Pack Travel Basics In Advance

With vacation time just around the corner, now is the time to start planning what you want to take with you. Many items are now restricted on airplanes, so you need to get a list first thing in order to know what is and what isn't allowed. There are a few things you can have ready ahead of time that will end up saving you valuable minutes as you're doing your final packing. Below is a list of some things you might want on your list. Most of these items, you can have ready to place in your luggage when you begin to add clothing, etc.

Basic First Aid Supplies

• Small packets of sugar to stop bleeding if you have nothing else.

• Baking soda is good for so many things that I always keep a small container of it in the larger pieces of luggage, and maybe in one carry-on as well. It's great for sunburn relief.
• Some type of antiseptic. If all else fails, use Vodka - small bottles of vodka bought at the liquor store are great.

• Sterile Gauze. I also keep large pieces of white t-shirt fabric that's been washed, bleached, and placed in Zip-Lock freezer bags. I've wished several times that I'd taken a lot more of this fabric. It is good for so many things.

• Adhesive tape, Dermicil Tape or Micropore Tape. Don't forget some folks are allergic to regular adhesive tape.

• Antibiotic Ointment (like Neosporin).
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• Band-aids (several sizes and types).

• Sterile Cotton Balls.

• A bar of soap wrapped in a clean wash cloth with several sizes of safety pins attached.

Add to this First Aid list as you think of things you might or can use. Better to have them and not need them than the other way around.

Toiletries

• Toothbrushes and Toothpaste. I buy the small individual sizes of toothpaste and inexpensive toothbrushes just for traveling.

• Deodorant (again, find the small or sample sizes and keep them for travel).

• Shampoo and hair conditioner in a tube.

• Body lotion in a tube

• Your favorite bath soap. I keep a new bar of TONE wrapped in a clean wash cloth in every single piece of luggage (even carry-ons). Add a few safety pins to the wash cloth for any clothing emergency.

Other Useful Items

• Several sizes of safety pins.

• Small pill bottles with needles, thread and a few buttons of various sizes. You will not be allowed to take scissors or knives of any kind.

• Wire or plastic clothes hangers laid on the bottoms of large luggage pieces before adding the clothes.

• 2 Old Clean Pillow Cases. I can't tell you how many times in the night I've had to change a child's pillow case. They also come in very handy as a dirty-clothes bag or toy bag.

• A few plastic clothespins. They come in handy for lots of things (closing bags of chips is a good example).

• About 25 feet of good strong twine or braided yarn for things you can't even imagine right now. It'll make handy clotheslines for damp bathing suits for one thing. You'll think of other ways to use this too.
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• Small packets of salt, pepper, sugar and coffee creamer. You can collect extras from one hotel to another if you forget them. The packets of plastic flatware with paper napkins, salt and pepper are perfect.

• Post Cards. Use local ones when possible. You can usually find them on sale at drug stores.

• Tablet and pens (I don't know if pens are allowed now or not).

• Postage Stamps. If traveling outside of our country, you'll most likely have to use the destination country's postage stamps.

I print out several lists and keep one in every piece of luggage, noting which piece of luggage things are in when possible. You will not believe how much time this is going to save you in searching for what you need when you need it. Keep in mind that everybody's list is going to be a little bit different. Only you can predict what your family might want or could possibly need. You'll be adding and deleting from this list every year for the rest of your life, so don't feel that you need to carve it in stone.

By Julia from Boca Raton, FL