Own a second toiletry kit that stays packed
Duplicate every toiletry once, zip it in a bag, and never pack a toothbrush again.
eric has done this
The moment
You're leaving at 6am. It's 11:30pm and you're standing in the bathroom pulling your own deodorant out of the cabinet, because it's the only one you own. Tomorrow morning it will be in a hotel in another state and you will be looking for it here.
Every trip, the same twenty minutes, and roughly one forgotten item.
What you need
- A dopp kit or zip pouch — whatever you already travel with.
- A duplicate of every daily toiletry — toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, razor, floss, any medication you take daily, contact solution, nail clippers.
- Travel sizes are optional — full sizes are fine if you check a bag, and they last a year.
Do this
- On your next normal store run, buy a second one of everything on the list above. It's a one-time cost of maybe $40.
- Pack them in the bag. Add a spare phone charger and a spare pair of contacts if you wear them.
- Put the bag in the suitcase and leave it there. Not the bathroom cabinet — the suitcase. That's the whole trick.
- Keep a slip of paper inside listing anything that can't live in the bag: prescriptions, retainer, CPAP.
- When you come home from a trip, restock the one or two things that ran out, and put the bag straight back in the suitcase before you unpack anything else.
What changes
Packing goes from twenty minutes to zero for the bathroom half of the trip. You'll know it's working the first time you book a next-morning flight and it doesn't matter.
The failure mode is raiding the travel bag at home when you run out of something. Don't. That's how it stops working.
