Laundry, Prepping for Travel

Laundry, something we all do all the time. Something you can't get away from no matter how hard you try. It's like the EverReady Bunny, it's just keep going and going. lol

You do laundry all 4 seasons of the year, you do it before after and sometimes during your travels. So, what's so important we need to talk about it here in this post? Laundry is a part of prepping for your travels. Make you life easy, make less work. As you do your laundry a week before departing for an adventure; set aside items you plan to pack and don't wear them. Lay them out on an extra bed (cover them if you have fur babies in the house that won't leave them alone). In the course of a normal week most of us do laundry multiple times. If you do this with all your laundry for the week, you'll have very little you actually need to get out of the closet or draws to get ready to pack. AND best of all, you won't have to do a last minute laundry because something you want isn't clean and ready.

There other benefit is, you have the opportunity to review things without feeling rushed about what to pack. You can see what might work or not, what might need a button sewn on etc. AND by keeping up with the laundry you're not pressed the minute you get home. It's also a good idea to launder, iron and have ready the outfit you'll need for your first day back at work before you go. If you're delayed getting home; you'll have what you need and not need to do laundry in the wee hours of morning to have something to wear to work; in fact.........you won't even have to unpack right then....you'll have what you need for your first day back.

Make your life simpler, plan ahead with this simple plan. It's saved us a couple of times. Getting stuck at the airport or even when driving due to weather and not making it back in town as scheduled doesn't have to stress you out, if you're ready.

Carry on Bags for Traveling

You give thought when you pack suitcases and duffel bags for plane or car travel; but do you give the same thought to your all important carry on bag? Do you pack a carry on bag even if you're traveling by car? I do, and consider it a must for pleasant, organized, and efficient travel. What will you need at finger tips? How heavy will it be (more important if you're packing for a carry on for plane travel), will it go through security safely?

The items I put in my carry bag regardless of whether I'm traveling by car or traveling by plane are:
My Camera
My GPS
A water bottle
My yarn

If I'm traveling by plane I add a pair of footies, and sometimes a book.

I have lots of canvas bags and use them constantly; but for carry on they must have a zipper and an extra pocket. The extra pocket is where I put my boarding pass, and my footies. I like the little footies for standing and walking through the security line. Not about to walk on that floor or carpet where thousands of people have; many with dirty feet. Boarding pass is something you want to be able to grab quickly, and not have to root in backpack, purse, or brief case/ laptop case for.

Pack LIGHT! I put my yarn, the needles or hooks I need for that item, and pattern if I'm using one in a zip lock bag sealed inside the carry on. Keeps it neat, clean, organized, and dry. Water bottles can leak, and have condensation which can be a problem. Likewise my GPS and or book would be in a sealed zip lock bag. I always use the freezer zip locks, as they're heavier and hold up far better than the regular ones. Additionally, if security needs to look through your carry on, they don't make a mess of everything. They can see right away what everything is.

I always have the camera in a small padded camera bag for protection again inside the carry on. Ladies this is for you, leave enough room in your carry on bag to put your purse inside it and still be able to zip it shut. The carry on bag should have shoulder straps so you can comfortable carry it. The bag needs to small enough to shove under the seat in front of you. If you count on being able to put it in the above compartments, it's not then at your finger tips. It's not convenient and you have to jump and down constantly to get what you need. Not only is that a nuisance to you, but it's a HUGE annoyance to your fellow travelers, and sometimes it's not possible. Sometimes with rough air travel you're not permitted to get up; and sometimes due to people carrying on too much your carry bag is no where near you. Again, that defeats the purpose. PARENTS should pay particular attention to this. You probably need items for your children, you need it to be organized, you need it to be at finger tips.

Can you count the number of times you've seen a harried traveler not being able to find something they need? The mother with a huge heavy purse flapping open as she bangs her way down the aisle. People who need help lifting their carry on bag because it's too heavy for them to lift. Bags that end up needing to be checked because their too big, they don't fit under the seat and the room above is gone? People with multiple plastic bags losing items as they go? Take time, think about what you need and pack it neatly. When you throw something together, you risk breaking it, losing it, and causing travel delays.

Always toss in a couple of extra zip lock bags in your carry on bag, and your suitcase. They are always useable.

Getting the most out of your Cell Phone and GPS when Traveling

Cell phones, we all them and use them daily; but they're not much good to you when you travel if you leave home without them being fully charged! How many of you have tried to reach a friend or family member for an urgent purpose while they were on vacation and not been able to reach them. People toss the phone in their pockets and purses without checking to make sure it is FULLY charged. Yes, I know most of us don't need to charge the phone daily; you might not reach your destination as planned (due to unforeseen delays) in order to plug in. You might reach your destination during a storm and electrical outage. No electric leaves you no ability to plug in and recharge.

