Create an online spreadsheet that you can access on your phone. Don’t forget to plan times for meals and travel. You can insert addresses and price information. Move each section around as needed until you find the schedule that will make the best use of your time. This will be easier to visualize than just adding items to your calendar, especially during the initial stage of planning a trip.

If you are going home to visit friends and family, you can create a similar sheet to share with people you go home to visit so they can see where to pencil themselves in. This way, you don’t have to constantly exchange messages on when you are or aren’t already booked.

You can make one list of everything that might need to be packed for all types of trips. A spreadsheet is best for this, as it allows you to highlight the boxes under each column to show if the item needs to be packed for that type of trip.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IRD2LRwhPTrIkgo3YwXZ_F7dNUQkfb0DN06X7ZC6Kww/edit?usp=sharing

This also includes a list for planning out what you will want to wear each day to avoid over-packing:

Buy miniature zipper laundry bags (the kind sold for washing delicates). Attach a plastic ID holder with a safety pin. Inside each holder, insert an index card with the day of the week written on it. Pack each day’s clothes separately. You can easily find the clothes you want to wear in the morning and return them when they are dirty. This beats using a large laundry bag for all your dirty clothes, as they never seem to fit in a suitcase as well as when they were folded clean, (no, your dirt doesn’t take up that much space, it’s just an inconvenient way to re-pack and makes the end of a trip feel like even more of a downer).

And, of course, if you’re handy with a needle and feel the need to go all out, you can also embroider them.

Keep a paper trail of everything. In today’s electronic world, it’s easy to use your phone for everything. But phones lose reception, charge, get lost, or even stolen. It doesn’t hurt to have a backup on paper for travel tickets, hotel confirmations, event tickets, and museum reservations.

Want to keep all these things super-organized? Buy a soft-cover miniature photo album and put folded printouts inside. This will be light to carry in a purse or backpack, while keeping everything easily accessible. Bonus: it won’t look like anything worth stealing!

Consider getting a foldable travel booster seat for children who have outgrown their car seat. Often, parents traveling with booster-sized children will simply chance it with a regular seat belt. But with a portable booster that can easily fit into a child’s backpack, keeping safety first no longer means having to lug around a large and heavy seat.

Get some travel wheels for your child’s car seat. These foldable attachments are compact enough to fit into the outside zipper of a suitcase. Simply hook your child’s car seat onto it (they will have the ride of their life being dragged around the airport like a piece of luggage), then have them ride on the plane with their car seat in the plane seat. No more trudging through the airport carrying a heavy seat in one hand while dragging a crying toddler with the other.

When siblings need some space but are inches away from each other for hours on end, give them a bit of “alone time” by placing a large cardboard box between their seats. Bonus: it serves as a place to color!

To make dangling feet more comfortable, look into buying an airplane foot hammock for your child’s feet to rest on.

Restroom trips with children are already tricky. Highway rest stops warrant an extra level of caution. Are your children too big to go in the same stall as you but still young enough that they shouldn’t be out by themselves? Train them to go into their stall first and stay in until they hear your voice saying they can come out.

Do the automatic flushers in public restrooms scare your toddler out of being able to do their business? Bring a sticky note to place over it so that it won’t flush just when they’re getting inspired.

If your child sleeps with a nightlight, be sure to bring a travel one since the lighting options where you sleep will likely be too bright.

Want some screen-free time? Print these car games and attach to a clipboard to help kids stay engaged.

Get a timer for lights that can go on and off at various times, not just the same time each night.

If traveling in winter, leave your thermostat set at a moderate temperature so pipes won’t freeze. And leave doors below sinks open so warm air can reach the pipes.

Skip the tank top and shorts! While these items might feel just right for summer travel, car seats stick uncomfortably to bare legs and seat belts can dig in to uncovered shoulders. Try a short-sleeved shirt with a collar and cargo shorts (or even a skirt with pockets) instead. It’s also always a good idea to keep a long-sleeve lightweight shirt that opens in the front and put it on backwards to keep the sun off your arms (or just one arm, or just your forearms).

Keep food, books and toys in bins or baskets instead of bags on the floor. They will shift around less easily and their contents are less likely to get squished. If you have extra seats, buckle them right in to make them even more accessible and less likely to go flying. And when you pack those car snacks, stick a binder clip on top of each so that once opened, they can easily be re-closed while en route.

Rest stops on the side of the road can save an infinite amount of time over leaving the highway. So, pack up on snacks to avoid stopping for food more often than necessary.

Go for more frequent shorter pit stops over fewer longer ones. Getting up and stretching your legs, even if just for two minutes, can do wonders to how long the drive feels. More importantly, it can help you avoid health complications that come with long periods of sitting.

Pack a jump rope for the road and skip as a way of getting in short bursts of exercise. This can also serve as a substitute workout if vacation time means giving up gym time.

Don’t just keep perishables in your ice pack. Medicine, vitamins and any other pantry food that could go bad if overheated should go in there, too. Even a 15-minute break here and there can really heat up your car and have an effect on the food and medicine inside.

Do you and your spouse have separate cars but will share the driving on a trip? Make sure whoever isn’t that car’s normal driver remembers their extra key. This will save the hassle of passing the key back and forth. And always pack an extra key battery before a road trip in case it dies along the way.

There’s a lot of focus on how clean the air on planes is, but don’t forget, the things you touch can carry germs, too. Bring a mini pack of wet wipes and wipe down your tray, armrests and anything else you might touch while on your flight. Once you arrive at your destination it won’t hurt to shower or at least change your clothes.

Avoid asking for ice in your drinks as it is not always made with filtered water.

If carbonated drinks don’t always make your stomach happy, they will be worse on a plane. The high altitude changes pressure so you will feel the effect more strongly.

When traveling by plane, don’t forget that water-filled souvenirs may crack under pressure. The last thing you want to find at your arrival is a soaked suitcase.

Want to eat take-out or room service in your hotel room but there’s no table? No problem! Just grab the ironing board out of the closet (or ask the front desk for one) and set it up in front of the bed. It doesn’t make for the fanciest meal, but you will be more comfortable.

Curtains won’t close all the way? If light pouring in from the window is keeping you awake, grab a pants hanger (or two or three) from the closet and clip the curtains closed to you can get some rest. If you anticipate having this problem where you’ll be staying, pack a bunch of binder clips in your luggage.

Forgot the plug for your phone charger but still have the cord? Look for a USB port in the back of the TV in your room. You can connect your phone to this to charge it.

Want to let your toothbrush air out without placing it down on the counter? Grab one of the paper cups the hotel leaves in your room and punch a hole through it with the bottom of your brush.

Hotel rooms often have very dry air. to help with this, dampen a washcloth and lay it over the AC at night to moisten the air. If traveling when the heat is on, hang the washcloth from a hanger and hang the hanger from a chair next to the heater, to avoid a fire hazard.

Do you often spend certain holidays traveling to visit family (or warmer weather)? To make sure you don’t lose the magic of the season, create a special box that can be easily packed up (or put down as decoration in the middle of the room for the years when you don’t travel) that includes all the special items you want to have ready to go. This may include stockings, books, movies, games and keepsakes.