Travel Tips & Tricks

We have traveled extensively with all sorts of different bags, from full size checked suitcases and carry-on bags, to just small duffel bags. No matter what size our luggage is, we have come up with a few tricks to maximize the bag space we have and still make sure we are prepared for anything. Airlines are consistently gouging travelers for checked bags and if you are traveling on a budget, you may want to consider just going with a carry-on. Here are our keys to packing a carry-on for an extended trip.   

If you are going somewhere hot and sunny, then packing appropriately is easy. Not the same story if you are traveling to somewhere cold or wet. If you can't get away with shorts and tank tops, then packing for the weather can be stressful and even to this day we have a tendency to want to throw our entire wardrobe into our suitcases. 

The trick to packing for poor weather trips is to plan thin layers rather than bulky items. Having multiple thin layers means that you can remove or add layers as the weather changes. Try to pack fabrics that dry very quickly and wick away moisture instead of soaking it up. Long johns or a light thermal under-layer can go a long way and don't take up much room in the suitcase. You can also easily add some warmth by using neck and face wraps like the ones we love from Buff:  https://www.buff.com/ca/sports-neckwear  

Getting yourself a pair of waterproof shoes is key. No matter how dry the rest of you is, if you have wet feet you will be miserable. Wet feet can ruin an entire day, and it is no fun going back to your hotel with soggy shoes and trying all night to dry them out for the next day. We swear by a local Vancouver shoe company called Vessi that makes totally waterproof shoes:  https://vessifootwear.ca/  

Be careful that you pay attention to the size and weight allotment for the airline you are booking on. Some airlines trick you by saying you get a carry-on with their basic fair, when in fact they consider a carry-on to be a small backpack or duffel bag and will charge extra for a true carry-on suitcase. Ryanair is a great example of this, and if you notice while booking, it will be far cheaper to add on bags at that time instead of when you arrive at the airport. We have seen stressed out passengers frantically trying to force their carry-on into the tiny airline bag templates and failing miserably. Don't be that poor soul. Measuring your bags ahead of time and having a bag scale at home will save you many headaches. 

Most airlines will allow one carry-on and one "personal item". The personal item could be a large purse or a backpack or duffel bag, just as long as it can reasonably be expected to fit under the seat. We tend to push the envelope with this and usually have backpacks. keeping it slung on your shoulder and somewhat out of site during check-in and boarding is a good idea! If you don't make it obvious that you may be over your limit, the gate crew probably won't care. 

Elastic bands are a packing magic trick. When space is really at a premium, we use dozens of elastic bands to hold all our clothing tightly rolled up. It is amazing how much more you can fit in a small bag this way without adding any extra weight, or having to bring vacuum seal bags. Elastic bands don't take up any space and they are so quick and easy to use. Lay out shirts and pants individually and roll them up tightly. An elastic band on each end of the roll will keep them tightly packed. If you want to be able to identify shirts easily without removing the elastics then lay them front-side-down to show the logo after they're rolled. 

The type of clothing you decide to bring makes a huge difference as well. Packing things like denim jeans and leather jackets will very quickly fill your space and use up your weight allotment. We almost never bring denim on a trip. Instead we stick with light, stretchy fabrics.

Thinking that you need to pack items for every possible scenario is great if you have full size checked bags and don't have to worry about room and weight, but if you are carry-on bag only then you really have to budget your space and think long and hard about what you actually need to bring. Too often we have packed things that have never made it out of our bags. A good example is our selfie stick, which has been all over the world but never once used.

Camera equipment has long been the heaviest and most space-consuming thing in our carry-on bags. With the quality of smartphone cameras increasing so much over the last few years, we are moving away from bring DSLRs and all of the required accessories because we are by no means professional photographers. The smartphones we now use can do almost everything that our DSLR can do and we free up a tremendous amount of space by not bringing the latter.

Any consumables that you want to bring that may be available at your destination can be left at home. If space is really tight, I will leave all of my toiletries at home and purchase a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and anything else I need at a local pharmacy or department store. Usually hotels will have all the shampoo and body wash you need, unless you require special product. 

