I’ve been on tour for over six years now and these are some packing and travel hacks I have discovered along the way that I wish I had known before!
1. LIQUIDS ARE THE ENEMY. Anything in liquid form is heavy, takes up tons of room in your luggage (even if it’s only half full), and it can and will leak in your suitcase! Being on the road full-time means you need full size things since a travel bottle of shampoo only lasts a few days. Therefore, anything you can get in solid form instead of liquid is good:
Some liquids are unavoidable (contact lens solution, mouthwash, etc). For these I present the humble e-tape. Throw a few wraps of electrical tape around the cap of your liquids to help prevent leaks. Not 100% leakproof but better than nothing.
2. EMBRACE THE PACKING CUBE.
Seriously go buy a set right now. When I check into a hotel room, I give the drawers a quick wipe down. Then, I simply remove all of my packing cubes from my suitcase, put them in the drawers, unzip the tops, and voilà ! A perfectly organized sock and underwear drawer in your hotel without ever having to refold or organize.
3. A digital luggage scale. Just get one.
4. Shower slides/flip-flops. Listen I’ve seen some gross stuff get left behind by hotel cleaning staff. Trust me when I say these rooms are not as clean as you’d like to think they are. Just wear the flip-flops ok? Also comes in handy if you have to shower at a theatre bathroom after load out.
5. This one is very first-world problem and totally unnecessary but I finally caved recently and bought myself an AppleTV. Logging into every app on every smart TV gets old after a while. When hotels are your home, being able to have all of your entertainment ready to go with a simple plug of an hdmi cable is more comforting than I would have thought. I appreciated it even more when I was quarantining in a hotel room with Covid. Pack an ethernet cable in case there is a way to hardwire your internet for that good high speed shit.
6. If your hotel room has that weird, mildewy, musty smell get a desiccant pack and hang it up. It will remove a shocking amount of moisture from the air.
7. Take pictures of your passport, ID, credit cards, union cards, etc. This is for any travel anywhere really.
8. Don’t stress about forgetting things! Besides your wallet, phone, and keys, at the end of the day everything you need is easily bought in the next stop. Obviously it’s not ideal to forget your things everywhere but it’s going to happen. You will forget your phone charger. You will forget to clean out that bottom drawer in the hotel one time. Yes it sucks, yes it’s a waste of money, but try not to beat yourself up too hard.
9. For the love of god turn off one-click checkout.
10. Don’t pack those cute shoes for opening night parties. You know you’re just going to show up in your disgusting show blacks like god intended stagehands to do. Shoes take up so much room in luggage I hate it.
11. Hotel coffee makers can sometimes produce the most horrific tasting coffee you’ve ever encountered in your life. After suffering for a year or two, I invested in a coffee setup. I travel a collapsible electric kettle, a pour over funnel, filters, and coffee grounds. I know lots of roadies swear by travel french presses. Obviously this is by no means necessary or even very prudent. But if you identify something about traveling that consistently bums you out- get creative and find a solution! Some people travel their own pillow, an Instant Pot, or air filter. It’s all about finding that creature comfort that makes schlepping it around the country worth it for you.
12. Sneaker balls. No one wants to pull a pair of sneakers out of their suitcase after a few days of festering in their own shoe smell.
13. Yes, you can change the air filter in a hotel room heating unit in many cases.
14. Get your Covid boosters as soon as you are eligible.
Ps none of these links are amazon links.
stormborns
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