The following is a guest post about the best travel essentials for staying organized from regular contributor, Kristin at The Gold Project.
It’s the holiday season, which means a lot of people will be traveling to visit family and friends. I know this time of year for me is always a busy one full of traveling as well. Most of the traveling that we do involves the car, but we will be making our first plane trip after Christmas.
Packing can be a very daunting task no matter what time of year you have to do it. I hear over and over again from friends and family how they hate packing for trips. They never know what to pack, how much to pack, and overall, they do not know how to organize it all.
So, today, I thought I would share some of my favorite travel essentials that help me stay organized while traveling.
The Best Travel Essentials for Staying Organized
- *I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.*
Packing Cubes
When I first heard about packing cubes, I did not believe the hype. There was no possible way that adding something to a suitcase could make it more organized and fit more items. I resisted the urge to purchase them for several years and then, I just had to see if people were just trying to sell a product or if they really did work.
It only took one trip with a sample pack that I ordered and I was hooked. The days of my suitcase being a chaotic mess were over. I could open up my suitcase and nothing had shifted around since zipping it up for travel. All of my undergarments were in one cube, tops in another, sleepwear, and so on.
I love the fact that I can pull out one packing cube from my suitcase, get what I need, and place it back without creating a mess.
The best part is that packing cubes are now everywhere. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get your luggage organized. Just buy a set. You won’t regret it!
Note from Laura: you all know I love packing cubes too! Here are some packing cubes on Amazon (affiliate link) that I think you’ll like. They have over 4,000 5 star ratings!
The Perfect Cosmetic Bag
Who else has searched for years for the perfect cosmetic bag? You know, the one where it fits in your luggage perfectly and holds all of the things. Well, I think I have found the perfect cosmetic bag for me, especially when traveling by plane. This may not be the perfect one for you, but I wanted to share it in case you think it might fit the bill for you as well.
It is the Lug Trolley set (affiliate link). I am going to say the set because Lug just introduced their mini version, I ordered it, and I think the two together are perfect for my travel needs.
The small one is my case for my cosmetics and the large one holds all of my hygiene items. The reason I love these two pieces is because they are square, so they fit nicely in the corner of my suitcase. Also, they are exploding with pockets, zippered compartments, and the large one even has a trolley sleeve.
Feel free to share any other cosmetic cases that you absolutely love in the comments. Let’s get a conversation going and help each other.
Reusable Bag
This seems like an obvious one, but something I just recently started carrying with me. I not only carry this with me when traveling, but I also carry one in my purse and work bag. You never know when you might need an extra bag.
I have several that can fold up really nice and compact, which means they take up zero space. I have used them as a:
- dirty clothes bag
- extra shopping bag
- snacks tote
- dirty shoes bag
- trash bag
You can’t go wrong with adding a reusable bag to your luggage. Your future self will thank you.
Planner
Let me be honest. I always have my planner with me. I call it my brain on paper and that is not an exaggeration. In order to keep everything straight in my day-to-day life, I need to have everything written down. This also applies to traveling. I keep all of my travel details including itineraries, confirmations, etc. in my planner so they are easy to access.
Overall, I could not be organized in any aspect of life without my planner.
What are some of your organized travel essentials?
My name is Kristin and I am a middle school career education teacher by day and a mommy/wife/blogger by night. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have two loving children. We recently made a life-changing move to Arkansas, so our new house is always under construction. I get excitement out of finding new creative, functional, and cute ways to organize things! I also enjoy writing and documenting life as it happens. So, I put these loves together and created The Gold Project. With the help of my husband, I am attempting to turn our house into a home. So, check out this special place of mine and take this journey with me!
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Additional travel posts you may like:
Tips for Traveling With a Carry-On Only
Organized Travel Documents for an Organized Vacation
Paige Cassandra Flamm says
I totally need to try packing cubes! Everyone raves about them!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Ginger Firestone says
You will not be sorry you do this. I was hesitant the first time, but now I wouldn’t be without them. Even TSA can’t screw up your things. Never failed, they would go through my suitcase and mess things up – now they don’t. I also found that I have enough “extras” with my toiletries that I can keep the small cube always packed and ready to go. When I get home, I just refresh what I’ve used and put it away again. That’s one less cube to think about when packing for the next time. I save those hotel bottles when I stay – or, if they now use the pumps, I just fill my bottles with their product so that saves money too. Using those smaller sized products also saves weight and room in your suitcase. I am old enough to remember when no charge for luggage and no weight limit – then weight limit to 70 pounds and now you pay and the weight is down to 50 pounds (40 on some airlines). Guess they got weaklings handling luggage now. They still throw the luggage around instead of treating it like it was theirs.
Laura Wittmann says
Yes they are the best, I only travel carry-on now no matter how long I am away for and I couldn’t do it without packing cubes!! You would be amazed at how much I can bring!
Mandy says
Anxious to try packing cubes & thinking they will make a great Christmas gift.
MelanieL says
I just ordered the packing cubes linked with the 5-star reviews for my teenage niece who air travels monthly and takes several big trips a year…she will not know what she ever did without them! Merry Christmas to her! 🙂
Laura Wittmann says
They are such a great Christmas gift!!