6 Travel Hacks For Better Trips

It’s the night before your trip and you just finished laundry.

After stuffing your clothes into the suitcase, you set 4 alarms and collapse into bed for a few hours before the flight.

“How did this happen… again!?” You think to yourself.

Sound familiar?

This was me countless times before trips. I desperately needed a better approach to travel.

So over the years, I’ve accumulated a few easy rules to transform from a travel PROcrastinator… to a travel PRO (ha or something like that). Let’s begin.

1) The 2-Night Rule

Simple rule, open the suitcase two nights before the trip to start packing.

Just getting the suitcase out and open is a WIN. Easy enough?

But what happens next is the best part…

You toss in a few things (maybe underwear, socks, shorts), and all of the sudden you’re halfway packed! Amazing.

As with anything, the hardest part is the initial friction to get started. So start tiny with the 2-night rule to get the suitcase out early.

2) Unpack Same Day

Do laundry the day you get back. NO exceptions. Just make it a rule.

You’ll be exhausted from travel. But your future self will be so glad you did.

You need to do it anyway, so may as well do it FIRST which creates momentum for getting back into things.

3) Everything is Part of the Adventure

This can be easier said than done… but once mastered it turns into a SUPERPOWER.

Everything that happens… good or bad, is all a part of the adventure. Uber is late? Miss your flight? Hotel doesn’t have your room? Oh well, it’s all part of the adventure.

The adventurous approach helps guide expectations. And expectations play a direct role in maximizing overall happiness.

Happiness = Expectations – Reality

So once you control for expectations… it almost doesn’t matter what happens in reality. You will be happy and have fun with it. It’s ALL part of the adventure.

4) Double Up

Packing is SO much easier when you have two of everything. At very least, buy two of all your bathroom products (toothbrushes, razors, hair products, etc.) and just leave them in your toiletries bag. Then your toiletries are always already packed.

5) Go First

As with many of the others, this is especially true of everyday life.

“Go first” means to be the first one to take action. Be first to say hi or even just smile.

Fun game I like to play is to just smile at a random stranger. If they smile back… you just created a smile from nothing! So easy and actually quite amazing.

(Note: yes, they might think you’re weird occasionally. But who cares. They’re weird for being weirded out. We’re all weird.)

So go first. Smile, hold the door, introduce yourself. Don’t wait for permission.

6) Is This The End?

The car ride to the airport, statistically, is far more dangerous than the flight.

That being said, I do like to contemplate my life and how I would feel if the plane went down. Not in a scary way. More so just to take inventory.

If this were the end… How would I feel about my life? Which aspect would feel the most incomplete? How can I change that?

It’s a great reminder to live every day like it’s your last.

Because one day, it will be.