5 Top Vacation Packing Tips from Organization Expert Barbara Brock
Packing for a vacation can be stressful: If you overpack, you have to carry around a heavy bag (and may also need to pay the airline extra for luggage), and if you under-pack, you won’t have all the outfits you need. It can be quite the challenge and even takes a special talent to pack just right. Luckily, expert Barbara Brock, founder and CEO of Beauty & the Box and past President of National Association of Productivity & Organizing Professionals - New York Chapter, has some useful tips to help you avoid a packing disaster. Get a smooth start to your vacation and avoid the anxiety with Barbara’s advice:
1. Don’t pack too much stuff.
Barbara shares that one of the top mistakes that travelers make when packing for a summer vacation is taking too many clothes and too much luggage. Her advice: “Flatten your clothes, don’t fold (or minimum fold) as you can get a lot more in, and use a packing bag to take out the air in the clothes.”
2. Plan a travel day outfit.
One of Barbara’s secrets for packing is to have an outfit planned for your traveling days. “Have a set traveling outfit, which you wear on the plane and going home,” she shares.
3. Pack two pairs of pants.
According to Barbara, bringing two pairs of pants on your trip is ideal. “Take two pairs of pants for one week of traveling, and even if traveling for two weeks or more, still only pack two pairs of pants as you won’t need more than that combined with your traveling attire,” she says.
4. Organize a travel drawer for beauty products.
To help pack beauty products and accessories, Barbara advises having a “travel drawer” where you only keep your travel items. “You can grab and go,” she notes. “For my beauty products, I love the plastic bottles and small containers from The Container Store to aid in my organization.”
5. Unpack when you arrive at your destination.
Once you arrive at your destination, Barbara has another tip to ease your transition: “I recommend unpacking the suitcases—clothes are easier to repack,” she says. “Once you are unpacked, you just feel more organized and ready to go fully on vacation mode.” Try Barbara’s traveling pop-up organizer “The Traveler” (available in Deluxe and Lite), which include a carry tray and three pop-up cosmetic boxes that lay flat for convenience. When you get to where you are going, the boxes pop up intuitively.
For more information and to purchase, visit beautyandthebox.com and follow them on Instagram: @beautyandtheboxtraveler
Barbara Brock is the Founder & CEO of Beauty & The Box, beautyandthebox.com—a company dedicated to fusing beauty with organization for the traveling woman and at home. There is no doubt Barbara has the “organization” gene in her DNA and is dedicated to bringing order and efficiency to everyone’s lives. Barbara is a successful home-staging owner, entrepreneur, and past President of NAPO®-NY (National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals™ - New York Chapter).
Lizzy Sherman is an award-winning digital content writer/editor. She has been a featured guest speaker at Cal State University Northridge, Digital LA and The National Association of Audience Marketing Professionals. When she's not writing, Lizzy enjoys yoga and playing guitar. Follow her on Instagram: @zillizy