Episode 121 - Tip Tuesday - Efficiently Packing for Upcoming Travel - Make Sure You Have What You Need Without Overpacking - Intentional Edit

If you are a chronic overpacker or never know what to bring when traveling, this episode is for you. Learn ideas on how to include everything you need for the trip without overpacking and to keep everything inside your luggage organized.

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Full Episode Transcription (not edited):

If you’re a chronic over packer or you never know what to bring when you have an upcoming trip, this episode is for you to figure out how to pack efficiently and stay organized. When you’re traveling, you’ll learn ideas on how to include everything that you need so nothing is forgotten for your trip without overpacking and having to stuff your suitcase or take a second bag and to keep everything inside your luggage organized. Hey moms, welcome to the Intentional Edit podcast. Do you wanna stop feeling overwhelmed and finally get your home organized? Do you find yourself up late at night worrying about how you are going to get everything done and not drop the ball? You are wondering where to start and what to do. There is never enough time in the day the piles of laundry are building up and it’s already time for afterschool activities, homework, snacks, and carpool.

(00:50):

Again, I’m Lauren. I too want an organized clean home where my family can make long lasting memories and be present in the moment. Feeling like there’s never enough time to complete all the daily tasks is exhausting. Simplicity all around a healthy meal on the table at dinnertime and a family that contributes to the chores really is attainable. Stop telling yourself that you have to do it all or it will never get done, or that picky eaters will never allow for a complain free dinner. In this podcast, you will learn exactly how to declutter, implement systems, and maximize routines that remove the overwhelming, unorganized parts of life, bringing simplicity to your life and home. Come on, it’s time to create a life you love.

(01:34):

Hey friends, welcome to this tip Tuesday episode of the Intentional Edit Podcast. I am happy to have you here and I’m looking forward to answering this listener question, but I want to remind you that you can ask me a question and I will answer it on a future podcast. If you have any questions about how to organize that you have too much clutter in your house, what to do with it, how, what does that process look like, anything that has to do with simplifying your home, making your day to day tasks easier, how to do anything with your schedule to redo your schedule or manage it different so that you can have better systems so that things are easier and smoother. And overall, just simplify things in your home and day to day life. Mom tasks, cleaning, organizing, decluttering, all of the stuff we talk about here.

(02:27):

Ask the question. I want to answer your questions. I feel like the podcast is so much better when I’m talking about things that are relevant to you and things that are happening right now. So all you have to do it is so easy. Go to intentional edit.com and a little button pops up. It says record now. Just click on that and then you leave me a voicemail. You are literally just talking like you would leave a voice message for a friend. It is so, so easy and you can just ask your question, explains something to me. You can explain a situation or a circumstance or something that is not going right for you and I will answer it on a future Tip Tuesday episode. I have made it available to you like this, so all you have to do is click that record now button.

(03:15):

It’s the easiest way possible. You don’t have to type anything out. You can just speak like you are leaving a voicemail cuz that’s what you’re doing. I will get it emailed to me and then I can answer your question on an upcoming Tip Tuesday episode. I’m in the process of planning out the content for the next couple of months and I want to answer the questions that of course are most common and relevant to you and get your needs answered so that you can tackle the organization and start to bring simplicity to your life and to your home right now and early in the upcoming year. The question that came in today is this. It says, how do you pack and not forget anything when the planes limit what you can bring for each person? We haven’t flown since before the pandemic and I’m getting anxiety over thinking about packing for traveling by plane and fitting everything we need in our bags and not bringing too much or missing anything when I get there.

(04:14):

Great, great question. First thing that I want you to do is go listen to episode 12. It’s all on packing for carry on travel. My favorite way to pack now, unless I’m going for an extended amount of time, is to only bring a small suitcase or a small bag that fits in the overhead bin and then another backpack or something smaller that it would be considered the personal item that can go in the seat in front of me. Carry on travel makes things simple. That’s much more difficult to do in the wintertime if you are traveling to a place especially that has cold weather and you need the larger gear, the bigger jackets, the boots, all of that stuff. It’s a lot more difficult to pack in a carry on when you’re traveling for winter, but it is doable. So go listen to episode 12.

(05:06):

I share a whole bunch of details here, but a couple things that you can think about when packing, and this doesn’t say specifically you want carry on or not. It just says the airlines limiting you and that’s true. Maybe you don’t want to pay for the bags that you don’t really need and it’s never fun to spend all that time packing, bringing way too much stuff. Usually when you over pack, it also means that you did not bring everything that you needed for some reason. There’s a correlation there. Even you think that if you bring more, you’ll have everything you need, but there’s something you wish you would’ve had or is missing. If you take the time and it’s really just a few minutes to make a plan and think about what you’re going to be doing, there’s two things you need to know. What are the activities you are going to do on this trip that you’re taking and what is the weather?

