Packing Strategy III: Adventures in Toiletries!

This week's Packing Strategies post is all about... Toiletries!

There is nothing else in your carry-on or checked luggage that brings with it more rules and anxiety than your toiletries. How do I make sure they don't spill? Is this three or four ounces? Why can Europeans have 100 mL (3.38 oz), but Americans can only have three (88.72 mL)? Does my mousse count as a liquid? And what about dry shampoo? And I can only have a sandwich bag's worth of liquids? What's up with that?

Well, don't be baffled! Here are some tips and suggestions that might help you get the toiletries thing under control! 

1. Solidify

The best way to eradicate the liquids problem is to use solid toiletries! That means solid bars of all kinds of things. They even make solid tablets of toothpaste these days! You won't have to worry about liquids spilling if they're not liquids to begin with! My friend Mellenie, creator of Truly-Life, makes natural soaps, lotions, and even bars that can be both body soap and shampoo! Check out her website: http://truly-life.com

Lotion Bar

Shampoo and Body Soap

2. Simplify

Forgot your toothbrush? They probably have an extra in your hotel lobby! Forgot your shampoo, soap, razor, lotion, and toothpaste? Most hotels and hostels have those, too. If you're really serious about packing lighter and simplifying your toiletries, you can just leave them at home! Check out the fine print on your hotel, hostel, or Air BnB website to see what they provide. You can also e-mail or call them if you want specifics. Some places even provide laundry facilities and detergent! 

3. Coconut Oil

I've sung the praises of coconut oil before, but it's good enough to discuss again! It is solid at room temperature, but it can melt into a liquid at around 80 degrees, so I always follow the three-ounce rule with this one, but that's enough to get me through at least two weeks of travel because you don't have to use very much at a time. I use it for lotion, facial moisturizer, shaving lotion, hair masque (for what the beach, ocean water, and pool water do to my hair!), and even deodorant in a pinch! 

4. "Travel Size" may not be the bargain you think it is! 

And speaking of deodorant, regular sized deodorant is usually less than three ounces, so don't waste your money on "travel-size" when you can use what you already have in your own bathroom! I also make my own facial cleansing pads and take them with me, so I don't buy the facial wipes or liquid cleansers, then have to worry about how I'll transport the liquid in my carry-on. Take a look at your travel size items, then look at what you typically use and compare them. Is it worthwhile to get those travel-size items?

5. If All Else Fails
Keep in mind that if all else fails or you want to do away with packing toiletries altogether, you can buy what you need wherever you go! It may be a little different, the words on the packaging may be in a different language, but it'll get the job done! Don't be afraid to try something new or ask for help if you need it.

6. Last Tip

Just so you know... that regular-sized can of dry shampoo is a liquid! And it's more than three ounces. I've yet to see a travel-size dry shampoo container, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Just be aware that many hair products do count as liquids, like mousse, gel, creams, waxes, etc. I once got pulled aside in the Vienna airport for my travel-size can of mousse because I didn't think to pull it out when going through the security screener!

Want more? Check out these past Packing Strategies posts! 

Packing Strategies I: Roll with It!

Packing Strategies II: Tetris Packing and an Element of Fun

Packing Strategy II: Tetris Packing and an Element of Fun

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and [SNAP!] the job's a game!" --Mary Poppins

Welcome to the second installment if Quick Whit's Packing Strategies! This time I'll be spilling my "Tetris Packing" secrets. Everything is more fun if you think of it as a game, right? Mary Poppins said so! Remember that game "Tetris" from the 90s? You had to turn and move different sized blocks so that they fit together, leaving no open spaces. Well, we can do that when we pack, too! Here are some simple tricks to have you packing more efficiently and effectively:

1. Find the Right Vessel
I could write a whole post about finding the best luggage (and I will do that one day soon!), but it bears mentioning here as well. Let's face it: not all bags are created equal! I've used all kinds, from the suitcases my parents used for their honeymoon in the 80's, to roller board suitcases for my three-month stint in Japan, to duffle bags, and finally to backpacks.

