Packing Hacks: 7 Tips to Help Avoid Packing Anxiety Disorder When Traveling by Barbara Brock

We are in the midst of summer vacation season, and packing for vacation can cause stress and anxiety. In fact, packing is one of the greatest travel stressors associated with the trip-planning stage of travel, according to a research article on travel stress featured in Tourism Analysis. I have a few tips to help avoid packing anxiety disorder. My goal is to aid you in preparing for your journey with no stress to ensure a smooth start to your vacation. 

The top mistakes that travelers make when packing for a summer vacation? Taking too many clothes and too much luggage. To help avoid these two mistakes: 

• Flatten your clothes, don’t fold (or minimum fold) as you can get a lot more in.

• Use a packing bag to take out the air in the clothes.

• Have a set traveling outfit that you wear on the plane and going home.

• Take two pairs of pants for one week of traveling. Even if traveling for two weeks or more, still only pack two pairs of pants as you won’t need more than that combined with your traveling attire.

To help pack beauty products and accessories:

• Have a “travel drawer” where you keep only your travel items. You can grab and go.

• For my beauty products, I love the plastic bottles and small containers from The Container Store to aid in my organization.

Once you arrive at your destination, I do have another packing – or unpacking – tip to ease your transition:

• Unpack the suitcases. Clothes are easier to repack. Once you are unpacked you just feel more organized and ready to go fully on vacation mode.

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