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Road Warrior Packing Tips

7 years ago
travel
4 Comments

Put a folding travel toothbrush and travel-sized toothpaste in the outside pocket of your carryon. When the plane starts to descend, go into the bathroom and brush your teeth. You’ll feel much better instantly. Keep a couple of energy bars in the outside pockets too.

Getting ready to pack an Eagle Creek compression bag
Getting ready to pack an Eagle Creek compression bag

While you’re in that outside packet, throw in a ziplock bag of FAA-approved-size mini-toiletries. Just leave one in every carryon and suitcase. Having it in the outside pocket means you can pull it out to get past checkpoint lanes fast without unpacking the whole suitcase. (Yes, if you’ve got Pre, you can bypass some of these requirements some of the time, but sooner or later, somebody’s gonna make you unpack your toiletries.)

If you frequently drive rental cars and use your phone as GPS, get a vent mount (larger version for phablets/pluses). It’s small, works great, and I just leave that in my carryon along with a phone charger cable and cigarette lighter adapter. It’s awesomely stable.

Roll clothes rather than fold ’em. You’ll end up with less wrinkles, and the clothes pack much tighter. That video shows how to make sure they don’t unroll, too.

Pack with Eagle Creek compression bags. Put each day’s clothing into its own bag, and use the compression zipper to compact it. In the morning, just grab one of the bags. You don’t have to worry about putting together outfits in some dark hotel room.

Cashmere sweaters and bamboo undergarments (socks, undies) pack down really small. Cashmere isn’t as expensive as it used to be.

Packing my carryon with a few days of clothes
Packing my carryon with a few days of clothes

Bring cash for the hotel maid. Leave $3-$5 on your hotel pillow each time your room is cleaned. Maids are tipped employees, meaning hotels are allowed to pay them less than minimum wage. In addition, make the maid’s life easier by using only a single trash can in the room, and bundle up all your dirty towels in a high location that doesn’t require bending over to pick them up.

Armed with those tips, I can usually get a week’s worth of clothes into a carry-on, it’s so much more nicely organized, and I enjoy my travel more. (For the record, I still use Dufl for my multi-week trips, and I’ve updated my Dufl review with the cool things they’ve added lately.) Update 2020/07/24: Dufl declared bankruptcy and closed up shop due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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4 Comments. Leave new

  • Michael Armentrout
    March 22, 2016 9:53 am

    Check out Red Oxx – http://m.redoxx.com/blog/BlogHome.aspx

    Reply
    • Brent
      March 23, 2016 6:37 am

      Yeah, I’ve seen their bags winning a lot of comparison reviews for hard-core travelers, but I gotta have wheels on my bags. I do have a few backpacks, but I’m kinda picky about how those look, and the Red Oxx look doesn’t do it for me. I can see why they’re popular though.

      Reply
  • Andrew Loree
    March 26, 2016 9:40 am

    The suction mounts for phones are just too bulky for my travels. Check this vent mount. It has worked on every compact I have every had to rent so far – http://www.amazon.com/Kenu-Airframe-Portable-Smartphone-Phablets/dp/B00D901B4W/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1459002724&sr=8-13&keywords=vent+mount+phone+holder

    Reply
    • Brent
      March 26, 2016 12:59 pm

      Wow, that looks great! Sold, picking up one for myself. Nice find!

      Reply

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Hi. I’m Brent.

That's me, Brent.

I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I'm on an epic life quest to have fun and make a difference.

I co-founded Brent Ozar Unlimited to help make your SQL Server go faster. I also maintain sp_Blitz® and the open source First Responder Kit repo.

My current car collection includes a Jaguar XKR-S, Porsche 944 Turbo, Porsche 356 Speedster replica, and a Ferrari 328 GTS.

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