You have to find what works best for you, but from a packing standpoint, there are two factors that are most important: 1) weight; 2) expandability and retractability. You want something lightweight because you'll be lugging it (it's called "luggage" for a reason!). You also want something that can get larger or smaller as needed. I chose my backpack for many reasons, including the fact that there are straps that can be unbuckled to accommodate everything I need, but once it's closed, I can also buckle those straps and tighten them to really pack everything in and make it smaller, so it fits in the overhead bin without a problem! It's also handy to find one that either opens lengthwise, or one that opens at the top and the bottom. It's harder to lose things that way.

My friend Samantha agreed to participate in the photo shoot for size comparison purposes. She's a good sport! 

Empty.

Stuffed with 5 large bath towels. Can't even get the upper flap down!

Still stuffed, but now all the straps are buckled and pulled tight. I even got the upper flap closed and locked into place!

2. Start Big
In life, you usually have to start small. But in packing, it's best to start big! This is especially important if you're going to wintry destinations, and thus needing sweaters and other bulky things. The key is to roll and pack those things first, then fill in the spaces between and around those items with smaller things--like socks, undies, tights, camisoles, bathing suits, undershirts, pajamas, toiletries, etc. Anything that can be made small and stuffed into the crevices is fair game!

That's my bulkiest sweater. It need to go in first. See that tiny blue thing? That goes in after the big stuff to fill in the smallest of spaces! 

3. Use Your Shoes
I am the first to advocate for fewer shoes in your bags, but if you have to pack them, you need to use them! You know that space inside your shoes? The place where your feet go? Other things can fit there, too. Things like socks and underwear!

Stuffed running shoes. 

Four pair of socks in each shoe! That's more than a week's worth. Just imagine the things you can fit into boots! 

4. If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again!
I'll tell you one of my most embarrassing secrets: I don't always get it right the first time! Sometimes I have to take a few things out and do a little rearranging. Don't get discouraged or frustrated. Just outsmart your stuff! Take something out and roll it up tighter; turn your clothes upright instead of on their side; do whatever it takes to win at Tetris Packing! You can make it happen!

5. Find a Friend
If packing makes you truly stressed out and miserable, by all means, call in the reinforcements! My dear husband loves to travel, but he despises the packing part. I don't love it myself, but I do enjoy getting it accomplished! So he often calls on me to help him out. I pick out the basics, he fills in the other stuff he needs, we pack it together. Or I roll and he packs. He can do it on his own, sure, but I don't mind helping him out. If you have a friend or family member who gets into the packing and organizing of stuff, allow them to use their gift for good!

Packing Pals Forever!

For more packing strategies, check out:
Packing Strategy I: Roll with It!

Seoul Mates: Valentine's Day in South Korea!

Happy Valentine's Day! OK, so it's a little late by now, but we spent our Valentine's Day in Seoul!

Fun fact: In South Korea, Valentine's Day is all about the boys! Yes indeed, ladies first... the girls buy gifts for the their boyfriends or significant others that day. But never fear! March 14 is White Day, the day that provides the boys a chance to give a gift to their lady friends. By the way, it's customary for the boys to pay three times more for their girl's gift!

Bundled up with Valentine's Love!

Valentine's Day came early for us, thanks to our 6:00 pm bedtime. Yep, up at 1:00am! We did our best to rest until the gym opened at 6:00 am. And we decided to try out the hotel's other breakfast restaurant, Asian Live. It had more of an Asian feel by decoration and atmosphere, but the food was largely the same as the other restaurant! Either way, we had sushi for breakfast, which is of course, the world's best breakfast.

Then it was time to set out! We had decided that we'd try out the Seoul Metro system, since things are so spread out, and head to the Palace District. I took our guidebook and map to the concierge and asked how to get there and how to use their system (somewhere I'd read that it is a confusing system if you don't speak Korean). Turns out, it's very similar to DC's metro system with colored and numbered train lines, and it's directionally-based! Easy as pie. It took a minute to figure out how to use their ticket kiosks, but once we got it, we had it! The system is huge--over 650 with more being added!--but we felt pretty confident about it.

Mr. Peabody Pembroke rides the rails! 

Fortunately for us, there is a metro stop that is semi-attached to the COEX mall, which is attached to our hotel! So we only had to walk outside for a few steps on our way to the metro. It was COLD that day!

