Secretly or openly, everyone dreams of traveling. I for one, daydream about it all the time! But have you ever heard anyone dreaming of packing and unpacking? No, right? Because these are two such tasks that one can only have nightmares about!

Over-packing, under-packing, conked-out suitcase zippers, spilling/soiling of your belongings… Let’s face it! We’ve all been there, we’ve all done that. Nevertheless, to keep these packing blunders at bay, here’s presenting the ‘What-not-to-do’ compilation to face the packing ordeal like a pro!

1. You might want to keep your medicines and valuables close. Real close.

“Packing valuables and medicine in your checked luggage is the worst mistake,” says Travel expert Johnny Jet of johnnyjet.com. Because you never know, your suitcase might become Alice in wonderland and get lost in heaps of airline baggage.

2. Liquids don’t fall for your checked-in luggage. They fall IN it.

“Packing a bottle of red wine in your checked bag and thinking that just because you have wrapped it in your socks and underwear it will survive the trip. It won’t. I had pink underpants for years,” says Catharine Hamm, travel editor for the Los Angeles Times.

Clearly, packing liquids is not a good idea, unless you have a peculiar fancy for tainted clothes and messed-up baggage, that is.

3. To pack or not to pack.

“I’m generally traveling to countries that require a lot more than a bikini and doing a variety of activities like mountain biking, trekking, running, and meeting people. That requires a lot of clothing as well as shoes and things like a first-aid kit and medicines. But when I arrive in the country, I’m almost always embarrassed by the amount of stuff I have, even if I think I need it. I try to avert this crisis by carefully thinking ahead, layering everything on my bed, then whittling away at clothing piece by piece, but it’s inevitable that I overpack and feel like an Ugly American,” says Stephanie Pearson, contributing editor at Outside Magazine.

You’re bluntly lying if you say that you’ve never over-packed!

4. WHAT to pack and WHAT NOT to pack.

Freelance travel writer Diana Lambdin Meyer says, “Packing too many shoes is always the biggest mistake.” Might want to pack extra sets of undergarments, instead. Just saying.

5. A weather check never hurts! But if you don’t do it, it definitely backfires. Definitely.

Larry Bleiberg is a freelance writer for USA Today and travel editor and founder of civilrightstravel.com. “I’m a reasonably bright person, but for some reason, I can never truly accept that it will be warm somewhere when I’m wearing a sweater at home or vice versa. So I end up packing all the wrong clothes. More than once I’ve had to buy a sweatshirt or bathing suit at my destination because I couldn’t quite comprehend that the weather is different at different places. Duh.” 

6. I hereby declare it the biggest packing mistake. Period.

“Forgetting to pack your sense of humor. Most everything else can be found locally or improvised,” says Shelly Rivoli, author at travelswithbaby.com and founder of Family Travel 411. Now I know what I want from Santa this Christmas. #KThanksBye

Dear travelers, let us all have mercy on our suitcases, and pay attention to these tips.

Dear suitcases, you can now finally, and peacefully, just BE.

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