Is packing your bag the most frustrating part of preparing for your vacation? Follow a few easy tips that will have you packing like a pro!
1. Roll your clothes. When you roll clothes, they take up less space than when you fold them. The best items to roll are skirts and pants.
2. Use layers of tissue paper for delicate items such as evening clothes. Items rolled in tissue paper tend to get less wrinkled.
3. Don’t overpack. This makes it more difficult for security screeners at the airlines to go through your bag. If they have to remove items, you run the risk of having something damaged.
4. If you’re flying, place items such as toiletries (in the approved 3 oz. size) in plastic bags for easy handling.
5. Traveling as a pair or group? Each person should place a change of clothes in someone else’s bag, in case their luggage is lost.
6. When packing a backpack, place the heavier items, or things such as dirty clothing on the bottom, and the lightest items should go on top.
7. Pack medication, paperwork and one change of clothes in a carry-on bag. Again, this saves you from being stranded without the essentials if your checked bags are lost or delayed.
8. Pack shoes in shoe bags. This keeps other items in your suitcase from getting dirty, and keeps the shoes from getting scuffed.
9. If you are flying, leave about a half-inch of space in bottles of liquid. This will keep the bottles from bursting due to changes in cabin pressure on the plane.
10. Plan on doing a lot of shopping while on vacation? Then pack one smaller suitcase and nest it inside a larger one. You can put your purchases inside the larger suitcase for the return trip.

