There is no better place to write about traveling than sitting in an airport with a layover. It puts you in the traveling spirit, plus you have limited activities being stuck in an airport seat. This little journey is showing me how important it is to be organized, and the areas of my organizational weakness today.
Before I get into the organization tips, let me give you a little background on this adventure we are currently experiencing. I am on my way to South Africa for a mission trip, which I have been before and packed accordingly. Yesterday we arrived to the airport with just enough time, and then our flight was delayed...like 3 times! As a result of our flight being delayed we missed our international flight straight to South Africa. Delta then recommended tickets to London with about a 12 hour layover (yay!). Our excitement was short lived, because we arrived behind schedule to London with only 4 hours to spare. So here I sit, in London, without the chance to be a tourist. Only 3 more hours to wait! Our connection will then take us to South Africa on an 11hour flight, and then the mission trip can finally begin!
After all of this travel chaos, I am certainly glad I have everything I could need and know exactly where it is! Thankfully I am just a volunteer on the trip being lead by others, so no need for itinerary organization this go around! So let me tell you how I prepare for long trips!
The best thing you can do to begin your organization is start making lists. All of them. All kinds of lists. I start writing down our activities for every day. Then I fill in what I want to wear and my style for each of those activities. For this trip I have a camp shirt that I needed to wear on a specific day, so that is always a great place to start when you feel overwhelmed. After clothing is covered, I move on to toiletries and other necessities of that nature. This allows you to think of every little detail you need to get ready without having that panic and rush to find a store after you arrive to your destination. These lists also help you avoid over packing, which can fill your luggage with things you will never need. I like to begin this process a few days in advance to give me time to make sure I am not forgetting anything and I do not get rushed and overwhelmed with last minute choices. I also make a list for things I need to purchase before I leave, and a list of things I want accessible on the plane with me.
When I am ready to begin the physical packing stage, I gather all of the bags that I plan to use. This allows me to see how much space I am working with and where items would best fit. I highly recommend getting divider bags to go into your larger luggage. So get those out for this stage too! >click HERE to shop dividers.
Now I go for the clothes! I pull out the outfits day by day based on my list and lay them out in row, so by the end I can see the entire trip in front of me. Laying each outfit out helps me to go down the row and easily select a few pairs of shoes that will go with multiple outfits, multi use jewelry, and under garments needed for each outfit/day. I then gather all the pajamas and remaining accessories I might need such as hats or headbands that I can use multiple times throughout the trip.
Gather all of the items from your toiletries list and "other" list. Lay all of these items out too. I have recently found the bag brand Ellis James on Amazon. Click HERE to shop their bags. I have their jewelry organizer, make up bag, and toiletry bag. I did not think to take a picture of the bags zipped, so go check them out!
After you have everything out that you will be packing, it is just your own personal preference from here. Always remember to try and maximize the space you have to fill.
For this trip I wanted to make sure that I have all of my camp clothes in the rolling carry on in case my larger luggage gets lost - this is such a great tip to remember so you will always have a fresh outfit to change into if you run into crazy travel changes.
In my larger luggage I put all of my outfits for tourist days, food I want to take to camp, and toiletries. I also threw in this extra backpack incase I had more to bring home and to take my food to camp. This is also the bag that I use the organizational bags. I have one for undergarments, one for pajamas, and one for the final days after camp where we will be going on a safari.
This trip definitely required a lot of planning and organization. The 2 weeks are broken up into different mini trips. I hate to dig through luggage trying to find the outfit planned for the day; I love the luggage organizers for this reason. I have the first couple of days loose in the large luggage, the camp days in my carry on luggage, and my final safari days in the largest luggage organizer.
In my backpack carry on I have my camera, passport, wallet, make up wipes (hello over night flight), make up, and snacks. I also have enjoyed the best airplane travel pillow > click HERE
Do you have any travel or organizational requests or questions? Leave me a comment!
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