4 great Disneyland tips

I'm actually kind of shocked that I haven't written a post about visiting Disneyland. Before I became a professional organizer, I had an annual pass to Disneyland for several years, but I haven't gone as much lately. It is one of my favorite destinations and a great place to spend a few hours or a few days.

I have my own Lelah-patented method of "doing Disneyland" that I've perfected over dozens of visits. It maximizes the time I spend on my favorite rides and activities and minimizes time waiting in line. What works for me doesn't work for everyone, as every family has its own unique Disneyland approach. Even so, I do think I have some useful tips for just about anyone visiting the park.

Me, my brother and my dad at Disneyland circa 1986.

1. Do utilize the FastPass option. FastPass is a way to spend less time in line for the best rides, but you have to be careful to return at your designated time, and you can only get one at a time. To get the most out of FastPass, be sure to get one for the busiest rides (Raiders, Space Mountain) early in the day, because sometimes the FastPasses run out. Also, don't be afraid to send one envoy with everyone's tickets to get all the FastPasses for a given ride while the rest of the group is doing something else.
2. If you pass a ride and the line looks short, but you were planning to do it later, just go on it now. You will hate to come back and see the line is much longer than before. Good spontaneous rides and usually short waits: Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh.
3. Feeling hot and tired? Take a break in the Tiki Room, on the train, or even on Pirates of the Caribbean, which is the longest ride in the park and nice and cool.
4. Don't go in the gift shops. You don't need anything in there and you'll have to carry whatever you buy around all day. But, if you do want something like Mickey ears or a hat, get that early so you can enjoy it all day long.

I feel like I could go on an on...perhaps there is a follow up post in the cards. In any event, the next time you make the trip to the happiest place on earth, have a spectacular time!

Top 5 packing tips

**This post was originally published in my monthly e-newsletter, Lelah's News. Don't subscribe? Sign up here!

According to Inc. Magazine (June 2012), the amount airline passengers were charged in baggage fees in 2010 was an astounding $3.4 billion. Obviously, what makes economic sense to the airlines does not make economic sense to many of its passengers. Checking bags is now a luxury we may not be able to afford. Therefore, packing light has never been more attractive. Aside from the time and money saved by not checking bags, it can be liberating to travel light and have less stuff to worry about when in transit. Here are my top packing tips:

1. Pack clothes in easily washable and quick drying fabrics like nylon or polyester, or at least cotton blends containing such materials. Hand wash as needed.
2. Wear one set of all-purpose jewelry on the plane and skip packing alternates.
3. Take some of your savings from not checking a bag, invest in an e-reader and forgo heavy paper books and magazines.
4. Use packing cubes - they really work to pack the most amount of stuff into a small space.
5. Remember - wherever you're going, they probably have stores that sell toothpaste, underwear and batteries, so don't panic if you forget something or run out of supplies.

For more packing advice check out my previous post - Preparing for travel: packing

Poll #5: Planning for the holidays

I was a little surprised at the results for my last poll: Is it too soon to start planning for the holidays? While I'm a bit torn on this issue myself, I didn't expect it to be so close! 60% of respondents said Not at all, while 40% said Yes, it is. Personally, while I love the fun and family aspects of the fall to winter season (back-to-school all the way through the new year), I never want to start so early with the planning and celebrating that the magic wears off or I get overexposed to holiday fervor. However, there are some things you can do to prepare that aren't going overboard and will make the season go more smoothly:

• Find out how the people you tend to spend holidays with are feeling about travel and hosting. Figuring out where you might be on the major holidays is a big first step. Then you can make travel, lodging and time-off arrangements.
• Focus on the early fall holidays, like Rosh Hashanah or even Halloween, so you can feel some of that holiday spirit without getting too far ahead of yourself.
• Make lists. Lists are a good way to order your thoughts, but you don't have to act on them right away. Lists I've already begun: Halloween card recipients, menu ideas for Thanksgiving and Christmas gift ideas.

I'm really looking forward to the traditions that make holidays so much fun in my family, but I'm practicing patience as best I can...the holidays will be here soon enough for us all, I'm sure!

