Travel Tips: A Poor Girl's Guide

Being on a budget should not stop you from traveling all across the globe, visiting breathtaking sites to feed your wanderlust. Savvy Jet-setting frugal travelers strike the perfect balance and bring just what they need, with a little help from this list of road-tested packing tips, of course!

Pack appropriately

Dress for Activities or functions you will be attending.  If you are going to a place which requires a lot of heavy activity, work boots and jeans and shirts would be in order. If you are travelling to attend a formal function or meeting, a costume may be in order. If you are teaching and training inside a church, you might need more conservative and modest clothing. Find out what kinds of activities you will be doing there. This will help you know what to pack. Generally, you will need comfortable shoes at some point in your trip. Don't dress for fashion; be practical.

Pack Smart

Store footwear and heavy items along the luggage’s wheel base. Fill shoes with socks or bulky items that would fit, and then put them in individual bags, with the soles facing the sides of the suitcase. Rest other heavy items, like a flat iron, hair dryer and a toiletry kit, next to or on top of shoes. Placing heavy items near the wheels stabilizes the bag’s center of gravity, so it won’t topple over when upright. Make use of empty spaces such as shoes. When it comes to packing, you need to make use of every little space you can. Roll underwear, tops, and other small items and stuff them into your shoes to make sure every possible space is filled.

Foolproof Packing

Line the bottom of the inside of your baggage with a plastic trash bag. After you’ve packed, add another one on top of it. This helps ward off wrinkles because of the bag’s slippery surface; folded clothes don’t stay in one place long enough for creases to set. Plus, if your suitcase is off-loaded from the airplane in the rain, your clothes won’t get drenched. To avoid stains, always make sure your light colored clothes are packed inside out, and keep the disposable shower caps from hotels and use them to cover the base of your shoes.  Allocate one sack for your cosmetics, another for hair products, and one for skin-related items. Place the bags in the side corners of your suitcase or in a zippered outside pocket.

Keep it Dry

Solid shampoo bars and tooth powder instead of paste can easily be found on the internet and make carry-on travel in these times of liquid restriction possible. Places similar to Beijing now prohibit all liquids in carry-on bags, and you'll still be able to go through checks without the hassles. The liquid restriction does not apply air-side, so purchase anything you will need in larger amounts once you have gone through security.

Luggage Scales anyone?

This is the secret weapon to assist you in not getting charged unnecessary fees at the airport. Invest in a luggage scale and make sure you weigh your bags on both ends of your journey to see how close you are to reaching the weight limit. If you're on the brink of the limit, consider wearing some of the bulkier items or cut down on what you pack in the first place.

To Roll or to Fold, that is the question

By some means it seems that bags will hold a lot more if the clothes are rolled rather than folded. If you roll in paper, the clothes will also get less wrinkled. Roll softer garments and fold clothes with stiffer materials. Underwear, T-shirts, cotton pants, jeans, and knitwear won’t wrinkle when rolled tightly. Stiffer fabrics blazers, such as starched cotton shirts, dressy pants, and skirts, should be carefully folded.

Ladies Remember!

To avoid your pressed powder or shadows from cracking during your travel, put a flat cotton pad in between the pressed powder and the lid. 

Stow inexpensive pieces of jewelry in a seven day plastic pillbox. If you must take precious gems, wear them during your travels to reduce the possibility of loss or theft.

Opt for travel-size multi-purpose products. Like a tinted-moisturizers that can be used as foundation or tints for the lips and cheeks, a soap, and shampoo in one, and wipes that clean hands and face.