How to Stay Organized While Traveling: 4 Helpful Tips – Bee Organized
Tips for How to Stay Organized While Traveling BEEfore, During, AND After!

Tips for How to Stay Organized While Traveling BEEfore, During, AND After!

by Kristen Christian in Buzz Tips

We know the internet is filled to the brim with travel advice, but the Bee Organized team is especially suited to help you get and stay organized for the duration of your upcoming trip! We’ve seen how the best travel organization plans crumble on the second day of the vacation—and how trip-related clutter can linger in the corners of bedrooms for WEEKS after the return. So let us help!

We’ve divided our best travel organization advice into four sections to help you think through what will work best for your family regardless of whether you are flying across the pond or road-tripping through the Midwest.

1. Pack Like a Professional Organizer

The goal of packing during the travel organizing process isn’t just to fit everything in your suitcase; it’s to make sure you can actually find what you need when you need it.

Invest in Packing Cubes

Sets of packing cubes, such as thinner nylon versions, are less than $20, hold up well under travel stress, and serve as mobile drawers to keep you organized along the way. Buy a different colored set for each family member to keep things even simpler!

Stick to a Coordinated Color Palette

Consider sticking to a specific color palette for your trip so that all of your clothing coordinates. If you’ve ever wanted to experiment with a capsule wardrobe, a long trip is a great place to try it out!

Give Everything a Home

Like you’ve heard us say a hundred times by now, everything needs a home! Use zippered mesh bags to keep similar items together, bag your shoes to keep street grime off your clothes, and scan a digital version of your travel documents into an album on your phone.

Keep a Running Master Packing List

Keep a running packing list on your phone or computer so that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time you are packing for a trip. Regularly add to the list when you discover things that you wish you had brought so that you have them next time.

Make Sure Everything Is Full and Charged

Make sure everything is full. Have you charged your backup battery packs, phones, Kindles, tablets, laptops, and headphones? Have you filled up your travel shampoo and conditioner? Is your travel first aid kit stocked with what your crew tends to need the most?

2. Reset Your Home Before You Leave

Organizing for a trip isn’t just about what leaves the house! It’s about doing what you can to prepare your house for the future influx of exhausted humans loaded with dirty clothes and good memories.

  • Think about doing a complete reset of your home before you go so that you can hit the ground running when you return.
  • Focus on tidying areas you’ll see first when you walk back through the door after your trip. Clear your entryway or kitchen counters so you have a place to set down all the things you’ll be carrying when you return.
  • Clean the kitchen, remove items that will spoil from the fridge, and rinse out the sink and the coffee maker. Be sure to take out the trash and recycling. If there’s anything left in your budget, schedule a cleaning service to come while you are away so that you come home to a sparkling home.
  • Try to catch up on your household laundry before you head out of town so that you can tackle the dirty clothes from your suitcase right when you get back.

3. Stay Organized While on Your Trip

Keeping the chaos in check comes down to thoughtfully setting yourself up for success and then maintaining a few tiny habits while you are traveling.

Live Out of Your Packing Cubes

Don’t feel the need to completely unpack. You can move your packing cubes straight into drawers or on shelves to keep everything accessible and organized.

Use the “Safe Shoe” Trick

One important travel organizing tip is keeping your belongings safe. If you put anything of value in the hotel safe, put a single shoe inside the safe with your stuff. You will wander around looking for your missing shoe until you have that "aha!" moment, but you’ll never leave your passport or jewelry behind!

Designate a Travel Drop-Tray

Bring a travel tray (or even just a brightly colored paper plate) that screams “Put important stuff here!” It works as a magnet to attract cell phones, key cards, loose change, and other things you don’t have a place for when traveling.

Streamline Your Toiletries

One area that tends to get chaotic quickly is the toiletry bag. Hanging toiletry bags work great for staying organized while also keeping counter space clear. If you are traveling with the whole family, try using one large bag for shared items and smaller pouches for each person’s individual items like toothbrushes and makeup.

Commit to a 5-Minute Nightly Reset

Taking even just five minutes each night to reset your room will help you keep the clutter from taking over. Throw away trash, restock your day bag, and recharge electronics. Decide which clothing items are irredeemably dirty and go into the dirty clothes bag and which items can return to their packing cubes for another day.

Maximize the Travel Home

If you have a flight or long drive home, use the time to help you transition back to real life: write a post-trip To-Do list, sort your vacation photos and delete the blurry shots and duplicates, or set up a grocery delivery.

4. Stick the Landing Once You’re Home

Travel organization isn’t really over until everything is put away and the house is back in order. Keep these organizing tips in mind:

  • Take everything out of the suitcases immediately and put the luggage away. There’s no reason to let the partially unpacked suitcase take up space in your closet for the next couple of weeks!
  • Sort your laundry. Everything that’s still clean in their packing cubes can go back in drawers or closets. Get that first load of dirty clothes started while you deal with the rest of the unpacking.
  • Keep a dedicated crate for your travel-only supplies like packing cubes, electrical adaptors for traveling internationally, pouches for travel documents, and neck pillows.
  • Have a simple homecoming meal plan ready. Whether it’s a pre-scheduled DoorDash delivery or a lasagna you stashed in the freezer, your future self will be grateful that they don’t have to think about dinner.
  • Put all papers together (receipts, brochures, the stack of mail waiting for you) to sort through when you have the time. Your top priority when you first get home is to undo your packing. You can sort through miscellaneous papers once you’ve had a good night’s sleep in your own bed!

Whether you are heading out on a grand adventure or a quick weekend getaway, remember that organization isn’t about rigid perfection—it’s about creating more space for the memories that matter.

Travel is meant to be a reset, not a source of additional stress. If the thought of prepping for your next trip (or digging out from the last one) feels overwhelming, the Bees are always here to help with our best vacation organizing tips!

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