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by nao.k

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

Escape from the storage unit

In June I went to Maine charged with the task of eliminating the need for three 10 foot by 20 foot storage units. It took three days. At the end of the three days, three enormous truck loads of items had been removed to the dump or for reuse or resale by the junk man. One smaller truck load of items had been taken to auction. Several silver items had been sold for cash to the auction man. A cargo crate of forty oil paintings had been shipped across the country. 27 small boxes had also been shipped across the country for one client's new home. A fair amount of things had been integrated into the other client's nearby home. And there was no more need for the storage units.

It looks so innocent.

One of the storage units on the first day.

The key to our ability to that quickly pare down to just a few items being shipped to my client's new home was all in my clients' frame of mind. They no longer wanted to pay for the storage units. They were starting life in a different state, and did not want or need the physical items they'd had in the past, so they were ready to let a lot go. That attitude combined with the wonderful auction man and his amazing associate, the junk man, who were ready to take away everything on our schedule was what made the quick turnaround possible.

A lot of trash.

Deciding what to keep, what to sell and what to let go of.

It was physically exhausting work, even though the long Maine summer days were complemented by truly perfect summer weather (no bugs!), and it was mentally and emotionally draining for my clients to continually make decision after decision all day long. But at the end, there was a palpable sense of relief at having accomplished our goal and a sense of freedom at being able to start a new chapter of life unburdened by the objects of the past.

A small pile of boxes to ship.

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

Making do and making organized

While on my summer vacation I went up to Conrad and Brady, Montana, where I'm related to a sizable chunk of the population. At my cousins' farm I took some photos that illustrate how even when you have all the space in the world, you still have to organize in order to find stuff, and reusing things is a way of life.

Big sky country.

5 gallon buckets become parts holders in the garage.

Cubbyholes built in to the back wall of the garage contain small parts.

Old fence poles make perfect fireplace logs.

 

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

Space saving vase

Well, my wonderful weeks of summer travel are over and I saw and did so many things I want to share on this blog. Tune in as I ramp back up to my regular blogging frequency! 

One neat thing I found was a collapsible vase. I've seen these on other organizers' blogs, but had never seen one in person, until I came across this lovely striped one at a design store in Buenos Aires a couple of weeks ago. The idea of these things is that you can store your vase flat when it is not in use and then fill it with water to transform it into a useful 3-D object. Since vases are kind of a bulky pain to store and also often delicate and difficult to transport, the design of this object solves those problems and make an organizing-minded person smile!

This vase also made my mother-in-law smile, as I brought one back for her. My initial thought was that she, a great flower lover, could use it when she travels to brighten a hotel room with a local bouquet of flowers, as well as be an addition to her vase collection. She's also an artist who makes gorgeous prints from photos, the subjects of which are often flowers. She sent me these photos to demonstrate the collapsible flower vase at work.

 

 

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

A year ago: Carry-on, organizer.

Last year in June I shared all the various ways you can keep in touch with me online. I also wrote about my transition from a checked-bag-person to a carry-on-bag-person. I'm still exclusively carry-on, and the two trips I have planned this summer will be a great test to that. Heads-up readers, in July I'll be away for three whole weeks! I'm going to try to have some content scheduled, but for the most part I will be well and truly on vacation. And I'm only packing a carry-on. For three weeks. I'm pretty excited about the prospect, actually. I will be able to do laundry at almost every destination, so that helps a lot, but I'm also managing three fairly distinct climates, so that will be interesting. I'm thinking layering. Anyway.

This is a Zuca carry-on suitcase that I've been coveting for years. Photo from zuca.com

I love these next two posts. One is about seeing our living spaces with fresh eyes and figuring out how we can pare down. That feeling of possibility and freshness that you get when you first move in somewhere and it's completely empty is a feeling that I like to recapture every now and again in my own spaces. Try it out! The next post encourages you to get help when tackling difficult organizing tasks, particularly garages, clothes closets and going through a deceased person's stuff.

Lastly, here's a review of the book Organizing Outside the Box by Hellen Buttigieg and Sari Brandes.

