Travel Tips from the Packing Expert
– Jim Wirth
I had the pleasure of meeting Anne McAlpin at the Bay Area Travel Show in Santa Clara, California this past January. Anne is known as “The Packing Expert,” and her website www.packitup.com is a wealth of information about how to make the getting from here to there a lot easier. If you are anything like me, you hate packing for a trip. Well thanks to Anne’s packing tips and tricks, packing is no longer the most dreaded part of my trips – sitting for 5 hours on a plane with two boys ages 11 and 6 has moved up to pole position in the stress category.
One of my favorite things from Anne’s website is the downloadable Traveler’s Checklist, which eliminates those difficult discussions with my wife on the way to the airport… “you packed the extra camera battery right?” “… and the kids’ toothbrushes?” “What about the extra headphones?”
You may have seen Anne sharing her helpful travel tips on Oprah, CNN, The View, and HGTV. If not, then jump over to her website and start taking the stress out of your travels.
March 11th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Thanks Jim. I look forward to reading Anne’s website. I have my own idiosyncratic packing techniques that generally work for me but absolutely no one else. I’ve packed, unpacked and repacked at least 42 million times in my life…..and I absolutely hate it. I often have to factor in my video schedule which complicates matters, but the truth is, I could use some help and I look forward to getting it. Keep it up Anne. I’m taking notes.
March 11th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Thanks for this tip Jim. I am a big fan of packing lists. I usually start making one days before I’m scheduled to depart. When I’m on the trip, I keep a notes of things I forgot or wish I had. I keep packing lists from past trips on file and use them as starting points for new trips. I’ve also found that I’ve gotten older, I pack less and less. My wife and I went to Venice maybe 10 years ago and we had so much luggage (I had 4 pieces) that we took up all the space on the boat. Today I’d get by with 2 pieces, one being carry-on size, for that same trip. Maybe one day I’ll be able to go to Europe for 10 days with one bag. Maybe.