LOVE Traveling, but HATE packing? Eliminate dreaded suitcase stress in 5 easy steps.

Packing (and living out of a suitcase) can be stressful. Here is a simple life hack to help you save your sanity but both before and during your adventure.

Which of these scenarios describes you?

-Have no idea what to pack

-Pack way too many items

-Don't pack what you actually need

-Have a messy disheveled suitcase from rooting through it looking wardrobe options

Has anyone else experienced all of the above? I am fortunate to travel quite often for both work and fun and I finally found a technique to eliminate the suitcase stress.

Step 1: Lay out all your options on your bed. Seriously, include everything you are even considering taking.

Step 2: Try on each option and take a picture (head to toe). I always wear shoes for this so I know exactly which shoes to pack. Tip- Take a video and screen shot the image.

Step 3: Combine all the pics into a collage. I use the Pic Stitch app for this.

Once they are in a collage format, it's easier to select from the side-by-side comparison of what you want to pack and what you can leave at home. This is super important for steps 4 and 5, so please don't skip it.

Here is an example above from my upcoming trip to South America. It's a 12-day adventure with multiple hotel stays, so organization is key! I had way more options than this, but you get the point. Also, had I known I would have been blogging about this, I would have used better lighting and had prettier pictures to share, BUT these are the REAL, AUTHENTIC, 100% GENUINE photos I used to pack. LOL

Step 4: Once you have selected what to pack, place each outfit in a ziplock bag OR a compression bag. Assign the bag a number; write it in a sharpie on the bag. Be sure to go back to your pic collage and label the photo with the corresponding number. I used Text on Photo app, but there are endless options for doing this. Another option is to print out your pic and hand write in the numbers. The trick is to do what works best for you!

Once you have packed everything, you will have a cheat sheet of everything you have packed. I'm very much a visual person and this photo/numerical organization system is priceless. I can see not only what I have to wear, but also how it fits. I like to print off my photo cheat sheet and place it in my suitcase. However, you can just keep it on your phone and save yourself a step if you like. 😊

Step 5: When you are on the road and living out of your suitcase, simply look at your photo cheat sheet, pick out what you want to wear and grab the corresponding number baggie. It's that easy!

This is especially handy when living out of a suitcase

Happy Travels!