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Use Packing Cubes

This has been hailed as a god sent by most of the travel influencers I follow on IG and myself. It is incredibly easy to use these to sort out your clothes, toiletries and equipment into different cubes where you don’t have to hunt for things. It takes off the stress of trying to find your toothbrush every single morning and gets you packing and unpacking quicker.

Pack the essentials

Before getting to your clothes make sure to pack your essentials which include a bath towel, toiletries, medicines, slippers, a hat, travel adapter and camera equipment. These are my essentials. Once these are done you will be able to better gauge how much more space you have left for your clothes.

For you medicines you want to take your medication as well as pills for an upset tummy, headache, general body pain, tampons and allergies. It gets very difficult trying to find the equivalent medicine of what you take at home in other countries so its best to avoid having to do that at all.

Pack outfits intelligently

Count the number of days and how many outfits you would need. Then mix and match your tops and bottoms to get the number of outfits without overpacking.

Take at least one fancy dress to go out since I have always managed to meet friends in every city and go out partying.

One of the best tricks to get more clothes to fit in your suitcase is to rolls up the clothes like sushi and place them side by side instead of folding them and laying them out.

Take Inventory before packing

Before putting all the item in your suitcase to pack lay them all out and consider how many times you use each item while at home. If the answer is none then chances are you are not going to need it on vacation either.

When you have all item in front of you, you might be able to eliminate a few things that you don’t need and keep it light.

Take your emergency first aid kit with you

While traveling internationally my mom always made me carry a small kit which I’ve continued doing after being stuck away from home with an upset stomach or flu and no meds.

As I mentioned before, take pills for an upset tummy, headache, general body pain, tampons and allergies. In the case that you are carrying medicines it is very important to have the prescription with you on hand.

Some countries consider carrying drugs across borders a criminal offense so be very careful. Even while traveling into the US I am asked about my medicines each time.

Take a plastic bag for soiled and wet clothes

I have made the mistake of not taking a separate bag for dirty clothes and have regretted it most on beach vacations when salt water and sand has managed to get everywhere in my bag.

Take a bag where you can put all your dirty clothes and another one for clothes that are just wet and not dirty.

Don’t take all your jewelry

Taking lots of flashy jewelry will always attract the pick pockets and thieves. I always pick and choose my jewelry according to what outfits I am taking or if there are any pictures that I especially want to take and put those in a tiny pouch instead of carrying all my jewelry with me.

Same goes for any makeup or perfumes, I pick and choose for the vacation. It considerably decreases the weight of your luggage when you aren’t carrying a ton of makeup with you.

Always have a jacket

No matter where in the world you are, the weather can turn in a second and you don’t want to be caught in the rain having a cold the rest of your trip. A warm outfit for every trip is a must.

Even in Mexico in the middle of summer and in Santorini, Greece where it gets pretty hot I was glad to have my jacket when there were a couple of days of rain and cold wind in the evenings near the ocean.

Take a small backpack

This is essential because you are going to need to carry you camera, passport, water bottle, wallet and tissues every day when you head out to explore the place. It is essential you have a strong and sturdy cotton backpack.

Do not use fancy leather black backpacks because they will burn your skin in the sun as I have unfortunately learnt the hard way.

One thing to also make sure is the bag is big enough to carry all of your small stuff and a couple of souvenirs you might end up buying during the day.

Carry a water bottle

No matter if you are on a jeep safari, next to the ocean or on a mountain, come midday you are going to be parched and looking for water.

Always have a medium sized travel water bottle in your luggage that you can use everyday, it will save you a lot of headache.