I know a lot of us struggle with unpacking straight after coming home from a trip- I feel I’ve seen a thousand people post pictures of their half unpacked, half strewn across the room suitcase jumbles. One thing I pride myself on is my ability to come home and immediately get my house straightened up after a trip. Not to brag, but last week I cleaned out my closet, unpacked all our clothes and gifts from Christmas, washed and changed our sheets and dirty clothes, took down all our Christmas decorations and more just in a few hours! Obviously I don’t have or travel with kids/a lot of people, but I am proud of my ability to unpack and clean up after a two person trip.
So, I thought I would round up a few of my tips for unpacking and cleaning up after getting home from a long trip today!
1. Make sure your house is semi-tidy before the trip
Sometimes this looks like my house being spotless before we leave and sometimes it does not. It really just depends on what life is like before the trip and how long we’re going to be gone/where we are going. I will say though, this is always somewhere high on the priority list before we leave.
If possible
- Make sure all your dishes are clean or sitting almost clean in the dishwasher waiting for you to come back
- Have all the trash taken out (including bathroom trash)
- Make sure your living room is “staged” (blankets folded and pillows in place)
- Bathrooms are mostly clean
- If you’re really thinking ahead, have your bedsheets stripped and ready to be washed as soon as you return.
This makes getting back so much easier. Without worrying about these smaller details, you can focus on laundry, reorganizing all the things you’ve had packed and getting reset. I also just know not having to think about my house being a wreck while we’re gone takes one less worry out of my mind.
2. Put on a podcast, audiobook, YouTube video or album you’ve been waiting to listen to
Maybe this is specific to me, but there are usually several entertainment pieces I’ve not been able to listen to/watch while on a trip. This is usually due to the fact that I’m not really by myself to consume things that only I would like or want to have for less distracting times.
I love tucking away an audiobook, podcast or YouTube video just for this time. It helps me feel like I’m still indulging in a “treat,” but I’m also getting what I really need to get done, done. Something about it is so satisfying and helps me stretch out chore time far longer than I usually would after a long day of traveling.
3. Use Packing Cubes
This one tip has completely changed the game for me! I got these ahead of my study abroad trip a few years ago, and now I can’t imagine going anywhere without them. They’re not only handy to use for packing before your trip, but also convenient for the way home. I really like how these encourage me to keep my clothes tidy during the trip, pack my clothes back up after the trip and easily unpack them once I am home. Unpacking is a lot more manageable when you’re taking it one cube at a time rather than the entire suitcase. Also, when packing up to leave the trip, you can designate one of the cubes to be specifically for dirty clothes, which leads me to my next tip.
4. Get Laundry Out Immediately
If you have packing cubes, you can easily designate one to be specifically for dirty clothes when you’re about to head home from your vacation. This doesn’t always happen for me, but regardless we still get all our laundry out and in piles. I also like to wash and change our sheets whenever we come home from time away, so I immediately get the laundry started because it usually takes the longest.
3. Unpack toiletries the next day
Ah, the only bit of procrastination lies here. I find it helps to delay just a tiny portion of the unpacking to give yourself a little break. Just grab whatever container your toiletries are in (if you don’t have a designated travel set of items), place them on your bathroom counter and unpack throughout the course of your day/night time routine. I know this is the exact situation we’re trying to avoid, but toiletries are less likely to get strewn all across your room and take days to find the time to deal with them.
I hope these tips help the next time you embark on a trip! I know these five tips to make unpacking easier make all the difference for me when it comes to getting back in the swing of things after vacation. I’ll link some of my favorite travel accessories in case you’re looking for some new ones!
