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In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’ve put together our best packing tips for couples traveling together. If you’re hitting the road with a partner, best friend, or a family member – these are some awesome hacks to help you save space and pack lighter!
Couples Traveling Together
Gillette Fusion5 ProGlide Men’s Razor Blades
Toiletries
Use the same razor handle but separate cartridges. Men’s last longer in my opinion and it’s easy to pop your cartridge on and off.
Men aren’t picky with hair products; we choose grooming products that work for both us like styling cream.
We definitely share all toiletries – deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, face wash etc.
We often bring one electronic toothbrush with two detachable heads.
We use toiletries that can double up – lotion that has SPF, Dr. Bronners (we use for body wash, face wash, laundry soap, and can even be shampoo or tooth paste in a pinch).
Coconut oil makes a great beard moisturizer and makeup remover, so we usually bring one container and both use it.
Unisex Herschel Supply Co backpack
Gear
Use a unisex daypack that you can alternate days wearing. Something like a Herschel that will go with casual and dressier outfits.
On day trips, we usually bring one backpack for water, guidebook and camera, and switch who has to carry it back and forth to share the weight.
We sometimes share travel items such an umbrella, if there is a low chance of rain or we don’t intend to be outside much.
We check to see who is going to bring travel adapters, laundry accessories, cards, the guidebook, and other “extras” so we’re not doubling up on those.
We each bring a book we both want to read and then trade them after we finish.
Packing
We use packing cubes to keep our stuff separate – if I am giving him something to pack, it is easier at the destination for him to just hand me a packing cube than to try to rummage through everything.
We’ve taken one carry on suitcase for a long weekends many times. The key is minimal shoes & outerwear, just a few different tops and extra pair of pants. It’s totally doable and so nice not to be dragging a ton of stuff around for 2-3 days.
We pack together to maximize space (carryon only). We are not strict about his/hers bags, we each have a bag but we distribute items based on what will fit best in each bag if everything does not fit on the first run. However our personal items are individual for the most part for easy access on the plane.
We only check one bag between the two of us if for some reason we decide not to pack carryon for particular trip. This also makes it easier to manage when we reach our destination. Pack your essentials and treasured items in a carry on or personal item, which again, you can each take one or alternate carrying each suitcase.
I highly suggest couples split up their packing. For example, I take half of my partner’s belongings in my suitcase and he takes half of mine. This way, if someone’s suitcase gets lost or delayed that person still has half of their stuff.
We mix & match our items so they fit better in our bags – I’ll carry the toiletries but he’ll take my 2nd pair of shoes.
Electronics
Use a charger plug with dual ports so you can both charge your devices while using only one outlet. Taking the right amount of converters and adapters was tricky at first. Now we make sure we have at least enough for both of us to charge our phones, and to power one extra thing (laptop etc).
Split your valuables by one person dedicating to take a camera, the other the tablet, and so on. Learn about how to keep your stuff safe abroad.
We usually only pack one laptop and share it (unless one of us needs to work).
We only bring one type of electronic other than our phones- one laptop or iPad to use for movies and Internet.
We each bring a camera and take pictures of each other throughout the trip. Makes for some fun photographs from the other persons viewpoint.
Practicalities
Always split your cash and cards between you! You never know what can happen: mugging, losing your wallet, or overspending.
Carry each other’s copies of your passport and other important documents so it is easier to get a new passport, contact your bank, credit card and insurance companies in an emergency. Both of you having copies, either in paper of electronic form (the latter is my preference), makes for a better emergency situation. Read more passport safety tips.
We usually share meals at a restaurant to save money. Or if there are two things we want to try, we can order them both and each get to try it.
We divvy up planning responsibilities. I will book things and hand him an itinerary and he’ll work on public transportation and mapping things out. Not that either of us can’t do all those things, but having two people makes it easier to share the responsibilities.
After deciding on what jobs each of has when traveling (such as finding directions to a hotel, figuring out how to get around the city, places to visit, etc) we use our own methods to organize our responsibilities. I download helpful apps that can be accessed with or without internet, while my husband prefers to make a binder with all the paperwork he needs (which he has to carry since we are short on space!)
Thank you to TFG’s awesome writing team for sharing their tips for couples traveling together! Kate Langille, Kelly Ella Maz, Nina Thomas, Michelle Pettit, Renee Cutala, Mary Ware, and Emily Souza.
What are your best tips for couples traveling together? Share in the comments below!
For more packing tips, please read:
- 75 Packing Tips to Make Your Travels Much Easier
- Pack Carryon for Anywhere
- How to Stop Overpacking
- Best Carryon Suitcase Styles
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I love this blog and journey tips for a couple!
Hi Andrew, thank you so much for your feedback, so pleased you love the blog!! 🙂
Great tips! I’ll have to share with Hubs–still trying to get him to pare down what he packs. :-). I’ve not used packing cubes before; I hesitate to add the extra weight but they do sound like a good idea. Recently I’ve been just rolling each person’s clothing up together and wrapping a pair of their pants around the whole bundle. Keeps mine separate from his and keeps the luggage semi-organized. Any additional articles about packing the kids’ things?
Hi Skye! Packing cubes are great and they are super lightweight. Amazon has a new inexpensive set in their Basics collection: http://amzn.to/24wY9nx It takes the rolling method to a whole new level! Take a look at this video: https://travelfashiongirl.com/packing-cubes-video-tutorial-learn-how-to-pack-light/
Here are more tips on packing with kids and families: https://travelfashiongirl.com/category/packing-2/family-packing-tips/
We have found that when traveling as a family with small children, one large check-in bag is the way to go. This is much easier at airports, trains, buses and along the street than several pieces of luggage. One of us handles the suitcase and the other one holds on to the children.
In that large suitcase, each family has their own packing cubes to make it easy to find what we need. My packing cubes are purple, my husbands packing cubes are green, my sons packing cubes are blue and my daughters packing cubes are pink. This way the kids always know what part of the luggage is theirs. For toiletries we have one large toiletry bag that holds all of what we need.
All we bring on the plane is a day pack (my husband) and a large purse (me) with the things we need for the flight, some of the kids toys and a change of clothes for each family member.
Once the kids are a bit older and can carry their own luggage, we will go back to carry on only travel the way we did before we had kids.
This is a fantastic system! I love that each member gets their own packing cube and that they’re color coded. So clever 🙂
Love the tip to use cubes to keep everything separate while still packing in one suitcase! That makes it so much easier to keep everything together, but still separate!
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Thanks Liz, glad you liked it!
Great tips! My boyfriend and I are all about sharing suitcases/bags. We follow a few of the tips you mention here and it just makes things so much easier – why bring two bags when you can bring one!
Thanks Kate!