by Marla Dee
Travel can be stressful so enjoy our tips that help you simplify and organize all your trips!
I love to travel but used to get so stressed by all the preparation and unknowns. What if I need something different to wear? What if I can’t find my hotel information? How do I decide what to take on with me and what to pack? Over the last 5 years, I have used all the tips & tools below to radically reduce the stress and struggle. These tips are the SEE IT. MAP IT. & DO IT. steps for travel. Try them out and let me know what you think!
My invitation, sharing of my “bag lady” story and more…
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Get your copy here Top Ten Tips for Travel
- The perfect suitcase is the key.
- Size, weight, color, material, design
- Each person needs and deserves their own suitcase
- Have an ID tag that is current (no address)
- Simplify the clothing
- Choose a capsule wardrobe so you can mix and match easily
- Choose to roll your clothes or use the pack-it systems
- Apps and online resources that help: clearsimple.com/travelapps/
- Use Wunderlist – have a standard list for your different types of trips and then easily adjust for current trip. Yes a list makes a difference. You can even print the list so you can check the items off.
- Use Last Pass for all your key & private information
- Tripit stores all the trip details
- Get AAA or similar service for travel troubles
- Uber and Airbnb are some of our favorites
- Get your TSA Precheck to save time every plan trip
- Check out Costco Travel – especially for car rentals
- Get an extra set of all electrical cords and chargers. Keep these packed and ready to go.
- Have your body care items already on hand – refill after each trip. Use smart containers for your body care items.
- Find the perfect tote or carry-on bag that can hold all you need and feel easy to carry.
- Carry-on Essentials Kit ready to go in the perfect carry-on.
- Medicines (get the small plastic medicine pouches)
- Soft light sweater or jacket and socks
- Toothbrush, wipes, body care & eye mask
- Book to read or game to play
- Easy water bottle like the collapsible water bottle
- Gum and food snacks, including protein
- Ear buds or head phones that you love
- Safe holder for passport, id and credit cards (make a copy that stays home with an assigned person who can help). Use Last Pass to hold all the vital information.
- Check out The Container Store for some of our favorite bags and tools.
- The Power of One. Try taking one book, one notebook, one technology device, etc. Then decide one purpose (most important) for your trip. clearsimple.com/travelstuff/
by CS Team
Travel can be stressful so enjoy our tips that simplify & help you organize all your trips!
We have used all the tips & tools below to radically reduce the stress and struggle that travel can bring. These tips are the SEE IT. MAP IT. & DO IT. steps for travel. Try them out and let us know what you think!
Marla sharing her personal “bag lady” story and more…
- The perfect suitcase is the key.
- Size, weight, color, material, design
- Each person needs and deserves their own suitcase
- Have an ID tag that is current (no address)
- Simplify the clothing
- Choose a capsule wardrobe so you can mix and match easily
- Choose to roll your clothes or use the pack-it systems
- Apps and online resources that help: clearsimple.com/travelapps/
- Use Wunderlist – have a standard list for your different types of trips and then easily adjust for current trip. Yes a list makes a difference. You can even print the list so you can check the items off.
- Use Last Pass for all your key & private information
- Tripit stores all the trip details
- Get AAA or similar service for travel troubles
- Uber and Airbnb are some of our favorites
- Get your TSA Precheck to save time every plan trip
- Check out Costco Travel – especially for car rentals
- Get an extra set of all electrical cords and chargers. Keep these packed and ready to go.
- Have your body care items already on hand – refill after each trip. Use smart containers for your body care items.
- Find the perfect tote or carry-on bag that can hold all you need and feel easy to carry.
- Carry-on Essentials Kit ready to go in the perfect carry-on.
- Medicines (get the small plastic medicine pouches)
- Soft light sweater or jacket and socks
- Toothbrush, wipes, body care & eye mask
- Book to read or game to play
- Easy water bottle like the collapsible water bottle
- Gum and food snacks, including protein
- Ear buds or head phones that you love
- Safe holder for passport, id and credit cards (make a copy that stays home with an assigned person who can help). Use Last Pass to hold all the vital information.
- Check out The Container Store for some of our favorite bags and tools.
- The Power of One. Try taking one book, one notebook, one technology device, etc. Then decide one purpose (most important) for your trip. clearsimple.com/travelstuff/
by CS Team
Traveling is FUN, but planning & packing can be stressful. Apps can make it easy.
From Marla – I love to travel but have always put off the planning and packing till the last minute. Of course this just adds to my stress and my belief that I can’t make traveling simple. Well I am happy to share that all aspects of traveling have changed for me and now I get excited when it is time to plan a new trip. I give the credit to the apps below. Planning my first fun trip of the summer has been a blast and quite simple. Instead of being in stress mode, I had fun preparing to visit my dear friend Michelle in CA where we will have 5 days to talk, create, walk, explore, laugh & cry.
