Staying Organized When Packing
Packing for a trip; personal or business begins with planning. Organizing your itinerary, tickets, reservations and your wardrobe need prioritizing. For the purpose of this article I will discuss packing for a business trip that will include staying over for 3 nights.
The purpose of the trip will choose your itinerary and the times of the meetings or other events will dictate much of the planning. Order tickets and reservations for your trip far ahead of time unless it is a spur of the moment trip. If passport is required, make sure it is up to date.
Now is the time to get out your notebook and list your basic requirements for a trip of any type. This list needs to include all of your personal needs; medications, sunglasses, mobility aids, cell phone and cell phone charger, snacks needed for health, paper, pens, personal contact information, a list of all medications and medical conditions, your health insurance cards and any other items you need daily.
Next list all the things required to conduct the business you are traveling for. These items may include: advertising or presentation materials, a laptop computer and the cords needed to charge it, USB drives, and any other business related equipment.
Finally, but equally important is your wardrobe. Will you need casual, dress, formal dress, hot weather, cold weather, or wet weather clothe? Don’t forget to list your personal items, such as underwear, socks, personal care items, and shoes. Preferably you will take only one carry on bag, and have no checked luggage. Select two pairs of pants(or skirts) and 2 shirts or tops. Style depending on the climate at your destination and the particular dress code you must adhere to. Pick basic colors so that you may mix and match your outfits to give you variety. Add a weeks worth of clean underwear and a bathing suit. Take only 2 pairs of shoes, one on your feet and one tucked in the pockets of a jacket or elsewhere in your bag. Use travel size bottles for toiletries.
Use a backpack or shoulder bag for daily essentials. Use a bag or backpack with many pockets, choose certain pockets to carry the same items each time you travel. Carry your personal papers, such as drivers license, insurance cards and extra travelers checks in a zip lock plastic bag and place them in an innermost pocket of your bag. Add a jacket or sweater, your sunglasses and a small umbrella to your bag.
Keep a day’s worth of medication in a small container placed inside a plastic bag. Include your camera for that impromptu picture. Double check your list and take your list with you so that you will remember to bring home everything that you took with you.
If you buy gifts or souvenirs on your trip, arrange to have them shipped home, to avoid having more things to pack than you have room for.
At first, all the planning and organizing may seem time-consuming and unneeded, but the freedom or not worrying if you forgot something, and not needing to keep track of multiple items are rewards in themselves, giving you a more productive and comfortable trip.
