Regular travellers for work-what containers do you use for toiletries, cosmetics etc?.. & do you have duplicate items already packed for your “mainstay items?” I don’t and it takes me ages to think about what to take and then pack (and I travel for work reasonably often) all of my creams, main makeup items, hair stuff & vitamins/pills. I also feel it takes as long for me to pack for a day or a week… Do you carry full size items or if you use smaller ones- what do you use?
Use duplicates for large things, especially for large things like shampoo. Get a travel-sized version and refill from the big container at home. It doesn’t have to be the same brand, just some travel-sized shampoo (or the tiny courtesy ones from hotel rooms for short trips).
I’m fully in support of 2, but I go further. My travel charger, cables, tooth paste, toothbrush, razor, headphones, etc. never leave my dedicated carry-on bag. I can’t forget to bring it next time if I never unpacked it the previous time. Refill/restock the 1-2 things that need it WHEN YOU GET HOME and leave it packed for the next trip.
I have duplicates of everything that stay in the suitcase. All I need is 10 minutes to pack clothes and medications. Replenish anything you’ve used up when you get home.
Eli said:
I have duplicates of everything that stay in the suitcase. All I need is 10 minutes to pack clothes and medications. Replenish anything you’ve used up when you get home.
Are they full sizes of e.g. night cream or smaller?
@Winslow
A mix of both, honestly. I have smaller silicone bottles that I refill with lotion, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Skin care products are a second full set, with the exception of a few travel sizes.
Winslow said: @Eli
And nothing leaks? I had a fatal fake tan spill once- ruined a jacket🤦♀️.
Ziplock bags are good for keeping spills to just the immediate vicinity.
Ziplock bags with a few paper towels around the items are better. Or some item of clothing that’s not critical if stuff leaks - that you could leave to launder when you get home.
Winslow said: @Eli
I need some decent containers but then there’s the labeling… I have some somewhere but need better ones.
Partly because I’ve worked in lots of industrial settings and because I once watched a guy drink bleach that he thought was KoolAid, I’m big on labeling.
Shampoo in a shampoo bottle, conditioner in a conditioner bottle, sunscreen in a sunscreen tube. It doesn’t have to the be the same brand. Save some securely closing travel-sized containers or the small courtesy ones from hotel rooms and refill each time you get home.
For sunscreen, I scored a bunch of tiny professional sample tubes of sunscreen - enough for 1-2 days, and when I’ve emptied most of them, I use a meat marinade injector from the supermarket to refill them all quickly in one session.
@Winslow
Are you checking a bag? I have found that packing a carry-on only has been helpful for me and limits me to travel size only. Plus since the cabin is pressurized there is less likely to have spillage. I do laundry in the hotel if I’m longer than three days. Most also have the dry cleaning if you need to keep professional clothes fresh.
Also for my carry-on luggage, I found one that zips open instead of in half if that makes sense so the packing portion of the luggage feels bigger since it is deeper and I can utilize the walls better and shove more in there. And shoes. Pack one pair that goes with everything for professional things and wear your comfy shoes on the plane in addition to your heavy jacket.
My toiletry bag is packed at all times and hangs in the closet very near to the bathroom. Whenever I run out of something like deodorant I grab a new one and put it in the travel bag, and take the open one from there to use daily. I’d say about half of it is full-sized products, with things like shampoo and conditioner in smaller bottles that are leak-proof and with wide mouths so they are very easy to refill.
Whenever I have to whittle it down and decant more things into tiny bottles to fly carry-on only I’m reminded how much I hate packing toiletries and how long it takes!
I also printed and laminated packing lists for each section of my toiletry bag so that I can double-check nothing got moved out and not replaced. I’ve realized part of what I hate about packing is trying to remember what I use on a regular basis and the fear that I’ll forget something important.
@Madden
Great ideas thanks. I’m always worried I’ll forget my Kindle, phone charger & hair tongs etc… then it’s getting the dog packed up… wouldn’t a good old servant like royalty have- be amazing… or a wife!
… oh shite!.. & I’m guessing it wasn’t one of those Aloe Vera hydrating sanitizers?