As you can imagine, it’s a very rare trip where I need to check any luggage in. For the last few years, I’ve been using a Tri-Star or Western Flyer convertible travelpack from Seattle-based bag maker Tom Bihn. With my upcoming nine-day vacation to Japan, I assumed I’d use one of those bags. However a …
Continue reading ‘Tom Bihn Synapse: An Ultralight Carry-On Challenge’ »
Do you pack your 3-1-1 toiletry kit with small bottles of shampoo and conditioner, only to find that you can only realistically use half the bottles, because the last half decides to cling to the bottom of the bottle? This happens pretty often, especially with really thick gels or hair conditioner. Here’s a handy tip: …
Continue reading ‘Quick Tip: How to Keep the Travel Toiletries Flowing’ »
So you’ve successfully packed everything you need for your trip into your carry-on and now you’re off galavanting around at your destination. As happens very often, you find yourself in a store, and your eyes glaze over as you start thinking about all the wonderful things you can buy and take home for your living …
Last week, my husband and I went on the maiden voyage of the Disney Dream cruise ship to the Bahamas. It was just a four-day cruise out of Florida, but we had a wonderful (albeit short) vacation that reminded me that I really do enjoy these cruises. I always think I’ll wind up being bored, …
Packing for your trip starts way before your actual travel day. The process starts from the moment you start picking clothes to add to your wardrobe. Here are some tips to help you build a travel-friendly wardrobe: Stick to a color scheme One of the easiest ways to build a travel-friendly wardrobe is to pick …
[Travelite classic tips are updates to my published articles available at the archive pages.] Clothing Clothing is probably the toughest for anyone who wants to learn how to travelite. The two biggest tips to packing the right clothings, is to color coordinate, and to layer for a versatile look. Coordinating Colors Remember the old “Garanimals” …
Continue reading ‘Travelite classic tips: Clothing for women’ »
Do you try to minimize what you pack by traveling with just the pair of shoes you are wearing? Or do you ever yourself periodically needing to pack an extra pair of shoes in your carry-on? I was recently contacted by a self-professed heavy packer named Mark, who wanted to send me a product he …
In general, my mantra is “If you don’t need it, leave it home.” Once in a while, though, I make an exception because the item makes life so much easier. One such item is the travel tray. They aren’t particularly popular items at travel supply stores so you might have trouble finding them, but you …
Cosmetics consumer advocate Paula Begoun (who has authored a number of books on practical cosmetic tips and sells her own line of skin care and cosmetics), recently discussed the topic of how to pack your cosmetics for travel in her syndicated radio show. You can listen to an archive of her show here. Paula explained …
If you’re like me, you take a small list of items in your carry-on that most travelers don’t bother packing. Whether your handy item is a diaper pin (to pin your sweater on the seatback in front of you on the plane or to pin your ID tag inside your carry-on) or a small container …
Continue reading ‘Product review: Travel-friendly Scotch tape dispenser’ »