By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills
Pack light and have a great time!
Traveling is a part of my life as a writer, and I love it. Over the years, I’ve simplified my packing method, and I’d like to share with you 9 easy ways to ensure your next trip meets expectations with a perfect plan for taking just what you need.
Here are 9 easy ways to make packing for your trip headache free – so you’ll have more fun.
1. Store a trip-bag of toiletry items in small containers that are handy for you to grab at a moment’s notice. Ensure these are always full and ready to go. This is a huge help when you have a list of to-do items before leaving town.
2. Ensure your trip-bag of toiletries contains a medicinal day-to-day container so you don’t miss a single dose. I encourage you to include three extra days of medicines, vitamins, and supplements in case your trip is delayed returning home. Or maybe you have an opportunity to splurge an extra day or two.
3. Tuck important items into your carry-on in case luggage is lost—makeup, extra set of clothes, meds etc.
4. Select outfits and accessories to mix and match with others. Basic black, white, and navy blue go with anything. Also consider travel knits.
5. Choose a pair of shoes that go with everything. I know we women love them, but think about how much they weigh. Okay, what about just two pairs?
6. Pack each day’s outfit with accessories inside a 2.5 gallon plastic, ziplock bag. Now (don’t laugh) sit on it to release all the air, then zip it up. See how easily it lays flat in your luggage? The good news is when you open the bag, most wrinkles are nonexistent. Everything is right there to ensure you look the best for the day.
7. Trip tip! Identify your luggage with something colorful. What’s yours needs to stay yours.
8. Organize your luggage to head home. Sort your dirty clothes according to color. Remember those plastic bags you used to pack for the trip? Fill them up with clothes that are washer-ready. Yes, sit on these to seal them.
9. Simplify your packing by making sure you have only what you need. For those who value the latest mobile app – consider downloading PackPoint from your app store.
Are you ready to plan your next getaway? What packing tips can you share with others?
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable 
characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels.
Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. Library Journal presented her with a Best Books 2014: Genre Fiction award in the Christian Fiction category for Firewall.
DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers; a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association; International Thriller Writers, and the Faith, Hope, and Love chapter of Romance Writers of America. She is co-director of The Author Roadmap with social media specialist Edie Melson where she continues her passion of helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.
DiAnn has been termed a coffee snob and roasts her own coffee beans. She’s an avid reader, loves to cook, and believes her grandchildren are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.
DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at www.jhcdev.com/diannmills.
Look for Trial by Fire, a Novella eBook available NOW from Tyndale Publishing.
Comments 4
I have done most of your steps for years because I never know when I will get a call to go to MO. right away, such as a few weeks ago for a funeral. I put my underwear in one zip lock bag, socks and hose in another, and then I usually fold and roll my clothes like I did when I was in the military. Just unroll and shake them out. I do it with my dresses, too. All of the clothes goes in the upper zippered portion of the suitcase where one would usually put the toiletries. That keeps the clothes snug and secure. Then I put my electric rollers in the bottom of a zippered carry-on type bag. On top of the rollers are other small bags filled with make-up, toiletries, and a first aid kit. A small extension cord is in that bag, too. That entire bag is laid flat in the suitcase with my shoes stuffed in a grocery bag next to it. One tidy case with colorful ribbons to identify that it’s mine. That also leaves plenty of room for my laundry bag. I often take stuff (clothes for relatives, food items one can only get in TX, etc) to relatives and return with less in my suitcase.
Hi Marlena, thanks for all the great tip! So good to hear from you.
Love your travel list. Most of it I have been doing for years but had not thought about putting outfits in zip bags.
Hi Charline, husband and I returned from a trip today, and it was so easy with the dirty clothes already sorted and ready for the washing machine.