Here’s a travel tip I’ve learnt the hard way – and you don’t have to because I’m here to share!
When you return from a trip, all you want to do is to dump your bags on the floor and fall straight into bed. I know I do. But you should not.
What you should do instead is use the last vestiges of your energy supply to unpack your bags to the best of your ability and keep everything away.
Yes, start your unpacking immediately when you get home (or the next morning if you arrive late at night).
- Toss your dirty clothes into your laundry basket and if you can, put them straight into the wash.
- Separate out your gifts and purchases and if possible, group all your gifts together in a paper bag or bags, ready to be gifted the next time you see your family or friends.
- Put your souvenirs on display and keep away your purchases (unless you are a blogger, then take your pictures then keep them away 😉 )
- Empty your travel bag – toss out scraps of paper and tear off airline stickers and identification tags. Wipe down your travel bag
And before you know it, you’ll be done with your unpacking!
If you leave it too long, you will find yourself tripping over your unpacked suitcase for days or even weeks. And you’ll get lazy about unpacking. Trust me – I experienced this as a student when I actually left my unpacking so long during the summer holidays I had to unpack just so I could pack to return to university! Mom was NOT amused 😛
So, don’t do that. Unpack the moment you get home, and then shower and relax. It feels a lot better and you will feel less stressed 🙂
Now, hands up who’s guilty of leaving their unpacking for later and then taking your sweet time getting it done or never getting it done at all till your next trip? 😉
Paris B
One tip that people forget to share. and yes, i believe so. u’ll get lazier, and u’ll start to unpack ur things when u wanna pack ur things back – been there!
Haha its comforting to know I’m not alone 😛
It is 2 weeks after my long holiday and I still have not unpack!
Feeling guilty now… =(
I “unpack” as soon as I get back and by “unpack”, I mean taking everything out of my travel suitcase (especially the laundry! otherwise…yuck!). I don’t really put the stuff away properly – e.g. finding space in my cupboard for clothes and in the shelves for make up – until the next couple of days.
Unpacking is a great way to force myself to stay awake until bedtime. So nice to look at all the goodies I bought on my trips! I force myself to keep to normal bedtimes to avoid the jetlag and I’m pleased to say that works pretty well for me.
Yes! When I travel across time zones I force myself to stay awake (or go to sleep) depending on the time I arrive so I don’t get jet lagged and you’re right. It works! I always put clothes (old and new) to wash first so that takes care of the sorting out for a few days 😉
No matter how tired I am, I always unpack all the things in the luggage before I start relaxing. What I do is, all my dirty clothes will be packed in a laundry bag. So, when I come back home I just unload them into the washing machine and put away all my clean clothes and toiletries. Only thing I do not do is to tear the airline sticker /tag.
Haha! I leave my airline tag on too till the next trip. Not sure why – just a reminder of what fun it is to fly perhaps? 😉
Hello Paris,
Well I only do one part of it…to take out the dirty laundry and wash them. I can’t stand dirtiness but messiness is okay lol
Last time I came back for summer holiday I literally lived out of my suitcase * shrug*…for 3 months yes, mum was amused.
Have a great w/e 🙂 xxx
Hope you had a great weekend Lee! Dirty laundry is a must clear! I actually really enjoyed a trip where I had access to a washing machine – came home with clean laundry for once – bliss!
Guilty as charged…. 😛
Haha! No problems – been there done that!
Wonderful tip! I unpack IMMEDIATELY too! I hate having old clothes enclosed in one luggage..I just don’t like the idea of that! 🙂
Yup! I learnt this the hard way – tripping over luggage and finding old clothes weeks later is no fun 😛
Oh. My idea of unpacking is tipping my suitcase out and putting it away. Keeping away the stuff – that could take weeks :p
Spending time ogling first? 😉
I only unpack immediately, so that I could enjoy all my shopping goodies! 🙂
Yes that too! 😀 And I always realize I bought less than I thought I would.
I do this whenever I get back from long holidays and have large suitcases with me. But for short work trips? Nope, hardly ever. I do take out my toiletries and dirty clothes but usually leave my camping gear attached to the bag since I’ll usually be sent out again within a week or two.
Golly! camping gear! Well if you’re going to get use out of it again might as well leave it semi packed 😀
Always do this now- especially important if you are buying liquid body washes etc. If you unpack ASAP, then hopefully it will minimise damage if they leak!
Oh that’s a good point! I do always wrap liquids in plastic bags before packing to minimize damage but you’re right it can be a right mess
I always unpack immediately after my trip. One thing I can’t stand is dirty laundry packed in a suitcase. Another thing is that I have to use the toiletries that I’ve packed so unpacking after a trip is a must for me.
I do have a separate toiletry bag which makes things less “urgent” but I do want to dig into new goodies too 🙂
Hey my humble Paris!!
LOL nice post here on a Saturday 😛
i have to unpack everything becoz i have been nagged to do so and for the sake of not wanting more nags from my mom 😀
reduce backlogs kinda feeling sometimes LOL 😛
xoxo
Yeah I remember my mom nagging me. These days, if I don’t unpack, I’d be tripping over it all the time which isn’t fun too!
Guilty as charged, I’m afraid! 😀 I’m such a procrastinator when it comes to unpacking! I’ll take out my dirty laundry, but everything else just stays in the suitcase, and I’ll be living out of my suitcase for months 😛
I must’ve established a world record for how long one can go without unpacking… after my trip in December, I only fully unpacked when it came time to repack my suitcase for my June trip!
Terrible habit, I know. I’ve stubbed my poor toes on my suitcase in the dark one too many times…
Oh boy! That is certainly some kind of record! 😀 I do like having some semblance of order hence the quick unpacking (or I’d be living out of the suitcase too)
Hehehehe….I have not fully unpack since my last trip in Mar this year. But I get used to it already. So much so that I left the things I usually travel with unpacked. 😛
Har har! I only do that with toiletries. I have a toiletry bag all packed and ready to go … anywhere! 😀
LOL. I loooove travelling but unfortunately I hate the packing, and even more the unpacking. I usually leave it lying there for a few days until I can’t stand it myself, then the unpacking gets done. Laundry gets done before that though, thankfully. =P
Guilty!!
I’ll put the dirty clothes to wash la but everything else stays in there until they’re needed
Heeeee u caught me there! I usually just take out the dirty clothes and let the rest of stuffs hibernate for a while..:P
Ok mid year resolution… unpack asap..