“Packing Smart” Can Ensure Smoother Travels during Hectic Holiday Travel Season
Dovetailing with holiday travel advice dispensed by Travel Leaders nationally, Great Mill’s Travel Leaders location is publicly counseling area travelers with packing tips for the holiday season – including the two top things to pack: time and patience. Nationally, Travel Leaders issued a November 21, 2013, news release outlining strategies for moving quickly through airport security screening. Today’s tips from the local Travel Leaders location at 22325 Greenview Parkway supplements that advice by counseling its clients on strategies to “Travel Better” through efficient and effective packing techniques.
“Since the phrases ‘holiday travel’ and ‘pack light’ seem incongruous, we advise our clients instead to ‘pack smart,’ including packing your common sense, along with time and patience,” noted Lori Wentworth, Manager at the Travel Leaders serving Maryland residents. “We are providing five simple, yet essential packing tips that can ensure you ‘Travel Better.’”
1. Roll your clothes. The most frequent travelers – including the road warriors at Great Mill’s Travel Leaders – roll their clothes instead of folding. Simply fold them in half and roll from the bottom up. Use the rolled items to fill in the spaces around any folded items, which will help keep everything from shifting during travel.
“Rolling not only saves space, but it results in fewer wrinkles,” Wentworth explained. “Rolling works particularly well with casual items such as jeans, t-shirts and polo or golf shirts.”
2. Invest in versatile, comfortable shoes. “The bulkiest, bag-hogging items you can pack are shoes,” noted Wentworth. “By investing in comfortable shoes that can be matched with a variety of outfits, you can maximize luggage space for other items. Just wear your versatile pair of shoes and bring along another.”
3. Never over-pack. “When you overstuff your luggage, you not only risk damaging the bag itself, but you’ll end up with wrinkled clothes,” stated Wentworth. “To extend the life of both your clothes and your bags, reconsider every item before you pack and ask, ‘Do I really need this?’”
Wentworth also advises that since virtually all hotels now provide guests with such amenities as hair dryers and irons equipped with ironing boards, these items can be left at home.
4. Ship bulky items in advance of your trip. “Considering that most airlines now charge for bags to be checked – and it can run in the hundreds of dollars for a family – we advise our customers to plan ahead and ship their bulkiest items ahead to their final destination,” cautioned Wentworth. “The cost of shipping in advance can be considerably less expensive and can actually minimize wear and tear on the items. Also, remember that holiday gifts – especially those that have already been wrapped – are the perfect items to consider shipping.” TSA has a special section on its website with helpful information on traveling with food and/or gifts.
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