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com. Sign up for Lelah's News, a once-monthly newsletter.

How to organize camping meals

My friend Roslyn is a food innovator. She has a website where you can find nutritionally perfect recipes and she taught me a great way to keep meal prep organized when you are camping or staying someplace like a cabin or vacation rental where you have to bring every single ingredient with you. 

Choose your meals and do as much prep work ahead of time at home. If making corn bread for instance, measure out  the dry ingredients and put them all in a Ziploc bag. Chop up the veggies for the stir fry in advance. Then, place everything you'll need for that meal in a sturdy bag (like a paper grocery bag or the kind of reusable grocery bag that has a bottom). Put any specialty equipment in the bag, too. Label the bag according to the meal that's inside. Depending on how far you have to travel, put the highly perishable items on ice in a cooler, and label each one with a Sharpie according to what meal it will be used in. 

For example, the bag for a dinner of cornbread and chili might include the cornbread dry ingredients, a container of vegetable oil, cans of beans, a pre-measured mix of spices, chopped vegetables and a can opener. The right amount of eggs, butter and ground meat would be labeled in your cold storage. You could even slip the recipe inside the bag, or the pots and pans you'll use.

The beauty of this system is threefold:

1. You bring exactly the right amount of food. If you plan it out, you shouldn't have leftover cans or bags to schlepp home, and as long as you don't cannibalize from the bags, you won't run out of food, either.
2. It makes it super easy for people to help you in the kitchen.
3. You won't come in from a big hike and wonder what to make out of the hodgepodge of items you brought.

Give it a try and see how well it works for you!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Travel digest and moving: stage four

I'm preparing for both a move and an extended trip. I've found my organizational systems challenged as I manage both tasks in addition to the work of my business, including client work, and the work of day to day life. The trash still has to be taken out and the dishes done, even as the moving boxes pile up and the emails fly back and forth about travel plans.

Having some tried and true packing methods has really saved me, as I haven't had to worry about the trip, and packing for the move has been time-consuming, but not difficult.

Here are some of my packing for the move rules:

• Don't pack anything you don't want in the new place. This includes furniture. We have a sizable stack of stuff that will Goodwilled or Freecycled before the movers come.
• Pack the stuff you absolutely use every day last, even if it means like objects get split up. I need my frying pans, and all the kitchen stuff will have to get sorted out again at the new place anyway.
• Repurpose clothes, towels, bedding and dishcloths as packing material where possible.
• LABEL. I like to quickly list as many specific items that are inside a box as possible. At least write a few things, like "mixing bowls" or "cutlery," rather than simply "kitchen." When you are in your new home looking desperately for the coffee maker, you'll be glad you did.

Here are some of my past posts on packing. I'm doing the carry-on/quasi-minimalist packing thing this time again and loving it.

• Preparing for travel: packing
• Pre-trip planning for reunion weekend
• Minimalist packing - something I aspire to

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Moving: stage two

A week ago, I blogged about how my husband and I had decided to move. In that post I wrote,

Plus, we aren't really in a hurry, so we can take our time finding the right place.

Well, we weren't in a hurry, but we found the right place this week anyway. And since we decided we wanted to live there, the machinery of moving has been started and it doesn't matter how leisurely we'd like the experience to be. We have a deadline now to pack, move and unpack all our stuff, complicated by a two-week-long out-of-state trip we are going starting next week. I'm practicing my deep breathing as I type.

Our plan is to pack everything before the trip and upon our return do the physical move and all that entails (cleaning both places, possibly painting a few walls in the new place, ordering utilities for the new place and canceling the ones here, plus changing our address - the most daunting task. I haven't done it in years. Ahh. Breathing.)

I'm still hoping to achieve what I mention in that previous post:

...that we can maintain this non-stressed-out attitude throughout all the stages of the move!

That remains to be seen, but I'm at least very excited by the new place and the possibilities that it opens up for us!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Travel size toiletries donation

I usually can't resist stashing the tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner from hotel bathrooms into my bag as I'm packing up from my stay. I might even use the bottles of lotion or small cakes of soap. But more often than not, the bottles just stack up in the bathroom cupboard, until I go into de-clutter mode.