We popped up out of the metro at the right stop, but the wrong exit, so we wandered around a little bit... and upon approaching the Gyeongbokgung Palace, we realized that the correct exit was right next to the Palace Museum. Whoops! But just a few steps farther was this:

Feng Shui says that it's best to have a river in front of a house, and a mountain behind the house. You can't see it, but there is a river, and of course you see the mountain! We read that there would be an English tour in about an hour, so we spent a while in the Palace Museum to keep warm while we waited.

The tour was great! Our guide was Korean, but spoke excellent English. She did her best to keep us out of the wind, since we couldn't actually go into any of the buildings. She did a good job! She was upbeat and positive the whole time, except when she had to mention the Japanese. That was a dark spot. There are five palaces for the royal family that ruled for over 500 years, but the Gyeongbokgung is the main palace and the largest complex. When the Japanese came in (one of the times they came in), they destroyed 90% of this palace. They have only been able to restore less than half of it so far, but it's an ongoing project! The history is complex and interesting. It even kept my interest in the cold and wind!

After the tour, it was high time to find a warm beverage! Thankfully, there is another museum--the Korean Folk Museum--just outside the palace walls, and they have a cafe! It was a little crowded, but we got served fast! Steve got a caramel macchiato, but I got the more exotic and exciting sweet potato latte! =)

After warming up so we could feel our toes again (I'm so glad I brought boot socks and my long johns!), we explored the Folk Museum. Fewer of the exhibits were in both Korean and English, so we mostly look at things instead of reading what they were.

Ready to head back into the cold? Here we go! The plan was to head back to the COEX district and find a Starbucks mug for our collection. Given the extensive size of Seoul's metro system, it took a while to get back! We walked around to find a Starbucks (one of 284!), picked up their unique Seoul mug, and set out for our hotel.

The mug!

The only thing about our hotel that was less than ideal for us was that the internet is only free in the lobby and common areas, not in each room. But we made the most of it! We found a quiet spot, brought down a cracker and some grape juice, and picked an old sermon from my congregation's website back home. Technology makes life a lot easier! We did our "church" service, took a quick nap, and headed out to find supper. And what did we pick... Sushi! I told Steve he could pick, but he chose sushi because he loves me and wants me to be happy!

After sushi, we were pretty exhausted! I guess that's just what happens when you wake up at 1:00 am! We slept while we could, read when we woke up at 1:00 am again, went to the gym, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast (with sushi!), and waited for our cab driver to pick us up. The hour drive to the airport was uneventful, but the line for security was unbelievable! I don't know if Steve and I are just spoiled because of TSA Pre-check back home, but I'm pretty sure something about the security process at Incheon was broken.

Anyway, we made it home! Where will we go next? You'll have to wait and see! In the mean time, I'll be posting once a week about some packing strategies I have. Get excited!

For more pictures, click here! 

150 Posts! Coming to you from Seoul

We made it! We're up to 150 blog posts! Y'all are some voracious readers!

For this little excursion, Steve and I kept our whereabouts a secret so all our friends could play Mr. Peabody Pembroke's postcard game. He posts hints and pictures to his Facebook page, and whoever guesses where he is first, wins a postcard! "Like" his page and you could win next time!

This time around, we decided to explore Seoul, South Korea. I'd never been, but Steve had been a few times several years ago when he worked for Motorola. He said he wants to go to all the places he's already been without me so he can make new memories with me in all of those places. Awwwww. =)

We left last Thursday, and things went pretty well on the way over. Well, except that I somehow lost my newfound skill of sleeping on airplanes! But I got a lot of reading accomplished on the 14 hour flight to Narita Airport in Tokyo! From there, it was a short two hour flight to Incheon Airport in Seoul. Fortunately, we landed on time despite a very heavy fog. Unfortunately, something somewhere went horribly wrong after that... We ended up waiting in line at customs for an hour and a half and missed the last bus to our hotel! So we took a cab instead, which was more expensive, but not only was it faster than the bus, it was also our only option that time of night!

Thankfully, the woman at the front desk was incredibly kind and helpful. And she was shocked that it took us so long to get through customs! That's how we knew something was unusual about that. Needless to say, we were pretty pooped by the time we got to the room and fell into bed!

