A couple of weeks ago I was at a friends house who was moving. While at her house and watching her pack, I saw the LARGEST zip lock bags I have ever seen. It was large enough to hold a duvet, or pillows, or clothes, and it had a zip lock on the top, just like the little bags, that we all have in our cupboards. That got me to thinking about all the different size bags and how we make use of them in our daily lives.

I am always trying to find new ways to pack more efficently. I’ve tried rolling my shirts (I don’t think I saved that much room by doing that), I put my socks in my shoes to save space, but I think the one thing that I am sure a lot of people already know about it for packing – use Zip Lock bags.

I always used zip locks for my toiletry products, sunscreen sprays and stuff like that. I bought the PC exlarge bags which were a much better price than the named brand items. I used them for my undergarments as they fold nicely and you can get enough for 10 days in one large size bag. Once you flatten the air out of the bags, you can put much more in them. Similar to those bags that you see on tv.

The large bags can also be used for putting your electronical chargers, cords and plug ins for your different devices, DS games for your kids, even different lenses for your camera if you are not taking your full camera bag while you are travelling.

The smaller size bags have so many uses, most of which I am sure you are already doing when you travel.

Sandwich size bags – so many uses: obiviously, snacks that you have taken out of their original packaging – nuts, dried fruits, jube jubes, whatever you can buy at the bulk barn; your ear buds for your ipods; your passports if you don’t have a passport holder (and even if you do, extra protection is never a bad thing).

The snack size ones (the little ones) – you can put extra memory cards; batteries; jewellery (keep it separate in your travel case).

So, the next time you are travelling either by car or by air, and you have to pack an overnight bag or for a two week vacation, make a stop at your local store for some different size bags.