All good things must come to an end, and so it is with every vacation! Once you get home, you’re going to need to unpack everything you’ve brought.

First, a few more tips on what to do before you leave. Be sure to stop the mail (and newspaper, if you get a paper). I usually let my neighbors know I’m away so they can remove any circulars and advertising junk that might be left on the doorstep and keep an eye on the house. I also put a few lights on timers – I’m not sure if it fools anyone, but it can’t hurt. If at all possible, strip and re-make the bed with clean sheets and make sure the bathrooms are clean before you leave. Whether you’re going to spend time in a hotel where you’re getting the bed made and the bathroom cleaned every day or you’re renting a place and will have to strip the beds and clean the bathroom before you depart, you’re going to want to come home to a place where those things have been done! Also, discard any perishable items in the fridge and make sure all the trash and recycling has been taken out. Depending on where you keep your garbage cans and your relationship with the neighbors, you may want to ask them to move the cans to the curb on the appropriate days. If you know you’re getting home late, it’s a good idea to set out your clothes (and anyone else’s clothes you’re responsible for – definitely your kids, and if your spouse dresses him/herself, at least remind them to do so too) for the first day back before you leave – it’s one less thing to do when you return! Make sure your windows are closed and locked, do one last check of your packing list, and you’ll be good to go!

When you’re ready to leave where you’re staying, do a complete walk-through to make sure you’ve packed everything you brought. Bringing a copy of your packing list can be helpful to make sure you’ve got everything, especially things like chargers or household items that can easily end up left behind. Also, if your trial size products are close to empty, don’t bother bringing them home! Nine out of ten times, you’ll just end up tossing them when you get home, so save the aggravation and leave them where you are. If possible, put any clean clothes into one suitcase and all the dirty clothes into another. You may have to shift shoes, beauty products, etc. to do so, but it does make things easier on the return. Hopefully, you remembered to bring a trash bag to put your dirty clothes into.

The next steps depend on where you’ve been and where you stayed. If you’ve been in the home of friends or family, then you can skip this paragraph, but if you were in a hotel, you should probably be aware of bedbugs (yuck). I have a huge fear of ending up with bedbugs, even though they don’t seem as prevalent as they did a few years ago. It doesn’t matter how nice a place is – they’ve been found at some of the fanciest hotels in the world. Hopefully you didn’t notice a problem while you were there, but if there is any doubt in your mind, do not bring your bags inside! Leave them outside or in the garage (the kitchen floor is probably the best place for this if you don’t have an outside or garage – it’s usually not carpeted and there isn’t a lot of fabric hanging down). Start with the clean clothes, stuffed animals and clean bedding and put it all into the dryer on high for 30 minutes. This will kill any bedbugs or their eggs lingering on your clean clothes. In the meantime, take a hairdryer and run it (on the highest heat setting) over the inside and outside of your suitcase. Once that is done, you can put that bag and the clothes away. Next, do the same thing with your dirty clothes. Don’t worry about washing them first – obviously, you’ll want to wash and dry them according to the label instructions, but for now, you’re giving them 30 minutes on high heat. Once they’ve gotten that blast, you can start washing them normally. Don’t bother trying to blow dry the trash bag that held your dirty clothes – put that right into an outside trash can. Obviously, if you live in an apartment, this step will be a bit different – go to the laundromat and deal with the drying there. Just don’t put the dried clothes back into the same suitcase or trash bag – bring a new one or two with you.

Once you’ve gotten everything sanitized, you can start the laundry. If you don’t have a washer and dryer, this might be a good time to leave everything at the laundromat’s wash and fold service. If you have things to drop at the dry cleaner, drop them off immediately or put them right in the car or somewhere you’ll see them on the way out.

The next step to the unpacking process is finding and putting away all the toiletries and essential items. There’s nothing like trying to go to work when your makeup is in “a bag somewhere” or getting your kids ready for school without a hairbrush! You know what you brought that’s “essential” to you. It might be the phone charger or your child’s favorite toy (be sure to put stuffed animals and “blankies” in the dryer for 30 minutes too).

Next, clean out any coolers you brought. Put extra water and soda bottles in the fridge, put any usable snacks back in the cabinets, and completely empty, dry, and put away your coolers. You don’t want to leave them because “they’re fine” and find a bunch of smelly water and floating bottles two days later (again, you can probably tell I’ve had that experience)!

If you don’t have a cooler, or once you’ve finished that step, put away any household items or toiletries that didn’t get put away with the essential items. Next, put clean clothes and shoes away, as well as shoes. If you followed my packing advice, there probably won’t be many clean clothes, so this shouldn’t take long.

Once that’s done, start in on laundry. There’s always a few things in the hamper, plus the sheets and towels you took down the day you left (there have been times I’ve managed to get those done before I leave, but that doesn’t always happen), so work those into the appropriate loads of wash from your trip.

With these simple steps, you should have everything unpacked and away within a day of your return, no matter how long you’ve been away!

What are your favorite packing and unpacking tips?

 

 

 

 

Who doesn’t love going on vacation? Whether it’s a girls weekend or a month-long family trip to a cabin in the mountains, there’s something about getting away that’s just good for us!

However…many people get stressed out by the packing process…deciding what to bring, over-packing, under-packing, and then dealing with unpacking it all! It’s enough to make you want to just stay home!

To make sure you can go away without all that aggravation, here are some of my favorite packing tips:

• Make a clothing list! I bet you knew that was coming! Seriously, though, I generally avoid either over- or under-packing by scheduling out each day. Make a list of the days you’re away and what you expect to do each day (including the days you’ll be traveling).  Then fill in the clothes you will need for those activities, including shoes, jewelry, and any other accessories you might need. Do the same for each person traveling with you.
• Depending on the ages and disposition of your children, you can get them involved. Obviously, you’re probably going to want to look over their lists to make sure they haven’t forgotten anything and that they have a realistic view of what they’ll need where you’re going. When I was a kid, I always thought I’d be going to many more fancy places than I ever did – I have no idea why, but I was always convinced a dinner party would pop up in the middle of a camping trip! 🙂
• It’s easiest if you can wear the same colors for your whole trip, if for no other reason than to cut down on the number of shoes you need. That being said, I brought four pairs of shoes on a five-day trip earlier this year, so do as I say, not as I do (there were extenuating circumstances on that trip, but I still could have gotten away with three pairs).
• Before you decide on the clothes, check the weather where you’re going. I know way too many people who go away with the contents of their entire closet “just in case” – they toss everything from sweaters to tank tops in their suitcase, which just leads to bringing back lots of extra unworn clothes! I’ve also learned that the hard way – I once planned a trip to Florida in March and didn’t check the weather – there was a cold snap and I ended up buying several sweaters!
• Don’t forget pajamas and extra underwear/socks for everyone. One extra pair of underwear and socks can save you a lot of aggravation!
• I like to pack a garbage bag to stash dirty clothes. It keeps them all in one place and holds more than the little bags you sometimes find in hotels. Depending on the size of your family and the length of your trip, you should probably pack more than one. They’re garbage bags – when you get home, you can use them for trash!

This sounds like a lot to remember, but bear in mind, a lot of it doesn’t change, so if you save one packing list to your computer, you can just update the activities and clothes and remove the things that don’t apply, so it gets easier the next time you go away.

Tomorrow, we’ll move on from clothes to all those other things you need to remember to bring!