Preparing for vacation – 18 days left

One of the most important things for a very long air trip is the organization of your necessarie and hand-luggage. Organization is the key to a calm and peaceful long trip. So, I have put together a guide to the best necessaries (coming up!) and hand luggage pieces and how to organize them – to help all of us land in our destination looking good and with everything in place!

1-      Luggage:

If you travel a lot – in our case, we travel at least every other month, be it for leisure or work – it’s not worth it to invest in designer luggage. Within a couple of trips, your bag will be destroyed, dirty, with the wheels broken, a total disaster and you will really regret the investment.

My alternative is to buy a very good, strong luggage in stores like Marshalls, TJ Maxx or Nordstrom Rack. I found my current DVF luggage set in a local TJ Maxx in NJ and I could not believe it: $40 for a DVF leather luggage! Amazing!

My boyfriend invested in a Swiss Army luggage that broke after a few trips. The wheels are destroyed – he blames me and the amount of stuff I carry around – and even though it’s an amazing piece of luggage, unless we change the wheels it’s useless now. We need to pick something new for him before we leave.



The DVF luggage I got at TJ Maxx



2-      Identification tags:

Victoria Secrets' sells very nice (and girlie) identification tags. This is something you will probably use for a very long time and worth the investment, specially if you research the statistics on how many luggage pieces the airlines loose per flight on average. It’s always important to have all your information along with your precious bags. In my case I use my personal information and a business card, just in case...

Victoria Secrets' Luggage Tags

3-      Document’s organization and wallet:

I got a special wallet, with zipper, long and spacious, so I can fit my passport, boarding pass and all my Brazilian documents. Usually, I bring two wallets, dividing the money and the cards between the two of them, just in case I loose one, I still have some back up in the other.

Some people also prefer the leather passport covers; they are charming and very useful. Also, don’t forget to bring all your fidelity/loyalty numbers to use with shuttles, hotels, airlines and car rentals. You might as well make the best out of your trip!

I use a Coach Zipper Wallet in black for the passport and boarding pass.

And a Coach Leather Wristlet as my back-up/everyday wallet.

4-      Notebook and itinerary:

I always like to bring a very cute notebook and my printed itinerary ( I spend months working on our itineraries, which includes all information possible: from flight information to hotel address, from shuttle pick up times and receipt to all the restaurants I want to try, from every single interesting store in town to cultural attractions and museums.

For cuteness, I recommend the Oh Joy notebooks for Target. They are designed by Joy from Oh Joy! Blogs and are absolutely cute!

5-      Extra clothing change:

This is really about me been very neurotic? Maybe! I always bring a change of clothes in case my luggage gets lost. Once it happens to you, it’s not that much fun. It’s like to have, at least, an underwear change with me, before I have to head into town to by new clothes because everything is lost.

6-      Diet:

It’s very important to pay attention on your diet at least during the day of the trip, avoid anything fried or soda. Because of the pressurization of the airplane, you tend to get bloated and who wants to feel gassy and uncomfortable during a long flight?


Here are some tips on how to pack your luggage efficiently by Learn Vest!