There are a few items to consider packing that will make things easier for you while you are away that might not be obvious while making your packing list. Tide Travel Sink Packets are the top of the list. If your trip is more than a week and you will need to wear the same clothes more than once, nothing is better then being able to wash them. Tide Travel Sink Packets allow you to hand wash your clothes in the sink of your hotel room or Airbnb. We have a system where Tiff washes the clothes in the sink then I rinse them in cold water in the shower, then we hang them around the bathroom to dry. This is a must for us, and it saves a ton of money using hotel laundry services. You can get Tide Travel Sink Packets at Walmart and many pharmacies and department stores.  https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/tide-travel-sink-packets-3-uses/6000196130432  

Neck pillows for the flight are great if we are not too worried about the extra space they take in the bags, but black-out sleep masks are a non-negotiable. Black-out eye masks are not only important for flights, but also for hotel rooms that might not have black-out curtains. When we do bring neck pillows, we bring our Trlt Travel Pillows. These are quite different then most neck pillows because they are a hard plastic frame and rather than going behind your head for you to lean back onto, they go on the front of your neck and allow you to rest your chin on the top, putting the pressure onto your collar bone. The result is much less stress on your neck and spine. The other benefit of these is that they are very small, light and easy to pack away when not in use. Check them out here:  https://ca.trtltravel.com/ 

Waterproof dry bags for electronics and a waterproof sleeve for your paperwork and passports is very important for almost any trip overseas. Depending on where you are going, a hidden money belt is an important thing to pack. Do not use the money pouches that hang from your neck on a lanyard, they don't fool anybody. The trick with money belts is to keep your passports, a backup credit card, any emergency healthcare or insurance cards and the majority of your cash in them, while having your driver's license and a small amount of cash in your wallet. This way, if you do get robbed, the thieves will not be inclined to search you for a money belt. If they find your wallet empty of cash and ID, then they will be certain it is on you somewhere else.

A deck of cards is the best way to pass time in airports and on planes. If you play crib then it's really simple to keep score on a piece of paper. Bring the deck of cards and a pen, don't bring the crib board. 

 Travelling isn't easy, and getting through airports is no exception. Just when you think you've figured something out and have a system, you get to an airport or airline that does things completely different. We have seen it all, and we are no longer surprised by anything. This section is all about getting through the invasive, uncomfortable and often downright confusing experiences of air travel.  

This is entirely personal preference. Both options have their positives and negatives. Checking a bag is nice because you don't need to pull it around the airport. Carrying a bag on the plane is nice because you don't have to wait at the baggage carousel, and your bag will never get lost. 

Depending on the airline, carry-on baggage may be included while checked baggage is not. If you are on a trip with several flights, carry-on is the way to go. Carry-on baggage is also ideal if you are driving smaller rental cars. If you are flying straight to a single destination and then flying straight back, a checked bag is the way to go. Or you can always do both!

Almost every airline these days is now charging a fee for seat selection. Unless it is a really long flight and you just can't risk not getting the seat you want, don't fall for this. We almost never pay to select our seats in advance. Instead, we make sure to check-in online for our flight exactly 24 hours before departure and either select our seats for free then or have them assigned automatically. We have never been assigned seats that were not together using this method. Some airlines may not have the option of check-in online so in that case, just get to the airport a little bit earlier.

Always check ahead of time what your airline's check-in and boarding pass policies are. We have encountered airlines that charge absolutely crazy fees just to print your boarding pass - like Volotea Airlines which charges an insane 30 Euros per boarding pass if you need one printed!

Airport lounges. Make the security screening easy on yourself.

H

C

While travelling you will probably be spending a great deal of time in lines. It's awful, but until we can teleport, it's something we just have to put up with. That doesn't mean we can't try to make it easier on ourselves though. Here is how we do that.

