How to Pack for an Extended Trip: A Guide for Essential Workers
Construction workers, medical personnel, traveling nurses, caregivers, and business people often make long trips, spending weeks or even months wherever their work has led them. Due to the nature of our extended stay hotels, WoodSpring Suites sees plenty of essential workers and traveling professionals, some of whom have turned packing into high art. We’ve gathered tips from these packing pros to help you learn how to pack for a long trip, whether you’re on the road for work or traveling for pleasure.
Essentials: Pack or Buy?
One of the most important steps in how to pack for a month-long trip is to decide what you can simply buy at your destination. While glasses, contact lenses, and medication are essential, common toiletry items often don’t need packing. Why take up extra space in your luggage for soap, toothbrushes, and shampoo when a quick trip to the store will provide everything you need for your stay?
The flip side to this, of course, is if you feel items may be hard to come by at your destination, or if you require special products not easily available. Below is an essential packing list for a long trip. Go through it and see which items, if any, you can just buy when you get where you’re going:
- toothbrush/toothpaste
- shampoo and conditioner
- body wash
- makeup
- blow dryer/curling iron
- perfume/cologne
If you are packing toiletries, bag them in secure zip lock bags or wrap them tightly in grocery bags limit spillage if bottle caps loosen. Also, and this is important if you’re considering how to pack for a month-long business trip, be sure to refill any medical prescriptions so you have enough medication for your time away from home.
Clothes Packing for a Long Trip
The clothes you’ll pack for an extended stay depend partly on the nature of your work: an oil rig worker will need to pack very different clothes than a traveling nurse. Outside of work clothes, pack clothing that’s appropriate for the season and climate.
Choose items of clothing you can use to form different outfits. As a general rule of thumb, you’ll want to pack:
- 10 shirts, blouses, or other tops
- 8 pants, skirts, or dresses
- 2 pairs of footwear
- enough socks and undergarment to last a week
You’ll have access to a laundry room at your extended stay hotel, so if you're committed to packing light you shouldn’t need more than a week’s worth of clothes. It’s also a good idea to avoid any clothing that requires special care, such as ironing or hand washing. Again, your choices here may be determined by your expected work attire.
Electronics and Entertainment
Portable electronic devices are wonderful tools for people who have to travel for work. A phone, laptop, or tablet makes it possible to stay in contact with your family through text, social media, and videoconferencing, as well as providing entertainment. Downloading new apps, games, music, movies, and books has become as much a part of how to pack for a long trip as choosing clothes and toiletries.
If you are taking electronic devices with you, pack them securely and well away from toiletries. Charging cables can be packed together in a ziplock or glasses case to keep them secure and prevent tangling. In addition to phones, tablets, and chargers, consider a USB power bar, so you can charge all your devices from a single outlet.
Packing Tips for a Long Trip
Fitting everything into a suitcase or travel bag can be a hassle. Here are a few suggestions for how to pack for a month-long trip:
- Roll clothing to take up less space and prevent wrinkles
- If you must take clothing that needs ironing, consider packing a portable travel iron
- Put small items that need cushioning in shoes. Socks can also be stuffed into shoes
- Take the tops off toiletry bottles, place a piece of plastic wrap over the opening, and rescue tops to reduce the risk of leaks
- Place a dryer sheet in the bottom of your suitcase to keep clothes smelling fresh
We hope our primer on how to pack for a month-long business trip makes your next stay at an extended stay hotel more comfortable. For additional suggestions, check out tips for living in an extended stay suite.
