tips to get ready for vacation

Bring plastic bags for wet or dirty things that you would not want all over your luggage or all over your clean clothes. Bring more than you think because you never know how dirty or wet things may still be when you are leaving for home.

The sunscreen stick an amazing invention for kids and travelers alike. These sticks are great for packing while traveling because it is not a liquid, aka you can bring it in your carry-on, and it will not take up a lot of space in your bag.

Have you ever been traveling and in the middle of your trip had broken luggage? Sadly, this happened to me when we went to Maui, except my luggage broke as soon as we got off the plane. If you find yourself with broken luggage, having a paper clip to clip through what is left of the zipper or duct tape to tape through broken parts will make traveling a lot less stressful.

You get into packing trouble when you make a list of things that you might use. For example, you would not necessarily need to bring more than one razor (depending on how long you are traveling for.) Do not pack things you might use if you can buy those things at your destination.

It is never fun to have shampoo or lotion all over your stuff as soon as you open your bag. Avoid this by putting things in Ziploc bags. Be sure to bring extra Ziploc bags for the return trip, just in case some of your toiletries spill in the bags on the way there.

Until I saw my sister pack for deployment for the National Guard, I never rolled my clothes or put socks in my shoes. Sure, your clothes will get wrinkled a bit, but most hotel rooms have irons to fix that problem, or you can purchase wrinkle releaser.

Do not waste precious room for various clothing items on shoes that take up awkward amounts of space in your luggage or extra accessories that just add to your weight limits. Bring items that you can wear with multiple outfits and in all kinds of weather and occasions.

I did not even know they made these until I was reading a few travel blogs the past few months. Compression sacs seem like the best option while packing, especially for indecisive packers.

Again, this is one where I have learned from experience. While on a mission trip to Boca Chica, Colombia, a member of the team got her bag lost while we were transporting things (not her fault at all, it just happened in the shuffle while our large group was traveling). Good thing she has a positive attitude because she did not get her bag for at least three days. And in a hot, humid environment with no extra clothes, I am sure she was uncomfortable. Do not let this happen to you and make sure to pack at least one outfit to get you through an extra day or two if your bag gets lost.

Often people will tell you to research online about the place you are going to before arriving at your destination. The technology the way it is today, people often do not think to look through a written, published guidebook. However, while we were planning for our vacation this time, I found it really useful to make a stop in the library for the latest edition of a guidebook and found places that would be great to see while on vacation.