Packing

This was a great post from an AP on one of my other yahoo groups. With her permission, I am posting to share with all of you. Thanks Jennifer!!

"Hello Thought I would throw a post out there since it has been pretty quiet. Since our first adoption back in 2003 our family, of 3 soon to be 4, has become avid travelers and CCO'ers. (We had our Luggage lost in Germany once and it was a painful experience.) I have tried Compression bags from EMS, rolling clothing, Packmates, Cubes and everything else I could find to fit our travel needs. This is what I have settled on- Food Saver Bags and Packmates. This is our process – Everyone picks out 3 Full outfits and 2 extra tops, depending on what our destination is. I create paper labels specifying the outfit and who it is for. I then place in the one outfit and a tag in a Food Bag, lock it in the vacuum machine, place a heavy book on top of the bag and the air is sucked out. I end up with a brick the size of an encyclopedia, flat on both sides. (The really stack in the suitcase nice). Then I use some Duck tape to fold down the ends. Note: the duck tape can be reused on your trip for emergencies! Then we do the washing, in our room, and jelling rolling to speed up the drying process. By the end of the trip we decide what articles of clothing will not go home with us to make room for the treasures we purchased at our destination. The cloths that come back are placed in the empty Packmates, we brought along, and toted home.

This may not be for everyone but it has gotten us through 4 countries and a half a dozen trips to Disney World and Disneyland. We plan to use it for China

Jennifer Moyher
LID 9/05

Food Saver bags – it is a machine that comes with bags that you can suck the air out of. It is really made for food but I only use mine for Pre-Travel packing. You can find them in Wal-Mart , Target or other retailers in the houses wares area by the crock pots and toasters. The reason I like this is because I get a uniform end result, it gets all of the air out and the seal lasts. I also like packmates but they can be lumpy and do not pack as well, in my opinion only. We do use pack mates for the trip back home since the Food bags are only good for one way. Once you break the seal they are done until you get home and use them again for packing extra socks and such. As for Heavy- weather you use the Food Bags or Pack mates it does not change the weight of your items. It only makes it condensed. I like to pull the scale out from its hiding place and weigh my stuff. If it is over the limit in one then I redistribute to the other. I would recommend you trying a Space Saver bag for your next trip and see how you like it before you buy more. Please remember that packing can be a very personal thing. You do what makes you comfortable.

All of my clothing go in the Food Bags, Liquids went in a the regulation zip lock baggie, and the non liquid pills I placed in my med bag next to my clothing, it is not a food bag or anything fancy just the bottle it came in. For as much as I have traveled I have not had one issue with meds. I normaly take asprin and the cold strips but not much more than that for dry meds.

Jennifer Moyher

-:¦:- Stephe -:¦:-
http://www.giorgiadanette.blogspot.com