• Fully charge your cell phone and your bluetooth before you leave home
• If traveling by car, use your bluetooth it's far safer than reaching for your cell phone
• Pack your charger for both your cell phone and your bluetooth in your carry on bag if you're traveling by plane. That way, if you're delayed you'll have necessary plugs and hopefully have the ability to plug in, if necessary
• Pack your car charger for your cell phone. If you're traveling by car this is a MUST. It can charge while your touring around and it doesn't rely on being near an electrical outlet. If you're traveling by plane, it's handy if you're going to rent a car as well.
• Add phone numbers to your hotels BEFORE you leave home. You don't want fumble around looking for a phone number should you need to alter your reservations. If you need directions to their locations you have the number at your finger tips.

The cell phone really is more then an entertainment piece, it is truly a tool--a safety tool at that. Add your emergency contacts to your cell phone BEFORE you hit the road.
GPS....love mine, and use it all the time. I feel safer having one. You can use them to find your way from point A to point B, certainly. You can also use it to find where to get gas, where to get food near where you are.

• Make sure your GPS is FULLY charged before you leave home
• Make your car charger. You can use it in your personal care or your rental
• Add the names, phone numbers, and addresses of your hotels, airports and wherever you know you'll be traveling ahead of time.
• Don't leave your GPS visible in your car. Put it in your purse, carry on type bag, out of site perhaps in the glove box. Leaving this visible in the car is an invitation to theft.

Remember, a GPS may not be aware of detours or new roads. Though there are GPS's that give you the updates; it's my experience it's not the model most of us have.

Flat Stanley & Flat Joe at a Leathers Playground

Silly Stanley, he and Flat Joe missed Friday Fun with Flat Stanley yesterday. They apparently were too busy having a good time to come and post and tell you all about it. Here they both are at Wickliffe Elementary Playground in Upper Arlington, Ohio. This is a very special playground you see. It was built in 1989-1990 as a community build. Everyone got in the act. First all the school kids told Leathers People what they wanted in their playground. The kids talked, drew pictures, and made models. Then a plan was drawn up by by The Leathers Team and presented to the parents along with the price tag. Fund-raising ensued and for a week everyone came together, students, teachers, parents, and neighbors in the community to building this fabulous playground. Everyone was involved in some manner. Some took care of tools, some carried work equipment to and from, others prepared food and drink to keep us workers going hour after hour, others babysat so parents could pound nails Follow us now and we'll show you this marvelous playground. Come on in through the gate where Flat Stanley and Flat Joe are....

Hang on Joe, it swings. That's pretty cool. See behind Flat Joe? Things of different sizes for different age kids to enjoy. Fun spaces to crawl and play hide n seek, places to climb, places to sit and read. Even a little stage where kids can perform.


Flat Stanley here walking on a rail, while Flat Joe is exercising on the rings. Look careful and or click to enlarge the picture to see Joe.
Walkways, Castles, benches, play phones, swings, and slides and more. Flat Stanley and Flat Joe had a marvelous time playing and learning all about this really cool playground; but you know what they thought was the coolest? People working together to accomplish good are unstoppable. Flat Joe of Joseph Allen's Designs, said it's just like all the people pulling together on The Bridge and Beyond, there they make a difference one stitch at a time, and here they built a playground one board at a time.

Joe's on his way home now after 4 fun adventures here with Flat Stanley. If you missed any of their fun, you can catch up here:
Not a ordinary playground
Traveling Buckeye Style
Flat Joe and Flat Stanley

Pack a Flashlight

Pack a flashlight or two. I always, always, always pack a flash light. If I'm traveling by car I pack a flashlight. If I'm traveling by plane, I always pack a flashlight. Going for a quick wk-end or a nice long vacation, yep I pack a flashlight in either case.
WHY?

1. Electric can go off anywhere, anytime. After all it goes off at home, right? Why wouldn't it go off due to a storm or electrical problem when you're traveling?
2. Hotel rooms are dark, which is really nice when you're trying to get some sleep; but when you wake up in different places all the time can you see your way to bathroom in the middle of night? Not normally. Thus the little flashlight on the right in above picture is something always packed in my ditty bag for all trips, long or short. It's always placed on my bedside nightstand in hotel rooms. It always get's used!
3. The flashlight on the left is a new item we've gotten really hooked on. You do not need batteries! Batteries are heavy. Regular batteries are expensive, always have to be replaced and are not at all environmentally friendly. If you use (and we do 99.9% of the time), rechargeable batteries, then you need to be sure and pack the recharger. This flashlights run by being cranked up. See the handle? You crank it a few times, then snap it back down and you have light. We've tested it out. We cranked about 40 times and it ran all night. It's small, lightweight, easy to use and the light has 2 levels--regular and bright. So, it really is one that you can see with.
4. If traveling by car, hubby usually has a large heavy duty flashlight in the car. This is a safety must! If you're on the road at night and have a problem, you really do need to see what you're doing. Maybe you need to change a flat, hard to do without a good flashlight.

Sometimes we're caught off guard and things happen one doesn't expect, with truly with a little bit of forethought and planning you can be prepared for almost anything. Being prepared, being organized can make your trips so much more enjoyable. Being organized, being safe and planning ahead can make what could be a bad situation nothing more then a little bump in the road.