~* PRE-PLANNING FOR A 4-DAY VACATION *~

Fine, I admit it. I've never been a light packer. Even if I attempt to travel light, I still always end up as the gal with most bags whenever I travel with friends or officemates. My latest trip to Cagayan de Oro and Camiguin with my college friends has proved to be a challenge to my packing prowess. I think I can never really achieve a one-bag rule coz I'm OC and I always prepare for the worst. In an attempt to help fellow travellers in maximizing those treasured vacation leaves, here are some travel tips I've come up with:

1. Surf the net for tourist attractions, modes of transportation together with estimated rates and duration of travel. Using data gathered, prepare an itinerary which you can bring in your pocket. It should also have the corresponding estimated expenses, important contact details of the hotel, tour guide, transportation, etc.

2. Bring a map of the town for easy navigation. You wouldn't want to be a helpless and lost tourist in the middle of nowhere.

3. Make a checklist of things to bring so you won't forget to pack anything.

4. Plan your attires to see if you can easily mix and match your clothes.

5. Pack a blow dryer. Aside from hair styling/drying purposes, it can also speed up drying of your wet swim wear if you need to pack them ASAP. (It also saved the day for me when I forgot to remove my money bag from my waist when I went white water rafting... I spent about 5 minutes blow drying my wet mushy Ninoy bills on my hotel bed!)

6. Bring your celfone charger and/or digicam battery charger.

7. Bring lots of small bills and coins for transportation, tips, entrance fees, etc.

8. To minimize bulk, instead of packing a towel, buy a "super magic towel" or "super absorbent towel" from Watsons. The super magic towel is like a car chamois while the super absorbent towel is like a fine-fibered regular towel. Both are about the same size as a pillow case.

9. Buy a waterproof pouch for your digicam, celfone, ipod and wallet if you plan to take a boat/ferry or go white water rafting. I got mine from the Store Shop Outdoor Lifestyle Company (right across Jamaican Patties) in Park Square I.

10. Pack leaky stuff like toiletries in a ziploc bag. Bring extra big ziplocs for wet bikinis, board shorts and aqua shoes.

11. Buy toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner in sachets instead of bringing them in tubes/plastic bottles.

12. Bring an extra foldable bag/sturdy plastic for pasalubongs.

13. Put a bag tag on all your bags and/or insert your calling card inside your bag's pocket.

14. Bring a masking tape and pentel pen which you can use for labelling your bags and packing stuff. You can also use the tape as a marker to easily spot your bag on the airport conveyor belt. Others tie a bright colored ribbon on their bags for easy spotting.

15. When packing clothes, you can roll them, pack a folded set of attire in a ziploc (press hard to remove air inside the ziploc) or do the bundle technique which I learned from onebag.com.

16. Bring lots of tissue, alcohol/hand sanitizer and wet wipes.

17. Don't put your moolah in one place. I separated a bigger chunk of my pocket money inside a money bag which I strapped on my waist and wore under my clothes.

18. Belt bags are very convenient when travelling. You can put all your valuables/plane ticket in it and then have both of your hands free for carrying other stuff.

19. Better wear a pair of sandals or flipflops to the airport coz regardless of whether you're wearing boots or skinny flipflops, they will still ask you to remove your footwear to include it on the x-ray conveyor belt.

20. If you expect to be moving about in different vehicles (for us it was a plane, a taxi, a tuktuk, a multicab and a van) bring a backpack instead of a trolley bag.