If you have your own (unused, unopened) personal toiletry item collection, I urge you to let it go to a place where it will be really appreciated. Shelters for homeless people and other people in need always welcome those donations. Food banks will usually take them in addition to non-perishable foods. It's easier for them to offer travel-size toiletries as they can be used once per person, which is more hygienic than sharing.

Places in Los Angeles to donate these items:
San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission
Downtown Women's Center
Westside Food Bank

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by jeffgunn


Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Minimalist packing

I'm not a minimalist. Not the in sense that this person is, or this person. But I do find lots about a minimalist lifestyle attractive, considering that when you come down to it, all we really need is shelter, food, clothing, and some books.

For a long time I resisted being a carry-on baggage person. I liked checking my bag and not  having to worry about wrangling it through the airport, through multiple layovers, and got used to waiting at my destination for it to (hopefully) come rolling out at baggage claim. I didn't want to be one of those people who held everyone up while they tried to stuff their suitcase into a clearly-too small space in the overhead bin, or have to worry about the ounces of my liquids. Also, having been a Girl Scount, my motto is "always be prepared," which makes one lean in the over-packing department, "just in case" it should snow, rain, freeze, or have a heat-wave in rural Northern Vermont in June. (Unfortunately, those are all actual possibilities.)

But then the airlines started charging for checked bags - sometimes $25 a pop, which, if you are traveling with multiple people, starts to add up. If they'd simply added in this surcharge with the ticket price (which they probably do anyway), I wouldn't have cared or noticed. But having to swipe my debit card when checking in stung. It made an already often unpleasant (I normally fly out of LAX) process a step less enjoyable.

So my husband and I became carry-on people. I have the largest suitcase you can have and still get away with carry-on, and I'd dearly, dearly love to be one of those people who have the doll-sized rolling bag, the kind that looks like it holds a pair of jeans and some flip-flops and that's it. I don't know how those people do it. Maybe they're only going somewhere for a single night?

Anyway, I'm not getting a new bag - yet - but in the meantime, even though I have quite a bit of room, I am not going to fill it up with stuff I don't need. For a seven day long trip, I'm packing about four day's worth of clothing and plan to do laundry halfway through. Everyone who writes about packing lightly will tell you that the key is being able to wash your clothes. So, that's my plan. But I'm also going further. I'm only wearing one set of jewelry on the plane. I usually wear a different pair of earrings and different necklaces everyday, so that will be different. Where we are going isn't terrible urban, but they do have stores. I can buy toiletries there if the small items I have run out, which they probably won't. I always overestimate that stuff. I'm also only bringing three books. That might sound like a lot, but I'm going on vacation, and I'm a fast reader - especially on planes, when I crave an engaging story to pass the time. But I think that will be enough. Again, I can always borrow something to read from someone else on the trip, buy and read the newspaper, or get a novel at the grocery store if I'm really desperate.

So, it may not sound super-minimalist, but compared to what I'd like to pack, it's a change. I'll be back in a week and half. See you then!

To read more about minimalist packing, Miss Minimalist has a great comprehensive post.

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Preparing for reunion weekend

This weekend is Wesleyan University's Reunion and Commencement weekend. My husband will be enjoying his 5-year reunion, while I am tagging along for my 6th. We've been looking forward to this event for months, as it will give us both an opportunity to see the changes to the Wesleyan campus, see friends we might not have seen in years, and visit with our favorite professors.

