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Travel Essentials

Everyone wants to travel a good amount in their life, whether its driving, flying, on a boat, etc. My family was always traveling when I growing up; starting out with family trips, to me going to visit friends in college, all the way to making a 24 hour car ride to see my in-laws in Florida. The biggest struggle to traveling, no matter where you go, is what to pack. The necessities versus the “I just wanna bring it” items. Here are my personal lists, the essentials vs the wants (based on X amount of days you will be gone).

Essentials:

  • Shirts/tanks/long sleeves
  • Pants/shorts/skirts/leggings
  • Socks
  • Undergarments
  • Sweatshirts/Jacket
  • Shoes [tennis shoes, sandals, dressy shoes]
  • Bathroom toiletries [hair products, oral hygiene, personal hygiene]
  • Swim Suit (depends where you go, but you never know if there will be a pool or hot tub!)
  • Wallet/money
  • Drivers License/passport
  • Cell phone
  • Phone charger
  • Hair brush/comb
  • Basic Medications
  • Hand Sanitizer

“Want” items:

  • Sunscreen
  • Headphones
  • Travel purse/wallet
  • umbrella
  • lint roller
  • book
  • laptop/tablet
  • coloring supplies
  • crossword/word search
  • Jewelry
  • Hair straightener/curling iron
  • Hat
  • Perfume
  • Make up
  • Sunglasses

To some, items on their essentials list are on their “want” list, or vice versa. This is typically how I think when I pack, but some items you can definitely live without when traveling, of course that depends where you are going.

One secret I was taught growing up for traveling, bring an extension cord that is [hopefully] at least 5 ft long, just in case your accommodations don’t have easy access outlets, because who in their right mind wants to plug their phone in across the room, instead of having it close to the bed.

Wondering what kind of luggage I recommend and/or use? Look for my next post on “How to properly pack a suitcase”.

For now, the salty mom, signing off.

Properly Packing a Suitcase

I don’t know about everyone else, but I have multiple ways to pack my things for a trip; a large hardshell suitcase, a small normal cloth suitcase and so many duffle bags. I use the duffle bags only for very small trips (1-2 nights), the small suitcase for 3-4 night trips and my large one for everything else. Everyone has their favorites, but I absolutely love hardshell suitcases, specifically for the reason that you have more room to pack your items, in my opinion.

So how do I pack each suitcase and/or duffle bag? Keep reading and i’ll explain it all!

When I pack a duffle bag, I always sort out my clothes. Shirts in one pile, then bottoms, sweatshirts then socks/underwear/bras. I put all my clothes on the bottom of my duffle bag to ensure nothing breakable gets broken. Does your duffle bag have side pockets? Put all your shower stuff in a gallon ziplock bag and stick it in the side in case of any spills! Hair tools, make up bag, personal hygiene items, and any other misc items all get placed on top of the clothes.

When packing my small suitcase, I have 2 zip pockets on the top (front) of it. I put shower stuff (in a ziplock of course) in one, and other small items in the other zip pocket (deodorant, toothbrush, hair brush, hair products, etc). When it comes to the main part of the suitcase, I pack it sort of like I do with a duffle bag. Sometimes I choose to use organizer cubes (the link to the ones I use will be in links tab), as it helps to keep everything from shifting, and keeps alike items together. Put shirts in one large cube, pants in the other large cube, bras/socks/underwear in the medium, and other random necessities in the 2 small ones. Place all other items on top or between cubes, latch the strap to keep it all compacted down, close and zip!

Now when it comes to my large hardshell suitcases, I could not speak anymore highly of them. They have the most room you can get out of a suitcase, and the hard outer shell is great, as it protects breakable items on the inside and can take harder impact than a standard cloth suitcase. Now when you open it, you don’t have the 2 zip pockets that you would normally get with a smaller cloth suitcase, but it does have a large zip section on one side of the suitcase and a normal open section on the other side. When I pack this suitcase, I ALWAYS use the organizer cubes; if not 1 set, I sometimes use more. The 2 large cubes i always use for shirts and bottoms, which is generally what you will have the most of. The medium cube I use for bras, socks, underwear and maybe bathing suits if they fit (if they need to come on vacation). The 2 small cubes I use for either swimwear if it doesn’t fit in the medium cube, and misc items in the other small cube (aunt flo products, lingerie, if i’m bringing any). I put those all in the open part of the suitcase, with the strap across the top that holds it all in. On the zipper side, I put my travel purse, extension cord, shoes, hair tools (blow dryer, straightener, curling iron), hair brush, make up bag, toiletries bag (I have one from Victorias Secret that hold alotttttt of stuff [ i’ll post link in links tab]). Any other misc stuff I always put in this large zipper section, just because its more than likely lose items and if you open your suitcase, it wont fall out due to it having large zipper closure.

There is no right or wrong way, obviously, to pack a suitcase or travel bag, but this is just the way that the salty mom does it.

Signing off, until next post.

Intro to my life

Hello everyone! I’m Ann, as you may prob know already. Born in October of 1993, which currently makes me 28 years old. I have a 5 year old son, and a wonderful and supportive husband, in which we just recently got married (October 2021). Blogging is becoming my new found love, as it lets me express myself and rant without the immediate reactions.

Things I am into/love:

  • spending time with my family
  • learned about new healing crystals
  • beauty
  • DIY projects
  • home rehabs
  • crafting
  • social media
  • camping/outdoor activities
  • everything related to traveling

Things I will be most likely talking about in my blog:

  • family
  • mom life/advice
  • life experiences
  • cleaning tips
  • all of my favorites

10 things you may not know about me:

  1. I was adopted at birth, now in regular contact with my biological mom.
  2. My favorite food is tacos and popcorn.
  3. I was never a cat person, always a dog person, until I met my husband.
  4. I absolutely love the smell of pine sol, hoping that one day they make an air freshener with that scent!
  5. I want 4 kids total (one down, 3 to go!)
  6. Starbucks is 100% a way of life.
  7. I live for my son, my husband, our families and amazon shopping.
  8. I am a domestic abuse survivor.
  9. I could watch the Ellen DeGeneres show every waking moment of my life.
  10. I am absolutely terrible at writing, more so editing and punctuation (so get over it, no ones perfect!)