We set an alarm for 7:00 so we wouldn't sleep too late--no time for jet lag on a three-day trip! We were still pretty sleepy, but we powered through! After a trip to the hotel gym to reinvigorate ourselves, we raided the amazing breakfast buffet (any breakfast buffet that includes sushi is a breakfast buffet for me!), we decided to explore the Buddhist Temple across the street, which we had a great view of from the room!

It's called the Bongeunsa Temple, and it's a fully operating temple from the year 749! It's so interesting to see something historic like that right in the middle of the skyscrapers and Starbuckses of the 21st century!

It was supposed to rain all day long, but it held off for the morning. We decided to take advantage of the cloudy (but not yet rainy!) weather and took a walk over to some burial mounds, which are like the Korean version of the Pyramids in Egypt. It's an absolutely beautiful park in the middle of town, and if I'd planned it a little better, I would have brought some cold weather running clothes so I could have run there! The previous days' rain had made the dirt trails rather squishy, but it was still nice to have such a peaceful place in the middle of the big city.

The mound in the back is the gravesite. There are statues and markers up there, but unfortunately no one can see them! 

By the time we finished there, we decided we'd pushed our luck with the weather far enough. To the COEX! I have no idea what that stands for, but that's the nickname for the area where we were staying. There's a huge underground mall next to our hotel, but after about half an hour of walking around under there with no windows, we decided above ground was better for us and our jet lag! The rain was holding off nicely still, so we got a little lost outside and tried to find a few more sites to see. Did you know Seoul is a HUGE city? I was shocked at how far apart all the sites were!

We eventually found ourselves getting much-needed caffeinated beverages and a snack at one of the many Starbuckses in the area. It was delightful! Maybe it was the overcast skies, maybe it was the jet lag, maybe it was forcing ourselves to wake up at 7:00; whatever it was, we enjoyed sitting for a spell!

Around 4:00, we were ready for an early dinner. Can you guess what I wanted? Sushi! And Steve was kind enough to oblige. Our only mistake? Going to sleep at 6:00pm!

Check back tomorrow for our Valentine's Day excursions!

For pictures, click here! 

Packing Strategy I: Roll with It!

People often take one look at my luggage and tell me I can't possibly have packed enough for my trip, no matter how long or short! They ask me how I do it, and now I'm sharing my secrets with you in this series about packing strategies!

Packing Strategy I: Roll with It!

Rolling is by far the best trick I've learned in all my years of packing. I read about it in American Girl Magazine when I was probably 11 or 12, and I've been doing it ever since, even in my drawers at home! My older brother used to bring his friends into my room to show them my unbelievably organized drawers of rolled up clothes. Seriously though, you save so much more space by rolling instead of folding, and here is your step by step tutorial, Quick Whit style! Let's start from the bottom up. 

Undies:

Yes, I've used my frilliest, brightest ones for this demonstration! Did that get your attention? Start with them laying flat on a flat surface. 

Fold in half, lengthwise. 

Fold in half again, lengthwise. 

Start rolling at one end. Remember to roll tightly!

The finished product! Ready for packing. 

Socks:

Socks!

Put them one on top of the other. 

Open one side wide. 

Fold the larger opening around the other sock. Ready to go!

T-shirts:

Start flat. 

Fold in half, lengthwise. 

Fold sleeves over. 

Fold the shirt in half, lengthwise. 

Start rolling from one end. 

Done! 

Camisoles:

Start flat. 

Fold in half, horizontally. 

Fold in half, lengthwise. 

Roll it up! 

Long-sleeved shirts and sweaters:

Start flat. 

Fold in half, lengthwise; make sure the sleeves line up. 

Fold sleeves over; be sure to line up the corner of the sleeve to the crease in the shirt. 

Fold lengthwise once more. Now you have a long rectangle. 

Start rolling! Be sure to roll it tightly so it will turn out as small as possible. 

Pants:

Start flat. 

Fold lengthwise. 

Fold the crotch over, making sure the point touches the straight end. 

Fold in half, horizontally, making them shorter. 

Roll from one end. 

Ta-da! Now, you're ready to pack! 

Basically, no matter what shape it is starting out, make it a rectangular or square as best you can, and then roll it as tightly as possible.

Tune in soon for more packing strategies! And to find out where Steve and I are headed next. Mr. Peabody Pembroke will post a hint on Facebook sometime between Thursday and Friday this week! Guess where we are, and you'll win a prize!