel with 1 larger bag and 2 smaller bags (one or both of those are carry ons). We divide our clothes between all the bags so that if anything is lost or stolen, we each still have underwear, shirts, etc. Our carry on will have our essentials (prescriptions, toiletry kit, some underwear and at least one complete outfit for each of us). The checked luggage will then have our clothes divided in half so that if a bag is lost we each still have something to wear.
- Don’t check anything you need immediately upon landing or anything you can’t stand to lose. We were once on the same connecting flight back from Amsterdam, and the guys in front of us in the complaint center were freaking out because their presentation materials were in their checked luggage, which didn’t make the connection. There had been weather issues in Europe, and while they just barely made their connection, their bags didn’t. We were mystified why their slides and notes weren’t in their carry on!
- Put anything that might leak in plastic bags. After losing a sweater to a leaky contact lens peroxide solution, lesson learned.
- If possible, pack books that both of you like to read so that you don’t have to pack too many (they’re so heavy). After both of you have finished them, leave them behind. Sometimes we find a thrift shop and will drop the books off there, or often a smaller hotel (or cruise ship or hostel) will have a paperback exchange. In foreign countries we’ve sometime sold back our books to an English language thrift shop (you don’t get much money, but perhaps enough to buy yourself an ice cream or a coffee).
- Pack some pens or small toys (like Happy Meal toys) to give to local children in poorer countries. You’ll make friends and get some great photo ops. You can also pick up a bag of loose candies at a local shop and hand them out. We get lots of free t-shirts with stuff written on them (from special events, or as marketing promos, etc). We give those away in our travels – most people love to have American stuff (even in countries that supposedly hate us). Look at the faces on these kids in India when we handed them a pen from the bus window!
- Take some of those preprinted address labels that you probably get dozens of in the mail from different charities and stick them onto the back of your business card. That way you can easily give new friends your home address without having to write it all out.
- Neck pouch – You need to carry your passport, credit cards, and money in a safe place. Annabella prefers a neck pouch while Vito prefers a money belt. Never have one person carry all the money or both the passports. You should each carry your own passport with a color photocopy of the other person’s passport inside of your own (if it is lost or stolen, one of you will have identification and you’ll have the passport number and photocopy to take to your country’s embassy or consulate; also scan these items and email them to yourselves so you have access to another copy). In our travels, one of us carries American Express and the other carries our Mastercard, and we each have our own ATM. If one of our pouches were to be lost or stolen, the other would have all the backups, plus we wouldn’t have to report all our cards as lost/stolen. If you’re traveling alone, divide your money and cards between your pouch and the wallet you carry in your purse or bag (if traveling abroad, keep a copy of your passport in your wallet along with your driver’s license).
- For certain locations, it’s handy to carry a long, elastic waist skirt (for women) or a pair of loose-fitting long pants (for men). If you are going into a place that commands respect and modesty (the Vatican, the Royal Palace in Bangkok, mosques in the Middle East), you’ll need something to cover up your short-clad legs. If traveling in countries were worshipers typically cover their heads, consider packing your own scarf or else you’ll need to “rent” a scarf already worn by others. For countries where you need to remove your shoes before entering a house of worship (Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism), this is a great chance to use your mismatched or holey socks (keep the socks in your day bag, wear them around the temple, and then toss them when you leave).
- You can never go wrong with some Wet Naps and Kleenex pocket packs in your bag.