(05:56):

Those two things determine a lot of what you will bring, and once you know those things, then you can pick outfits accordingly. If you want to save space, then you need to have some things that do double duty. A jacket for example, or a cardigan can be worn twice. Do you need to have a nicer outfit? Maybe you have a dinner planned where you need something nicer. Can you wear a cardigan over a dress and then the next day wear that with jeans and a t-shirt type of thing. Do you have shoes that can work for multiple outfits? I always suggest the biggest, most clunky, most bulky things go on the plane with you. So rather than trying to fit a big heavy jacket into your suitcase and taking up a big amount of space, carry that with you. Take that with you on the plane, or if your biggest pair of shoes is going to be sneakers or the shoes that you would wear to work out or do more athletic things, then wear those on the plane and they, that frees up the space in your luggage.

(07:03):

So those are some things for packing. Really think about dual purpose items that make sense for you to wear to a number of things. Do you have a pair of sneakers that you can use for mild hiking and walking and exercising that you can also wear with an outfit and still look cute and feel good and feel confident that you like your outfit? Think about things like that and then make sure that you are not taking extra things that you won’t use and you narrow that down because you know the activities you are doing. Even when I pack only in a carry on bag, I still manage to bring an extra top bottom and undergarments so that if I need to switch out my top and wear that or wear the that entire extra outfit together, it will work. Or if I just need to use that bottom that I bring, then I can mix that with a shirt.

(08:02):

I already brought an extra, extra pieces that are the basic pieces you can throw in, you know, one or two of those and you should still have space for that toiletries. You’re going to need something that you use in the bathroom, shower, shampoo, conditioner, lotions, deodorant, makeup, all of those things really bring travel sizes when you can and you can go to the store, go to the travel section and get the bottles that fill a a travel size if you only have larger things at home and just pour those in when you take large bottles, that makes it so that your bag can’t go onto the plane with you. It has to be checked. There are size requirements, so you wanna make sure you look into where you’re traveling, what the airline and what the TSA requirements are. Also, you don’t need need that, that much stuff.

(08:56):

If you’re only going for a couple days, you can squirt a couple pumps into a small container and have the amount with you. If you are traveling to a hotel or a friend or family member’s house where you’re staying, check with them. Do they have a blow dryer and shampoo and conditioner and basic things that you can use so you don’t have to bring some of those bigger items that will help you save on space two, all of these things will help you significantly save, save space. Anything that you have to have, make sure that you keep with you like a pill or a medication or an important document. Keep that in your personal item that never leaves your side so that if your luggage is intended to be a carry on, but it is in fact too big or there’s not any space left, if that bag gets checked, you still have your personal item with you.

(09:50):

So things like medications or anything that you can’t live with without that, you have to have, if you were to be separated, you’re from that luggage from just as little as a couple hours or even a couple days, you would have those items that are necessary. So don’t forget about that. Use these tips and pack less and pack more of what you need. Go listen to episode 12. There’s more details about packing over there. Make sure that you submit your questions for Future Tip Tuesday episodes by clicking on the link in the podcast description where you can just click and it will take you right to the intentional edit website or go to intentional edit.com on any browser. A little record now button pops up. It’ll either be on the bottom or the side depending on what kind of device you’re using. Click on that and you can leave me a voicemail with your question or your concern or something that you’re stumped with.

(10:49):

Anything relating to your home home organizing, decluttering, getting organized, coming up with efficient systems, how to establish routines, how to manage your schedule better, how to eliminate some of the stress and irritation that is caused by the tasks you have to do in your home. Getting things done, not getting things done. I want to answer your question, so please go to intentional edit.com. Click on the recorder now button, and I will use your question to answer and help you with the journey to simplicity on a future intentional edit podcast Tip Tuesday episode. Thanks so much for listening. I’ll meet you back here on Friday for the next episode. Thank you for listening to the Intentional Edit podcast. If you found today’s episode valuable, tell your friends about it by taking a screenshot, sharing it on social, and tagging me at intentional edit. I’ll be back soon with another episode. In the meantime, find me@intentionaledit.com and be sure to follow intentional edit on social platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. To ensure you catch future episodes, click the subscribe or follow button now. I am grateful for a five star rating and review from you. Be sure to let me know what you liked about this episode and what you want me to cover in the future.

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Lauren is the founder of Intentional Edit, a home organization and lifestyle company focused on consciously editing to create efficient and organized spaces. Lauren believes that a functional home that looks and feels good has a positive influence on all aspects of life. Creating systems that allow for the home to function more efficiently, therefore, eliminating most of the clutter and chaos is her priority. While trends come and go organization is always in style!

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