Hey Nerds,
Man oh man do I want to get back out there and travel. Between the extra time on my hands and the inability to actually travel, all I’m doing day in and day out is dreaming of where we may go next. Try to salvage our plans to visit Panama this year? Maybe a redo of Ireland? (Dublin was hands down the worst international trip we’ve taken in the last 13 years. By no fault of the Irish, mind you.) Broaden our travels in Asia and explore South Korea or Vietnam? I guess part of it might depend on which countries will let eventually let Americans in.
But when that day finally does come, and we can all whip out our suitcases or backpacks, I know I’m ready for the open road and the blue skies because we’ve spent many years perfecting our packing list. So let me share with you some of my favorite items to pack or that help me pack for trips.
- The Proper Luggage for Your Trip
I cannot stress this enough, not every trip requires a massive suitcase. In fact, we don’t even own massive suitcases. Sure, I once owned the behemoth suitcase that I could have fit in. That was in college, when this Head Nerd still had a lot of learning to do. Want to know what happened? I boarded a train and it wouldn’t fit down the aisle. And I had to change platforms to switch trains and had to try to haul a suitcase bigger than me down a flight of stairs, under tracks, and then up a flight of stairs. Plus, I was lucky. One of the other women with whom I was studying abroad had the misfortune of her massive suitcase going on a completely different vacation than her.
These days we almost always travel with one of two types of luggage: 1) a camping/hiking backpack OR 2) a carry-on suitcase. If we take the suitcase, I’ll also take a small backpack. Something that can fit under the seat in front of me. Now keep in mind guys that if you keep your bag small enough you can stow it in the overhead bin.
Fun Fact: Did you know that most airlines have a roughly 45 linear inch requirement for overhead bags? Each carrier has their own restrictions, so it’s best to check with the carrier before you fly. For a quick look, check out this comprehensive list. Also, do keep in mind that currently (as of 6/29/20) some European carriers are not allowing the use of overhead bins due to COVID-19.
However, we do travel with much larger hiking back packs when we travel internationally. Why backpacks, you ask? Honestly, for most of the world backpacks are the WAY better option. They are more maneuverable, you don’t have to worry about cobblestone or dirty streets, many come with built in rain covers so you can keep your bag and items protected if the weather gets nasty, and they are pretty dang durable. Now I can’t recommend our exact bags because we bought them from Sam’s Club back in 2008. You’ll want to look for something that has the waist and chest/sternum straps to help support the rest of your body. Also, compression straps are your best friend when it comes to making sure your bag fits in an overhead bin on a wide-body aircraft. If you’re wondering what that is, it’s most likely the plane you’re taking internationally.
My go to stow under my seat backpack in my Osprey Daylite Plus Daypack. It’s great because it’s light, expandable, and has an insert area right at your back for either a hydration reservoir or tablet. We took this backpack with us to New Zealand and it was perfect for carrying a few items around the city or on winery tours. Plus, all the pockets and pouches!
- Packing Cubes
Organize much? Yeah, me too. The day I discovered the packing cube might go down as one of the best days of my life. You can pack your clothing in packing cubes that are breathable and then shove them in your bag. Why is that so great? You can organize by outfit, type of clothing, person and keep things ORGANIZED. Major added bonus? If TSA decides they need to rummage through your bag, they can easily pull out cubes instead of yanking out all of your clothes and then trying to jam it all back in. Nothing says “hello travel!” like having a TSA agent yanking our your underwear in front of the entire security area trying to identify what that object was on the monitor. Spoiler alert: it was an ice cream scoop you bought as part of your sister’s wedding present and the TSA agent will openly judge you for buying your sister an ice cream scoop. It was PART OF A LARGER GIFT and SHE REGISTERED FOR IT. Harumph.
I seriously digressed there, but I love packing cubes. We bought these AmazonBasics bad boys in both grey and black so we could differentiate between my clothes and the clothes of my NP4L. The handles on top make it easy to pull them in and out of a suitcase or a backpack. Plus you can easily slip these into a hotel dresser drawer and have your unpacking done in a flash!
- Wet Bag
You’re thinking to yourself, what is a wet bag? Well, my dear nerds, a wet bag is a bag that you can place wet items in and keep them from getting the rest of your clothing wet. Genius, right??? OK, you probably could use a garbage bag, but let me tell you that wet bags are amazing. They fold up, zip up, and don’t leak. So if you indulge in a little ocean relaxation or a dip in the pool your last day of a vacation, you’re not stuck trying to dry your suit with the hotel hair dryer. We have wet bags by ALVABABY. Sure they are technically made for soiled diapers, but if they’ll work for a baby’s mess they’ll work for your less messy needs.
- Reusable Shopping Bags
Have you noticed by now I’m big into bags. It’s not an obsession, it’s purely for function! And this packing tip is super useful. Packing one or two reusable, fold up shopping bags is a must. Why? Because you can carry one in your back pocket and when you buy souvenirs you can put them in a shopping bag and boom you look less like a tourist! Or you can go grocery shopping and avoid a fee for plastic bags. There’s so many practical reasons and you can cram one in your suitcase in your shoe. We personally have a couple IKEA reusable shopping bags. Non-descript by still fun! Plus, if you are over the weight limit to check your bag OR you have too much to fit in your bag, you can whip one of these and use it as a personal item to fit under the seat.
- Reusable Water Bottle
See! Finally something other than bags. When traveling, you don’t want to pay for overpriced bottled water. So take a reusable water bottle water! Fill up on the go and carry it around in one of your many bags. (Now this only goes for countries where tap water is safe to drink. Do your research.) I highly recommend a water bottle that collapses. We have this cute little roll up Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle that has a screw top cap for the drinking spout and a handy strap.
- Cable Organizer
Our lives are, for better or worse, heavily tied to electronics. Those electronics all need juice and that requires a billion power cables, because your cell phone/tablet/white noise machine/Fitbit all use a different cable. I used to just shove all of the cables into the front pouch of my Osprey and everything would get tangled. Getting a cable out on a plane meant I yanked out ALL of the cables and untied the one I needed. Now I use a cable organizer that zips up and stores easily. Specifically I use this cost effective Electronics Accessories Organizer Bag. It holds a metric ton of cables and batteries and headphones and all. the. things!
I can feel this post getting long, so I’m going to leave it here. Be on the lookout for more travel packing tips in the future, but I cannot stress it enough that things we pack have function. Space is at a premium and you want to make sure you’re packing things that will help you travel stress-free and enjoy yourself!
With that, keep dreaming of that great big world out there.
Cheers,
Head Nerd