Efficient Packing

If you’ve struggled over which personal effects to bring, you’re certainly not alone. Packing for a trip is often a struggle — especially for us women — to distinguish what we want and what we need to bring.  I’m sure you agree that in traveling, less is best.  I’m sharing here some practices I’ve employed through the years in order for you to get rid of unnecessary excess baggage:

1. Review the list of TSA-prohibited items before anything else.
2. Gather your passport, ticket, valid ID and black/blue-inked pen in one purse and put it in an easy-access pocket of your carry-on or backpack.  It’s good to keep a scanned copy of your passport and paper tickets in your webmail in case you lose any of them during the trip.  Believe it or not, this will keep you stress-free.
3. Divide your pocket money, even your credit cards, to the number of luggage/bags you’re going to bring.  This is to make sure you’d still survive  in case you get victimized by a thief.  But if you’re checking in some of the bags, make sure you wrap them in a manner than no one will ever think they are valuables.
4. Do not lock bags you plan to check except with TSA-approved locks; otherwise, if any of them is selected for random screening, securities will have to break the lock to open.  It’s important to remember this because my Delsey bag’s zipper handle got broken and I suspect it was because they forced the lock I used for it.
5. Keep any medication and important papers in your carry-on bag. On long flights with multiple stopovers (especially if flying via London, LA or other major airports), packing a fresh change of clothes is a good idea as bags tend to get delayed or lost on long haul, multiple stop flights. You don’t want to end up stuck without medication, clothes or your important papers even if it is just for a few days.
6. If you want to make sure everything else in your bag stays clean and odor free, place your shoes inside airtight plastic bags.
7. Don’t bring your entire dresser.  Solid shampoo bars and tooth powder (instead of tooth paste) can be easily located on the internet and make carry-on travel in this age of liquid restriction possible. Places like Beijing now bar all liquids in carry-on bags, and you’ll still be able to breeze through without checking. You can also use small bottles to repack shampoo or lotions so that you don’t have to always carry a big bottle with you. This is especially useful if you normally take these items in your carry-on luggage, which as of early 2007 is much more restricted than before.
8. It is always handy to have a few plastic bags around certain items, especially toiletries. Not only does it counter any leaking, the bags can also come in useful to keep dirty clothes in, as garbage bags or even as a makeshift umbrella. Ziplock or other airtight plastic bags are the best.
9. Pack everything in clear plastic bags, divided into items e.g. underwear, t-shirts, shorts etc. before packing in your suitcase or backpack — one plastic bag for each type of clothing. This is extremely useful in various ways. When you unpack your bag you just take out a series of bags and you can see immediately what you want, so an overnight stay somewhere just means taking 1 item out of a bag — no rummaging.  In addition, if you have to unpack at customs, instead of having to disgorge all your clothing out in front of everybody, you can calmly take maybe 4 bags out, the contents of which can be clearly seen by the officials. To repack then is also dead easy, just be sure not to leave your plastic bags lying around if you are traveling in nature.
10. Take only half a tube of toothpaste rolled up tight, store shampoo in small containers, only take half a roll of toilet paper (for emergencies only) and crush it so the middle is folded.
11. Pack only the clothes you know you will use and if you are traveling beyond 3 weeks, plan to wash them.

• If you are packing things into a backpack, place the lighter items at the bottom and the heavier ones on top. Your bag will feel lighter this way as the pack rests on your lower back. It is also smart to place the things you use the most on top. Dirty clothes are perfect to pack at the bottom of a backpack.

• Somehow it seems that bags will hold more if the clothes are rolled rather than folded. If you roll in tissue paper, the clothes will also get less wrinkled.

While carrying a lot of luggage is not recommendable, sometimes it is necessary in the case of relocation. If you have the option, fly via the US as airlines will allow you 64kg (two 32kg bags) instead of the 20kg in the rest of the world. Even if it is just a stopover in the US, you will be allowed to carry the extra weight.

Tips to speed-up security check:

• Remember that you can only bring very limited amount of liquid and gel items in your carry-on bag.  Travel-sized containers (3 ounces US/100 ml EU or less) are allowed through airport security, but should be placed in ONE 1qt-sized plastic (clear ziplock-style bag).
• The moment you reach the checkpoint, take off your coat/jacket and shoes; bring out mobile phones, keys, loose change from your pockets and put them in a bin.  Avoid wearing clothes, jewelry, and accessories that contain metal as they could set off the alarm on the metal detector.
• Take your laptop, digicam, and videocam with cassettes out of their cases and place them in the bin, too.

I have surrendered gazillions of kikay stuff before I learned my lesson on airport security (well, I was being hard-headed most of the time).  My mom never failed to tell me that it’s best to make a list of the things to bring (especially those that you can’t be in-flight without) and pack them way ahead of time.  That’s a helpful one — for sure you wouldn’t want to ruin your day by surrendering personal effects to securities just so you can make it to your flight.  Just a sisterly advice :)