There are three main lines at any airport that you will encounter before you get on a plane; the bag drop or check-in, the security screening, and the boarding. We have tricks to ease all three of them. 

First, if you only travel with a carry-on bag, you may not need to wait in the first line at all. Most major airports have self check-in kiosks or provide the option of using an electronic boarding pass. If you need to drop off a checked bag, it is becoming increasingly popular for airlines to offer a self-drop where you tag the bag and drop it on the belt yourself without much of a line.

Second, security screening is a necessary evil when travelling, but you may be able to ease the pain by being prepared for the X-Ray machine before you get to it. Take off jackets, empty pockets, take out laptops and remove belts before you get to the bins. Unfortunately, unless you qualify for the special express lines, there's no way to avoid the security lines.

Third, boarding can be mayhem. It seems like the simplest thing in the world but somehow there is always utter chaos and confusion. Airlines are most certainly to blame for this. How simple would it be to board a plane from the back to the front with everyone lining up in order before the gate is open? Airlines insist on having several different boarding zones and calling them out one at a time, it is nothing but a cash grab for them because people seem willing to pay for the privilege of boarding before other people. Don't fall for it. We have two separate strategies for boarding and they depend on whether we have carry-on bags or not. If we do not have carry-on bags then we don't need overhead bin space and we will stay seated in the lounge and board the plan very last. It is stress free and there is no waiting in line! If we do have carry-on bags then we join in on the confusion and get in line to board as early as we can. We never pay to board in an early zone but we approach the gate as if we do. Nine times out of ten the gate crew scan your ticket and wave you through. The worst that can happen is that they tell you it's not your zone yet.

If you are flying, chances are you may have to use a courtesy shuttle to get to your rental car or hotel. We have been through this hundreds of times and we always do it the same way. If there are more than a few other people on the shuttle, it means there will probably be a line at the desk when everyone gets off. We get around this by having Tiff jump out and go straight to the desk with our passports and booking info, while I wait for our luggage with everyone else. We are almost always the first to the desk and no one has ever caught on to our system!

If you have built yourself an itinerary, chances are that you have a good idea of all the attractions you will be visiting. Do yourself a favor and check for advance tickets, passes, and front-of-the-line access. Anything that can get you into an attraction without waiting in lines is a great idea. The less time you spend in lines the more time you have to explore both the attraction you're at and the attractions you have yet to visit. 

Many major cities around the world have some form of bundled attraction pass that almost always will allow you to skip lines. In London, get the London Pass, and in the USA, CityPass is a great example of a bundled attraction pass with front-of-the-line access in many cities across the country.    

Researching the entry and visa requirements of any country you plan to visit is a must before you book your flight or attempt to cross a border. While doing that research, look for options to obtain advance visas and or to be pre-cleared for entry. It is also important to note if the country requires you to provide proof that you have a booked trip to leave. Even if they don't, always have your return flight itinerary booked and printed off to show immigration officials.

When you are planning to walk or drive across a border learn what, if any fees you will have to pay on arrival and make sure to bring exact change if that is required. Some border crossings we have encountered require fees to be paid in crisp, newer US dollar bills - like crossing into Nicaragua from Costa Rica. If you plan to drive a rental car across a border, make sure you cleared it with the rental agency and are able to provide proof that you did. 

Knowing what you are in for and what is required of you while attempting to enter a country is without a doubt the easiest way to reduce stress and save time in lines.  

If you want to visit a popular restaurant, look it up on Google. Google will often display the average of how busy it is by hour in an easy to read chart. Pick the time with the least busy average and don't waste your time waiting for a table. If the restaurant is notorious for always having a line around the block, it may not be possible to avoid, but consider going just before the restaurant opens. 

While travelling you will 

T

I

I  

R

It's important to use extra caution with your personal food safety practices while travelling for a number of reasons, including the possibility of less stringent food safety regulations than you are used to, and the likelihood that you will encounter bacteria that your body is not  familiar with. The following resource provides fantastic information for travellers on how to stay food safe, and what to do if you encounter food safety related issues while away.