We know that packing for an upcoming travel assignment can be stressful. Whether you’re flying across the country for a 8 week nursing assignment or driving a few hours from home, compiling everything you need (and checking it twice!) is rarely fun. That’s why we have compiled our top 10 travel tips to hopefully make getting ready for your next travel assignment a little bit easier for you.

1.      Make a packing list.

Before putting anything into your suitcase, write out a list of everything you’ll need for your upcoming trip. This will help you to prioritize what you actually need to take with you.

It also helps to lay out all of your items before you actually put them into your suitcase. This way you can see everything you plan to pack and perhaps realize if you are missing any important items.

Bottom Line: Only pack the items on your list to avoid over packing.

2.      Contact your credit or debit card company.

If you have ever not had access to your funds while on a trip, you’ll know how important this tip is. Contact your credit or debit card company before traveling to avoid them flagging suspicious activity on your account. Also, be sure to have cash on you, so you’re not relying solely on your credit or debit cards the entire trip. You never know when you will be faced with a “cash only” situation.

Bottom line: Have some cash on hand. Don’t rely only on plastic, in case something was to happen.

3.      Roll your clothes.

Tightly rolling your clothes into compact rolls will allow you to make the most out of the space in your suitcase. Rolling opposed to folding also helps avoid your cloths getting wrinkled. Of course, not all clothing items can be rolled so make sure to put the rolled items at the bottom of the suitcase to ensure you maximize the amount of space you have.

Bottom line: Just roll.

4.      Place plastic wrap under the caps of your toiletries.

Want to avoid a liquid nightmare? With the stress of packing and traveling, the last thing you want to deal with is a giant spill in your luggage. To avoid this, Place plastic wrap underneath the lids of your toiletries to avoid a giant spill in your luggage. If an item does not have a cap that works for this tip, put that item into a separate Ziploc bag so at least if there is a spill, it’s not all over the rest of your things.

Bottom line: Better safe than sorry.

5. Pack your own water bottle and snacks.

Anything in airport shops can be pretty expensive, and you want to be sure not to waste your precious travel money. Save big by bringing an empty water bottle and some snacks in your carry on. Once you get past security, you can fill your water bottle up to avoid paying $5 for H2O. By bringing your own snacks, you’re ensuring you have your favorite treats and not spending any more money than you need to.

Bottom line: Treat yourself but not spending an arm and a leg on food and water.

6.      Put a ‘fragile’ sticker on your luggage.

This is a sneaky little travel cheat, but try putting a ‘fragile’ sticker on your luggage. The sticker ensures that the airline is more careful with your bag, and it also keeps your suitcase at the top of the luggage pile. Bonus: some airlines also make sure the bags with the ‘fragile’ sticker come out first in baggage claim. Thank us later. J

Bottom line: Protect your luggage.

7.      Take a photo of your car’s location at the airport.

In today’s time, most people have a phone with a camera on it, so you have no reason not to take a picture of where you parked at the airport. This will avoid the stressful predicament of not being able to find your car after your trip.

Bottom line: Instead of setting off your alarm to find your car, just take a photo of it.

8.      Go to the lines furthest to the left.

We know that airport lines can get ridiculously long and take way too much time to get through. Studies have shown that the lines furthest to the left tend to be the shortest. This is said to be because most people are right-handed and tend to turn right first.

Bottom line: Be the opposite and go left!

9.      Get free Wi-Fi.

Don’t want to pay for Wi-Fi on your upcoming trip? You can find free Wi-Fi passwords in the comments people leave on certain locations in FourSquare. Don’t believe us? Try it out and you will see.

Bottom line: Don’t pay for Wi-Fi.

10. Keep your clean clothes clean.

Bring a separate bag that you can throw into your suitcase for your dirty clothes. This way you can keep your dirty items away from the clean ones. You also don’t want the bottoms of your dirty shoes touching your clothes, so wrap them in shower caps or plastic bag. If you really want to keep your clothes extra clean, throw a dryer sheet into your bag so that your clean clothes don’t take on the odors of the dirty ones.

Bottom line: Keep a few separate bags on hand to keep your clothes clean!

We hope that following these travel tips will help make your next trip less hectic. If you have some awesome travel tips you’d like to share with us, put them in the comments section; we’d love to hear them!