How Do I Prepare My Things When Traveling?

Over a year ago, I woke up from a call of a friend at dawn. As I said hello, the person on the other line told me that I have a confirmed flight to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam on July 2013. I got confused and extremely fazed as I don’t recall any reservations I made for Vietnam.

“What do you mean?” I asked. My friend said there was a seat sale in a particular airline and the roundtrip only costs a little less than Php1000. Roundtrip! So she already booked the people who she thinks would love to see Vietnam… and that includes me! lol.

Fast forward to June 2013. In almost a year a number of people we knew have asked if they can join us, but of course! The more the merrier!
Weeks before the flight we had a few meetings at my place concerning our itinerary and accommodations. Since we will be visiting Vietnam might as well do a side trip in Cambodia and see the Angkor Wat.

Couple of weeks before the flight we had all the accommodations settled as well as the transportation from Saigon to Siem Reap and back. I’ve read in a lot of blogs that crossing a border between these two countries would be frustrating so the least we could do is to settle in advance the basic “necessities” lol.

Thru Agoda we found a cheap but really nice hotels:

• Velkommen in Seam Reap, Cambodia
• Victory Hotel in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
• Oceanfront Hotel in Mui Ne, Vietnam
• Mekong Express 

Two days before the trip I had difficulty getting some sleep. I don’t know! Maybe I was too excited to spend time again with my friends outside the country. lol.

So I decided to make a quick “how-to-do” images for packing your stuff when traveling! Hahahahaha! I swear I felt like a zombie on the day of the trip! I was 48hours awake! For pete’s sake! lol.

Different folks have different strokes on how they want things to be but might as well share it and I believe it’s worth sharing it. There’s how I pack my things when traveling.

1. I always roll my clothes to prevent wrinkles and to save packing space. – It’s true! Try doing the folding way and compare the space with the rolling. You’ll be surprised!
2. Always have a separate pouch for your under garments and toiletries – You don’t want your shampoo be going anywhere in your bag, do you? or your underwear greeting the inspectors if in the event you’re asked to open your bag!
3. Apart from a travel bag, I also have a waterproof cross body bag to put in important things (wallet, ID, Passport, phone. camera) – These important things need not to be separated from your body! Never! Nunca! So it’s a no brainer to understand this.
4. Always bring your own pen and notebook to jot down important things happened in your travel. – You don’t wanna be  recalling back the moments the hard way, do you?

It may sound a bit compulsive (I think..) But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared especially when you are miles away from your comfort zone. lol. I hope this somehow would be a bit of a help to you guys! How about you? What do you usually do when preparing for travel?