How To Pack Light, and Yet Be Prepared, for Your Vacation

All of the best travel magazines will have great tips for how to find deals on travel and lodgings. They will give you locations for all of the best sight seeing, or off the beaten path food spots that you cannot miss while at your vacation destination. They will even have things like lists of must see landmarks for wherever you are going. But how often do these best travel magazines have tips on how to pack?

It may be that they work under the assumption that, if you are buying the best travel magazines on the market, you have already perfected the rudimentary art of packing for a trip. Maybe you have just been winging it. Maybe your way has worked so far, so there is no need to learn a new technique. But maybe you have just been getting lucky this whole time. Maybe, the next time you pack for vacation, you are setting yourself up for disaster.

What you need is a refresher course. You need someone to actually lay out just what should and should not be packed. Some things will vary depending on length of stay or destination, of course, but for the most part, you can follow these general guidelines.

1. Clothing

Go light on these. If you are staying long enough, find a laundromat or take advantage of the hotel laundry service. That being said, if you are not wading waist deep through a swamp or slogging through mud for a few hours, you can get away with wearing clothes a few times without a wash. Two bottoms, that is it. One pants, one shorts in warm weather, both pants in colder climes. Three tops, underwears, socks. One sweater or light coat. If you plan on dressing fancy for supper one night, throw that in as well. But that is all you should need for a simple trip.

2. Toiletries

Toothbrush and toothpaste are essential. Do not rely on the hotel having them, or there being a store nearby to get one. Just pick up the 99 cent travel brush and paste before you go. Hair brush and feminine items are also necessary. Depending on where you are going, consider sunscreen or bug spray. Men, if you can handle not shaving for the length of the trip, forgo the razor and cream. And of course, any necessary medication. This can include allergy pills, motion sickness meds, and it is always good to have aspirin on hand.

3. Gadgets

Have a small flashlight on your person at all times. It could not hurt to be prepared. If you are staying in the States, do not bother with a laptop. It is too valuable and too much extra bulk. You can use your phone for any important internet access that you may need. It helps you to stay focused on the trip by not having easy computer access as well. With how good phones are now, you can even use yours for pictures. Do not even bother with a separate camera.