Travel Packing Tips - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

We are such creatures of comfort that we want to take it all with us when we get away from it all on vacation. It won't all fit in our suitcase, but there are packing tips that can help you maximize mini suitcase space, pack faster and help ensure you'll come home with the right bags.

Roll It Up

Roll your clothes into tight little bundles that will take up less suitcase space than folding individual pieces. Lay out an entire outfit (including undies) on the bed, place the largest clothing article on the bottom, spread out flat, then layer the clothing articles in descending order on top. Begin at one end of the clothing and roll. Make the roll as tight as possible so the day's worth of clothing will take up as little suitcase real estate as possible. The clothing roll takes up less space and the clothing will arrive on vacation wrinkle-free. Placing each rolled up clothing bundle inside a recycled dry cleaning bag (plastic shopping bag, Ziploc bag, all depending on clothing size) will provide protection for clean clothes in the event of something spilling inside of suitcase and the plastic bag will also provide an instant dirty laundry bag when changing clothes.

Sock It

Make every nook and cranny count when packing by rolling up socks and stashing custom jewelry inside socks. Now take the socks and stash them inside of shoes you're packing for the trip. Wear your bulkiest shoes while traveling so you'll have more room to stash flats and sandals.

Tag Your Bag

Save packing time by tag teaming your bags with basic information and a color-coded ribbon. Make re-usable baggage tags by laminating two business card placed back-to-back. Punch a hole in either end of the laminated cards and tie onto suitcases with a colored ribbon, Use the same color ribbon for each bag you are brining along with you, but don't use red ribbon, that seems to be the popular color choice for many travelers. A bold purple-pink checked with black polka dots would be easy to spot and rarely copied.

Travel Size

Keep travel size toiletries on hand and packed in your most used suitcase at all times. Re-fill or re-purchase these mini travel size versions of basic toiletries after each trip. Store them in a Ziploc bag and place them inside your suitcase. They're packed and ready to go when you are.

Sources:

USAToday Travel Tips