My Top 5 Packing Tips & How To Stay Organized When Traveling For Work Or Fun

Do you love traveling but the thought of packing, trying to budget and figure out what needs to be done beforehand stresses you out to the max? Maybe you don’t love traveling but have to for work. I think we’ve all been there feeling the stress of travel at some point, (cue everybody raising their hands.) I’m by no means an expert on this topic but have done enough traveling to pick up a few tips and tricks over the years that help make the process of traveling a bit smoother and I hope they can help you too.

Below are my top 5 packing tips & how to stay organized when traveling for work or fun. For more solopreneurship, boutique adventures and fun, check out Buffalo Betty's on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and TikTok. You can also subscribe to the Buffalo Betty's Newsletter to be notified first of new blogs, arrivals and promotional discounts. 

#5 - Budgeting For The Trip

If you are traveling for work this might not apply as much but if you are going on a vacation you need a budget set in place. I’m no Dave Ramsey here (although I am reading his book and believe in his methods) but trust me nothing ruins a vacation faster than running out of money halfway through a trip because you failed to plan for everything that you would do. Nobody wants to be left behind in the room eating pb&j’s instead of trying out all the finest local cuisine. Ha! I recommend breaking down the trip into 3 categories: Food, Fun Activities & Mandatory Costs. Mandatory costs would be things like your hotel, gas or plane tickets and any events that you know you will attend. Food is obviously how much yummy food you think you will consume every day making sure not to forget including tips. Then your fun money is all the extra things you might do or souvenirs, etc. You of course can be flexible and decide to eat lighter one day if you want more fun money or choose a cheaper excursion so you can have a fancier meal one day. 

#4 - Rolling Clothes

When I was younger and didn’t have as much experience with traveling I would tend to just pile all my clothes into a suitcase without any special folding method. What this did was overcrowd my suitcase and waste space. Later I learned that rolling clothing makes everything fit in the suitcase so much more efficiently that it even leaves room to pack the kitchen sink. Ha! Ok I’m being a little dramatic there but it does leave enough room to pack practically everything but the kitchen sink. Also rolling clothing allows you to stuff items inside shoes especially bigger ones like boots. 

#3 - Packing In Order Of What You Will Wear

For those of you like me who like to unpack at a hotel and put everything in drawers or hang it up in the closet, this one isn’t as important. However, those of you who would never do such a thing as unpacking or maybe you are only going to be there a couple days and don’t want to unpack, this is for you. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to dig through a giant suitcase to find what you are looking for and having to pull out every single clothing item to finally get to the right one. An easy way to help eliminate this stress is to pack in reverse order of what you will wear. The clothing you will wear last should go on the bottom and then the very first thing you will wear goes on top. I also like to pack all of my undergarments in the separate compartment on the inside of the lid.

#2 - Unpack Your Clothes

Tip #3 leads me right into #2, unpack your clothes! Most hotels or AirBNB’s have a closet with hangers and/or a dresser. I highly recommend unpacking and organizing your clothing just as if you were at home. This makes getting ready each day so much faster and also helps keep your room neater throughout your stay.

#1 - Picking Out Outfits & Writing Them Down

My very best tip for traveling is to know exactly what you will be doing & what you will need to wear. This might sound a little over the top but it sure beats getting somewhere and realizing you didn’t pack enough outfits or wearing the wrong outfit to the wrong event and then not having something appropriate to wear to another event. At the time of writing this I am actually preparing to go watch the Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Pageant where I will be going to lots of different events that range from more casual to dressier and so it’s very important that I plan accordingly. In this case I have printed off the  schedule and then start by highlighting all the events I will need a different outfit for. Once I have everything picked out all the way down to shoes and accessories then I start packing each outfit 1 at a time to ensure I don’t forget any essentials. I make sure to take my schedule or list of outfits with me and then each morning when I get ready I simply just put on what I have written down. I always like to bring a couple extra tops and an extra pair of pants but I try to be smart and grab items that will go with shoes and accessories that I already will be taking.

This might all seem overwhelming but my goal is to always have the least amount of stress and the most amount of fun whenever I travel! If you enjoyed these tips or learned something new, feel free to share this post or comment below your biggest takeaway!

Until next time,

Kallie