I can almost tell how my trip is going to go by how efficiently I can get set up when I arrive at my hotel. Unpacking begins with thoughtful packing, and by that I mean strategic placement of items in my luggage or garment bag. So, the first thing I do when I get to my hotel room is remove the items I’ve folded, usually shirts, to assess how they weathered the trip.
This isn’t rocket science, but it stands to reason that folded items will only become more wrinkled the longer they remain folded. Because I really try to avoid ironing if I can possibly help it, my strategic packing begins with placing my folded shirts in the mesh pocket in the lid of my suitcase. This way, the weight of the other items in my bag is not creating more wrinkles than already exist from folding them in the first place.
Travelpro Crew 10 with suiter
If I have to take dress clothes, I use one of Travelpro’s cases that has a Suiter in it, like the Crew 10 22″ Exp. Rollaboard. This protects my suit coat and pants from excessive wrinkling and creasing. The Travelpro Platinum Magna 2 and Crew 10 50″ Rolling Garment Bag has a foam rollbar to keep pants from creasing in the middle.
Thanks to the miracle of gravity, most wrinkles will hang out with time. That’s why I make hanging my folded items my next priority. Bringing an especially wrinkled item into the bathroom while I shower also helps those folds relax.
Speaking of the bathroom, the third thing I do to make my time in my hotel room efficient and relaxing is unpacking my toiletries. In most cases, I’m on the run from the time I hit the ground, so taking a few minutes to set out my toothbrush, razor, and other essentials sets me up for success when I have just a short window of time to freshen up between the day’s meetings and the evening’s events.
Many people avoid using the hotel dresser drawers, but I use them in most cases. Generally, I inspect and wipe them down first. Organizing my clothes in the dresser keeps me from digging through my bag, which has been packed to its maximum capacity so that I don’t have to check a larger one. I just want to relax in what little time I may have to myself in the evening, and in order to accomplish that, I don’t want to return to the room when I’m tired and be faced with trying to remember where I packed a particular item.
Life on the road isn’t glamorous, but you can make your room feel a bit more like your home if you take these simple steps.
What do you do when you get to your hotel? Do you unpack or live out of your suitcase? Do you have any packing tips to keep clothes from wrinkling? I can always use some new ideas, so leave us a comment below, on our Facebook page, or on Twitter at @TravelproIntl.