I want to thank my business collaborator Kate Fehr for teaching me about these apps and strongly encourage you to check them out and use them on your next trip.
From Kate – For me, the biggest stress around traveling used to be the giant list I would create of all of the projects that just “had” to get done before I left town. THEN I would start thinking about planning and packing for the actual trip. With next to no time left, I would pack way more than I really needed, or even wanted. Now when I plan a trip, I get my itinerary and any related travel information into TripIt. Then I go to Wunderlist and create my plan, from what I want to get done before I leave (like making sure my home is clean) to what I want to take with me. Simple, brilliant, and oh so freeing!
1. TripIt When we first heard about TripIt two years ago, we were ecstatic…but could it really make things that much easier?! We found out it helps more than we imagined. After you book a trip, you simply forward the confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com and the system builds an itinerary for you. If you make changes, simply forward that confirmation email and TripIt updates the plan for you. Once the itinerary is built, you can go in and add, change, and/or delete things. If you prefer to not send your emails, you can input the itinerary yourself or sign up for the Pro Plan where the app will update things automatically. For more details read our earlier blog here.
2. Wunderlist Wunderlist is a life changing app – you can use it for all the lists in your life. We are now running our whole business and our personal lives using this cool tool. Marla loves that it reminds her what to do and when to do it!! Kate loves having one place to dump everything from her brain, then knowing she can access it everywhere she goes. Get more details here.
3. LastPass – When Kate talks about digital organizing, the very first thing she discusses is a password keeper. She has found that one of the number one stressors around our digital lives is trying to remember and/or track all of the passwords our lives require. We love LastPass not only because you can store passwords, but you can also save banking and credit card information and digital records like insurance cards, membership cards and misc. notes. Their app is available on most devices and can be accessed offline. All of that information can sure come in handy while on a vacation, especially if you lose a credit card!
We hope you have a fabulous summer filled with travel of all kinds. We would love to hear about your adventures.
Marla, Kate & Team
by CS Team
Let TripIt keep it all together for you!
It’s time to go on vacation, yay! And then you are flooded with overwhelm. The vital details for the trip are scattered everywhere! The confirmations are in your email. The schedule of events is on your calendar. Notifications of flight delays come to you by text, if at all. Reminder to check-in for flights is sent to your email. When someone needs a copy of your flight info or itinerary, you have to go searching to find it in order to forward it. And so on…
When we first heard about TripIt, we were ecstatic…but could it really make things that much easier?! We found out it helps more than we imagined. After you book a trip, you simply forward the confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com and the system builds an itinerary for you. If you make changes, simply forward that confirmation email and TripIt updates the plan for you. Once the itinerary is built, you can go in and add, change, and/or delete things. If you prefer to not send your emails, you can input the itinerary yourself.
Our favorite things are…
- Being able to check in and check flight status in.
- It syncs to our phone calendars.
- Once you’ve entered places you are staying, maps are attached for easy navigating.
- Being able to use the app along with logging in online.
For more information and to download it for your mobile device go HERE. Happy traveling!
Marla
by CS Team
If you aren’t using it, let someone else love it!
Isn’t it amazing how stuff, from paper to toys, keeps coming in and piling up? So much of it isn’t even used but we don’t have the time or energy to deal with all of it. It’s not like you can take a whole month off to go through it all, right? So we want to make it easier for you to clear out what you no longer need or want. Most of us feel better if we can make a little cash and/or support good causes. The short and simple list below is some favorites you can start using today. We have been using these ourselves to clear out yet another layer.
- Let Go – A great app to help you easily sell valuable items along with focusing on your own neighborhood.
- Trash Nothing – For items with less value or those that you want to send to a new home, but want the recipient to receive for free. Join the FreeCycle MOVEMENT now!
- The Container Store & Goodwill – This powerful partnership created the Kiss Clutter Goodbye movement to offer a simple place where you can donate unwanted items and then find container solutions to beautifully organize what you have left. Special Event April 23, 24, 30th around the nation. Check it out!
Personal Story from Marla – this last weekend I set myself FREE of the furniture that was taking up space in my partner Bob’s tool shop. When I moved in with him a year ago, there were things that I just wasn’t ready to let go of yet! Know the feeling? It included my daughter’s sleigh bed from pottery barn, a beautiful white table from the business office I had with my sister many years ago and more… So I used the Let Go app (mentioned above) and SOLD EVERYTHING. I was reminded how joyful it is to see another person get so excited about taking this new item than I no longer need or love.
Here are some additional links for national agencies that will make it easy for you to let go of the stuff that is keeping you stuck!
We would love to hear stories of the joy, freedom and more beyond the hurdle of releasing belongings. Please share with us.
In sacred support and guidance – Marla, Kate & Team
