Things to do before your trip

Below is my checklist of things to do before going out of town.

• Make arrangements for pets.
• Hold mail. The United States Postal Service has a form you can fill out and place in your mailbox.
  
• Suspend newspaper delivery.
• Turn heat/air up or down.
• Leave a couple of lights on or place lamps on timers.
• Shut water off inside the home.
• Make sure refrigerator and freezer doors are completely closed.
• Lock all windows and doors.
• Turn on the house security system.
  

I've printed out my list and keep it in a plastic sheet protector. Using a dry erase marker, I can check off the tasks I've completed.




Here's an example of a lamp timer:

Travel sized products

Still looking for travel sized products or toiletries? My favorite website is Minimus. They offer everything imaginable that comes in a small size.

Click here to see all the products Minimus offers.

The 3-1-1 for carry-on luggage

TSA has clear rules on what can and cannot be carried onto a plane. To simplify everything, remember 3-1-1:

3 ounces or less per container of liquid or gel; 1 quart sized clear zip top bag; 1 bag per person.

Don't forget to dig down deep into your purse or briefcase for that random bottle of hand sanitizer, chap stick, lipstick, and/or eye drops. These should all be placed in your quart sized baggie.

Check out TSA's holiday travel tips. I learned a couple of things.

Packing for a weekend getaway

My challenge for this weekend getaway was to fit everything in one small carry-on bag. When you're traveling to a casual beach front community, it does make packing a little easier.

Here's my four day packing list:

• white tee shirt
• orange tee shirt
• patterned tee shirt
• black tank
• brown sweater set
• blue jeans
• khaki pants
• khaki shorts
• brown slip-on shoes
• black flip flops
• bathing suit
• lounge pants with off white tank
• undergarments: 1 per day plus 1 extra
• socks: 1 pair for each travel day plus 1 extra pair
• health and beauty aids

My basic rules for coordinating outfits are to pick a primary color. Then add an additional color or two. For this trip I choose brown/khaki as my primary color and used black and white as my complementary colors. Orange was my extra color.

Now how do you get all this in one tiny bag? Roll the garments! I layer all my shirts on top of each other and then roll them up starting from the bottom hem. Pants are folded lengthwise and rolled up starting from the bottom.





Extra tips: Place all undergarments in a gallon sized clear zip top bag (Do you want TSA agents touching your "unmentionables"?).

All health and beauty aids should be placed in one quart sized clear zip top bag.

Just back from the Lowcountry

I have just returned from a weekend trip to Seabrook Island, South Carolina. A last minute reasonable airfare came up. The fare was half the price of airfares I've seen lately to Charleston, SC.

I found this great fare by watching a site called Airfare Watchdog. This website constantly scans all the major airlines plus Southwest, JetBlue, and Allegiant Air looking for fare deals. Other websites claim to do this, but Airfare Watchdog uses real people to do the searching not a computer software program.

To watch airfares from your local airport to your favorite travel destination, I highly recommend AirfareWatchdog.com.

Up next: How to pack for a weekend trip.