Even though I love traveling, and enjoy most things that come with travel, I have to admit there is a small aspect of it that I absolutely detest: packing.

While packing clothes is challenging enough, I find that the absolute worst part of going on a trip is packing toiletries. Not only are most of them liquid and have the potential to ruin everything in your suitcase if you don’t wrap them right, but they often come in awkward shapes that don’t fit together nicely and are too large for TSA to let you through with them. Pain in the butt.

Because this aspect of getting ready for a trip was a such a mood killer for me, I came up with a simple solution that improved the experience significantly time and time again: I created a toiletry kit that I leave permanently packed and full at all times. When the time comes to go on a trip, I just toss it in my suitcase and I’m ready to go. It seems like such a simple and obvious solution, but you would be surprised the number of people that start packing from scratch every time they go somewhere. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that this video is one of the most popular ones on my channel.

The advantage of having something like this ready to go is that it has come in handy for more than travel. If I ever go to a gym and want to shower there, I have everything I need easily accessible. It has come especially handy when I’m sleeping over at my boyfriend’s and going straight to work the next day. I just grab my toiletry kit and a change of clothes and I’m ready to go. It’s packing, simplified.

This video is from a few years ago, and though what I use has changed a little bit, the concept of it has remained the same. There are a few key aspects to building a kit that will help you stay organized while traveling. Here are a few of my tips:

Make sure you select a bag where you can easily see everything. Traditional dopp kits are great for containment, but they do nothing for organization. I’m currently using the one pictured here.

Get re-fillable, similar sized containers for your liquids. I can bring whatever product I’m using at the moment and I know it will fit neatly in my kit. I’ve had mine for years and I will keep reusing them until they die, but if I were to do it again I would buy some made of silicone, like these.
Label everything properly. Labels from a traditional label maker work great for this, they are waterproof and remove without residue.
If you ever need to wash your containers, or the bag for that matter, soak them for a bit in warm soapy water and then pop them in the top rack of the dishwasher. They will come out as new.

Aside from being a huge time saver when packing, I have found two other benefits to having this kit: it saves me valuable packing space because I never have to bring large containers, and I never forget anything I need! Let me know in the comments – have you tried this travel hack? What is one thing you include in your toiletry kit, aside from the essentials?

Keep an eye on the blog for more travel hacks coming soon. Thanks for watching!

What I Keep In My Toiletry Bag