The trip is going to be a quick one - a red eye to get to the East Coast, and then two nights in Connecticut, followed by an afternoon flight home on the third day. In order to get the most out of our time there, and to make the airplane and car portions more enjoyable,  we've done quite a bit of preparation beforehand, including:

• Assembled and printed copies of our flight itinerary, rental car information, maps to and from the airport and Middletown.
• We looked over the reunion weekend schedule and decided which events we want to attend and mapped out our days to make sure we can fit them all in.
• Figured out a place to have breakfast when we arrive in New York  before driving to Connecticut.
• Contacted various friends also attending to make sure we get to see them amidst the whirlwind.
• I bought myself a travel neck pillow to make the red-eye more comfortable.
• We had our dry cleaning done.
• I set aside some books I'd been looking forward to reading for the flights.
• We'll tidy the house, including tossing food that's going to go bad, taking out all the trash and recycling and closing up the windows and blinds.
• Made sure we have some cash on hand for incidental purchases.
• Charged my camera battery.
• Charged my iPods and loaded music, videos and pictures I'll want to have for the trip.
• Packed only carry-on luggage according to my own packing guidelines.

We're looking forward to a smooth and memorable trip!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com 

Clutter-free gifts: Romantic

The next category in the clutter-free gifts series is meant specifically for your significant other. There can be extra pressure at the holidays to come up with a particularly brilliant or meaningful gift for your romantic partner. Instead of fretting over jewelry or clothes they might not like or need, show how much you just want to spend quality time with them with a thoughtful but clutter-free gift.

• Have an "in-town vacation" by getting a hotel room in your immediate area for a night or two
• Consumables like sweets, chocolates, wine and champagne chosen just for them
• Ballroom dance lessons for the two of you
• Flowers, cut
• Massage certificate/couples massage session
• Massage oil/lotion
• A surprise trip to somewhere they have always wanted to go
• Wine tasting trip or event
• Movie night: you provide the tickets, candy, popcorn
• Go on a tour of significant places, such as your first date spot, your first apartment together, etc.
• Condoms

Creative Commons photo posted to Flickr by gary j wood
Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com 

Preparing for moving to college

Though I haven’t had to get ready for back school season in a while, the memories of packing and moving to college are much fresher in my mind. Going away to school for the first time is thrilling, and if you don’t have older siblings or friends to guide you, it can be a bit disorienting to find yourself in a new place, having to bring all the possessions you think you’ll need and want with you. Here are some tips to make that initial transition easier, and more organized:

What to bring:

• Flip flops, shower caddy
• Laundry bag. Baskets are nicer, but they take up too much room.
• Healthy snacks. Skip the candy, ramen and chips and go for dried fruit, nuts and low-fat microwave popcorn (The popcorn smell will be sure to attract some of your hall mates and is a great ice breaker-provided you share).
• Climate-appropriate clothing. Whether you are moving from southern California to northern, or all the way from Florida to Maine or New York to Hawaii, you’re definitely going to need different outerwear. Don’t be caught sweltering or freezing, research the climate and order clothes online if you can’t get appropriate clothes near you.
• Fan or white noise machine. A fan will give you an alternative to the background noise of your neighbor's GTA4 marathon and also get some air circulation into your room, avoiding stale smells.
• Checking account. Well before you leave, set up a checking account at a bank that has branches near your school, if you don’t already have one.
• Walking shoes. College life invariably involves a lot of walking, especially when you don’t have a car. Be nice to your feet and don’t wear flip flops everywhere.

What to leave:

• Flats of bottled water, food. You’ll be able to get those things on campus or nearby. You’re going to college, not to a bomb shelter.
• Expensive electronic equipment. It invites thieves and is usually unnecessary.
• Formal clothes and shoes. Maybe bring one nice dress or blazer. Otherwise, college tends to be pretty casual. You might want to invest in pajamas that could double as streetwear, though.
• Any heavy, bulky items or pieces of furniture. Your dorm room will come furnished with the basics, and you probably won’t have room for anything else. Plus, you’ll be moving again, either back home or to a transitional space or new room in four to nine months, and you won’t want to haul or store anything major.

Not a breakfast of champions

These tips will help, but remember, there’s no way to fully prepare for college life before you experience it for yourself, and you're going to make lots of mistakes as well as have the time of your life. So good luck and be safe!

Livable Solutions has more great tips, as does Unclutterer's college life tag.

