Whether you’re an experienced globetrotter, a travel novice, or a budget holiday lover
, packing savvy can make a massive difference to the ease of your trip – both while you’re in transit and beyond. So with that in mind, here’s a guide to help you pack savvy, as well as a few extra travel tips for along the way.
Pack Smart
You’ve probably already packed the basics, like clothes and sun cream, but by including a few little extras you might not have thought of you can be prepared for any eventuality. Roll a few zip-lock or re-sealable sandwich bags and pack them inside one of your shoes – they’re really handy for keeping things dry and sand-free at the beach, or to separate out currencies if you’re on a multi-venue trip. If you’re headed to a part of the world with high pickpocketing rates, then it can be wise to pack a cheap wallet with a small amount of cash and a fake credit card into an obvious pocket of your handbag or rucksack – thieves targeting you will hopefully believe they’ve hit the jackpot and move on. Finally, make sure you’ve stored a digital copy of your itinerary and a copy of your passport on an online cloud service, so even if you lose the physical copies you can prove who you are and retrieve the back-ups remotely. Finally, you should ensure you have a basic first-aid kit
including ibuprofen or paracetamol, plasters, some diarrhea relief just in case, chap stick, and insect repellent.
Travel Tips
So you’ve finished your packing and you’re ready to go? Great! When you’re waiting to get through security, instead of just twiddling your thumbs in the queue take the time to be totally prepared for the checks that’ll be carried out; i.e. remove your watch, take everything out of your pockets, throw away any bottles of liquid over 100ml, and take your laptop or tablet out of your bag and place them into a separate tray to be scanned. You may also have to take off your shoes, but this is increasingly decided on a case-by-case basis rather than as a general rule. There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there about whether you should be at the front of the line to board the plane no matter what your seat and row, or whether you should hang back and wait for your row to be called. Honestly this one’s personal preference, as there are pros and cons to both choices. The best advice is to follow any specific instructions given by the airline staff, but if not don’t hang around unnecessarily – if you’re ready to go you might as well get on and get settled in for the flight.