Maybe you’ve planned your trip for years or months, or it can be a spontaneous trip altogether. Whether you have a laid-out itinerary or not, forgetting something is a massive inconvenience. You might have already reached the airport and realized you forgot your ticket. You could be on the other side of the world and forgot your pocket money.
Aside from the strategic ways of packing clothes, shoes, and the like, it’s best to be smart with how you pack things that are easily overlooked. It may require more steps, but it’s better to be sure than sorry.
Organize Your Papers
If this is your first time traveling overseas, you can be overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork involved. Months before the trip, you need to process your visa. Before this, you need your passport if you don’t have one yet. Depending on your country of choice, you will have to pack extra supporting documents.
Aside from documents, you would need printed copies of your tickets. If you’re a diligent planner who would want everything to go smoothly, online bookings are your thing. These bookings have corresponding vouchers, so those need to come in handy as well. These include plane tickets, hotel bookings, tickets to landmarks and/or tours, and a lot more.
Without proper organizing, it’s hard to keep track of all these. You can easily misplace them and, worse, forget them. Consider placing them in individual clear envelopes to emphasize their distinctions. The transparent nature of the envelope will save you time from naming them one-by-one because they can easily be read without the hassle of opening it.
Compared to placing them in one clear book, this individual packing will not require you to carry around the bulk of your documents. This is not only more convenient and lighter to carry around, but it is also safer because losing the clear book would mean losing everything.
Place Small Objects Where You Can See Them Right Away
How many times have you traveled and forgot your toothbrush? It’s easy to overlook small items like this because they’re not so visible to the eyes. The same reason applies to frequently losing them.
In a travel bag, especially your suitcase, there’s a compartment underneath the cover of the bag. It’s usually made of a material that allows the user to see through it right when they open their luggage.
By placing the small objects on this part of the bag, they’re immediately visible, so it’s easy to spot them when you have a final run-through of your things before leaving the house. Aside from this, when you come looking for these little things later on, you won’t have to dig under your bag to find something so small. As a result, you won’t compromise the organization of your luggage that you spent so much time on.
Bring a Crossbody Bag
A crossbody bag is different from your carry-on luggage. The carry-on luggage contains more of your clothes and other essentials in your travel—like clothes, socks, underwear, for example.
The crossbody bag, on the other hand, carries the things you need from time-to-time. It’s like a leveled-up pocket because it can carry more than just one item a time. Your phone, wallet, IDs, power bank, hand sanitizer, etc. should be in the cross-body bag for easier access.
By utilizing a crossbody bag, these valuable items will not leave your body. Therefore, they’re harder to misplace. You can leave your luggage with your travel buddies and buy some snacks conveniently.
With the help of a zipper or Velcro, it’s less prone to pickpockets. You wouldn’t have to worry about crowded stalls, lines, or aisles while traveling.
Crossbody bags are so convenient that they free up your hand. Unlike shoulder bags, you would have to hold it to prevent it from slipping off your arm. You won’t have to worry about them ruining your outfit because they’re also designed to be chic that even celebrities love using them. Besides, you can never go wrong with an all-black bag.
Don’t forget to recheck all the items you packed the night before you leave. You can go back to your list if there’s any. Scan through your documents one-by-one, take note if your toothbrush and other toiletries are complete, and hang your cross body bag where you can grab it on the way out. When you want to be extra sure, you can ask your travel buddies for reminders. Now, you’re ready to go—just don’t sleep past your alarm the next day.
Meta title: How to Organize Your Travel Bag to Avoid Forgetting Anything
Meta description: It’s common to forget a thing or two when packing your things for a trip, but these can pose serious inconveniences that are avoidable in the first place.