Creative Commons shower caddy photo posted to Flickr by Noricum

Creative Commons Easy Mac photo posted to Flickr by bucklava

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to read it

I'm getting back in the swing of things at home and with my business after almost three weeks of traveling. Having a break from the normal routine always helps me gain perspective about my life and what is important to me. When I got back, I was thankful that I'd taken the time to clean my house thoroughly before I left, including laundry and refrigerator, so that even though I returned home with a suitcase full of dirty clothes I had some clean ones in the closet and even though I had to go out and buy the essentials almost immediately, my refrigerator wasn't moldering with food gone bad.

I had a lot of great organizing moments during the trip that I look forward to sharing with you. While I'm getting my photos organized and settling back in, I wanted to share one quick insight. I follow lots of blogs through Google Reader, and in my "organizing" folder I follow 79 blogs alone! I love reading what other professional organizers are writing about (and share some of them with you in my Friday Blog Digest feature), but after twenty days of not scanning the feeds, I had over 500 to-be-read items waiting for me. Though I'd like to be able to go back and read them all, I forced myself to scan just today's and yesterday's. I'm using the genius "mark all as read" feature to give myself a clean slate. I know I don't have time to read all of those 500 posts, and I'm not going to put extra pressure on myself to do it anyway. It's amazing that I have all of that information at my fingertips, but sometimes its worth remembering that just because we have access to so much, we don't have to actually access it.

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com

Preparing for travel: Packing

Confession: I love packing. I love packing for trips and I love unpacking at my destination. I like the idea of anticipating my needs, choosing my favorite things, and figuring out how to live on less stuff for a few days. In this case, I'm getting ready to be gone for almost three weeks. I'll be on six planes and spending time in four states, and I have to pack for snow, rain, heat and swimming. Luckily, no formal attire will be required and I'll be able to do laundry when I need to.

My packed toiletries for a 20 day trip. The small bag contains my makeup.

I hate feeling stressed, and packing for a trip at the last minute is guaranteed to cause stress. Therefore, I look at packing as a multi-day event. First, I compile an initial list of what I need to bring, or at least think about bringing. (I'm usually so excited about the trip/the prospect of packing that I do this a couple of weeks in advance.) Then, I check the weather at my destinations. I start a pile of things I want to bring in my carry-on as they occur to me. Right now on my coffee table are an odd assortment of thing not all of which will end up in the bag, but I like being able to see them all together. Two days before I go I make sure I launder all of the must-bring items. Then, a day in advance, I get out the suitcase, and start making piles of clothes and shoes. Approaching packing gradually like this means I'm less likely to forget something, because I have given myself plenty of time to remember it. Also, I'm able to think about outfit combinations and options more clearheadedly than if I'm in a rush and must pick five shirts-any five shirts.

As with everything in life, packing for a trip involves a balancing act between packing more than you need and enough to get by without excessive clothes washing or having to buy something new. A few rules of thumb that I go by:

• Pack at least one sweater or jacket that is warmer than you think you'll need.
• Pack your nicest sleepwear, socks and underwear. In situations where you might be waking up in the vicinity of family member or strangers, you'll be glad you left your ragged stuff at home.
• Don't bring jewelry you couldn't stand to lose, and don't pack anything delicate that will get tangled if you aren't wearing it.
• Pack only clothes that are in the same color family so you don't have to bring extra shoes or accessories.
• If you can help it, make your carry on as light as possible, especially if you have connecting flights. Try to find lighter books, and leave items you might normally keep in your purse like an address book at home, unless you are traveling for business. If you are planning to write postcards, enter your addresses in your cell phone or PDA, or type up a quick list of those people you know you want to write to and bring a single sheet instead of an entire book.
• Don't put anything in your checked bag that you absolutely would hate never to see again. Obviously, you'll have to check your favorite jeans, but those are replaceable. Anything truly precious to you should be left at home. You just never know.
• Don't bring anything on your carry-on that is forbidden by TSA. They have a lot of rules, so to pays to pay attention, especially when it comes to medications.

Part of my trip is going to be spent helping my relatives plan and pull off a three-family yard sale in rural Maine. Expect photos and reporting on how it goes upon my return. In the meantime, have a fantastic Father's Day/Summer Solstice and Independence Day!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com