Save space, stay organized, and prevent wrinkles
The first time I planned to go away for Pesach, the packing job that lay ahead of me seemed daunting. Though Pesach is only one week, it would be two weeks from the beginning of the trip until the end. Whenever I went to my parents or in-laws, it was only two days at a time (and packing for those days was still a big job!) Now it would be two weeks without a washing machine. Two weeks of making sure I had every little article of clothing organized for seven people.
Almost every Yom Tov, it takes me considerable time to get all of my kids dressed for the day. I knew I didn’t want to be spending each morning in a hotel room that way. I needed to be super-efficient.
So this is what I did:
I sealed each child’s outfit in a Ziploc bag, complete with all the accessories and other items they’d need for that day. I marked the child and day on the bag using a Sharpie. Once the items were inside, I pressed the air out of the bag. This saved a lot of space, and I was able to fit so much clothing into less space. Each morning, I simply pulled out the appropriate bag for each child and they were set. Some kids need help getting dressed, and some didn’t, but I didn’t need to fish around for every detail of every outfit.
This is even helpful for those staying home…no fishing around for every detail of an outfit when you need to get all the kids dressed and off to Bubbe’s house (or when you need to finish prepping for company yourself! Hand your kid the bag and let him/her dress herself!)
For clothes that need to hanging, you can still put the accompanying shells/accessories in a bag.
This year, I’m going to try using these Ziploc vacuum-sealed storage bags to pack the bulkier things that don’t need to be organized by day, such as all the boys’ sweats and t-shirts for sleeping, or maybe all the baby blankets.
Now, what about all the boys’ and men’s suits and pants? Or mom’s dressy clothes? I have a solution for those items too. Keep them from getting wrinkled and make it easy for those to go from suitcase to closet by keeping them on the hanger and enclosing them in those plastic clothing covers, like the ones that your clothing is in when you pick it up from the dry cleaners.
Simply pack these items last, on top of the suitcase, and simply lift them up and hang when you unpack.
For more flying and packing tips, see these posts:
Traveling with Young Children? 14 Secrets for a Blissful Flight
5 Secrets to Surviving Packing Day with Kids
Do you have any packing tips to share?
What else can you do with resealable plastic bags? See this post.
like this idea! thank you!
I do the ziplock thing too. It’s a lifesaver! No fishing around for the matching shell/socks/headband. Everything stays organized. Great tip!
Packing cubes from ebags are a life safer! Each child gets another color, and they come with 3 or 6 sizes. You can easily spot whose is what, and where everything is.
I’ve been doing this for years. For stuff that goes along with hanging i punch a hole at the top of the bag and slip it over the neck of the hanger. I find this really works well especially when sending away younger kids when you leave on vacation. Kids might be too young to find everything in their suitcase and this method saves the hostess from figuring out what goes to what.