Our Own Travel Tips

(Based on our experiences)

          When we decide to take a trip, we talk about where we’d like to go and we usually go within a couple of weeks.  After the first couple of trips and finding that we have always forgot something, I decided to try to minimize this by keeping those things that seem to get forgotten all in one place.

            I have a small travel bag in which I keep all the toiletry items.  It includes the following:

1.      Shampoo & conditioner.

2.      Toothpaste, toothbrushes & mouthwash.

3.      Hairspray combs & brushes.

4.      Deodorant.

This bag stays packed at all times, so when we know we’re going away, I’m not running around collecting these items.  I have a small make up bag that has a complete set of make up in it. It saves time and energy.  When we return from our trip, I go through these items and replace anything that needs to be replaced or refilled.  It has worked great.

I also keep other items packed for our trips.  All the places we’ve been to have these things, but it’s nice to have them along just in case.  These items are:

1.      Paper towels.

2.      Coffee filters.

3.      A small can of coffee with scoop.

4.      Kleenex.

            I pick up a couple of bottles of water to take with us for Taffy.  We usually make a pit stop about half way through our trip to walk her and give her a drink.  The following are the things I keep together for Taffy:

1.      Dry dog food & treats.

2.      2 plastic dog bowls.

3.      Rope & leash.

4.      Toys.

5.      Small trash bags (to pick up any messes).

6.      A beach towel.

            I also keep the following items in the car:

1.      A pair of scissors.

2.      A small container of change for road tolls.

3.      Pen & paper.

4.      Lighters.

5.      A sunshade.

6.      Hats.

7.      Small group of tools for light repairs

            By keeping these things prepared, all we need to do is pack our suitcase and jump in the car at the drop of a hat.  Phil has his own list of things and these will be posted also.

            Please note, before leaving your cottage or motel; make sure you do a run through to make sure you have everything that you brought with you.  On two occasions we have left behind a leather jacket, and 2 lightweight jackets.  We contacted both places and they returned them to us via the mail.