The Art of Organized Travel: A Comprehensive Béis Luggage Review and Packing Guide
Embarking on a longer journey can often feel daunting, especially when it comes to packing. The quest for organized travel, where every item has its place and trips are stress-free, is a shared ambition for many. In the accompanying video, Sloan Byrd shares her invaluable insights into mastering this challenge, offering a detailed Béis luggage review and showcasing her meticulous packing process for a 10-day trip to Los Angeles. This post delves deeper into her strategies, expanding on the concepts to help you elevate your own travel preparations.
Whether you’re a seasoned globetrotter or planning your next big adventure, understanding how to maximize your luggage and streamline your packing can transform your experience. From pre-trip planning hacks to specific product recommendations and ingenious organization tips, we’ll explore how a thoughtful approach to packing, centered around quality luggage, can make all the difference.
1. Decoding the Durability: A Deep Dive into Béis Luggage
Quality luggage forms the backbone of any efficient packing system. Sloan highlights her devotion to the Béis brand, an increasingly popular choice founded by Shay Mitchell. Her experience underscores that while Béis luggage might not be the absolute cheapest on the market, its features, durability, and aesthetic appeal offer exceptional value, making it a worthy investment for frequent travelers.
The collection featured in the video includes the expansive check-in suitcase, the versatile carry-on, and the much-loved weekender bag. These pieces are not just stylish; they are engineered for practical travel. For instance, the large check-in suitcase, often priced around $278, provides ample space for longer trips, while the carry-on, typically about $200, offers convenience for shorter getaways or as a cabin companion.
Key Features that Elevate Your Travel Experience
Béis luggage distinguishes itself with several thoughtful design elements that directly address common traveler frustrations. These aren’t merely aesthetic choices; they are functional enhancements designed to simplify your journey.
- **The Weekender Bag’s Ingenuity:** This bag features a durable canvas exterior with faux patent leather trim and a poly lining, ensuring longevity. Its unique wire frame double zip opening provides a wide, cooler-like mouth, preventing the bag from collapsing and making it much easier to pack and access items. A standout feature is the double zip-around bottom compartment, which is water-resistant. This space is perfect for shoes, damp clothes, or even snacks, keeping them separate from your main belongings. It also includes exterior and interior pockets, along with a padded laptop sleeve with a Velcro strap closure, securing your electronics.
- **Suitcase Smart Design:** Both the check-in and carry-on suitcases boast a retractable bag attach strap, allowing you to secure a smaller bag atop your suitcase for effortless transport. A crucial innovation is the side carry handle with a 50-pound weight limit indicator. This ingenious clear window turns red if your bag exceeds 50 pounds, preventing unexpected overweight baggage fees at the airport. Furthermore, the 360-degree spinner wheels offer unparalleled maneuverability, navigating crowded terminals with ease. These suitcases are also expandable, providing that extra bit of space for souvenirs or last-minute additions, with numerous zip pockets both inside and out for organized storage.
2. The Art of Preparation: Strategies for Stress-Free Packing
Before any item touches a suitcase, a robust pre-packing strategy can significantly reduce stress and ensure nothing is forgotten. Sloan’s method is a testament to the power of thoughtful planning, especially for those who travel for content creation.
The Essential Digital Packing List
Creating a detailed packing list on your phone is a game-changer. This digital approach allows for easy editing, categorization, and reuse for future trips. Sloan organizes her list into distinct categories: airport outfit, general clothing, accessories, shoes, toiletries, electronics, and an “other” category for miscellaneous items. Additionally, a specific list for the weekender bag ensures that in-flight essentials are readily accessible.
This systematic categorization is crucial. It helps prevent oversight and allows you to mentally sort items before physical packing begins. For instance, the “electronics” category for a content creator might include a camera, chargers, tripods, portable power banks, and adapters, items that are often overlooked until the last minute.
Visualizing Outfits for Content Creation
For individuals creating content during their travels, planning outfits in advance is not merely about fashion; it’s a strategic move. Sloan creates visual collages for each planned content outfit, incorporating accessories, props (like a coffee cup or headphones), and even the desired location vibe. This advanced planning eliminates on-the-spot decision-making, ensuring a cohesive aesthetic and maximizing content opportunities.
This approach transforms potential stress into a smooth creative process. By pre-visualizing each look and its context, you ensure that every piece of clothing serves a purpose, preventing overpacking and optimizing your travel wardrobe for photography or video shoots.
3. Intelligent Organization: Packing Like a Pro
Once the preparation is complete, the actual packing process benefits immensely from strategic organization. This involves not just what you pack, but how you pack it, utilizing tools like packing cubes and thoughtful placement.
Streamlining Your Beauty & Toiletries
Makeup and toiletries can easily consume significant space if not managed effectively. Sloan employs a clear makeup bag, a Béis product, which simplifies identifying contents. A key step is to declutter, bringing only essentials for the specific trip. For her 10-day trip, this meant a careful curation of products, moving away from an overstuffed bag to a more practical selection.
When it comes to general toiletries, the use of Ziploc gallon bags for larger items can be an effective, budget-friendly solution. For in-flight essentials, a separate, smaller cosmetics bag is vital. Sloan’s Stoney Clover bag, brimming with travel-sized luxuries, includes items like Dr. Jart Vital Hydra Solution sheet masks (to combat airplane dryness), Molton Brown hand cream, Diptyque travel perfume, Laneige lip mask, and Peter Thomas Roth Hyaluronic Cloud Hydragel eye patches for ultimate hydration. A Rapid Response Maskne spray by René Rouleau is also a genius addition, creating a protective shield for mask-wearing, demonstrating how specific products can significantly enhance comfort and well-being during transit.
The Power of Packing Cubes
Packing cubes are a non-negotiable tool for organized travelers. Sloan uses them to compress clothing, maximize suitcase space, and segregate items. These come in various sizes and condense down, making them highly versatile. For her extensive wardrobe, including multiple outfits, loungewear, pajamas, and even professional attire for agency meetings, packing cubes ensure everything fits neatly into her large Béis check-in suitcase.
A notable advantage of the specific packing cubes Sloan uses is the inclusion of dedicated laundry bags for dirty clothes and shoe bags. This prevents soiled items from mixing with clean ones and keeps shoe soles from dirtying other belongings. This thoughtful addition simplifies post-trip unpacking and laundry, reflecting a truly organized approach.
4. Your Weekender Bag: In-Flight and Immediate Essentials
The weekender bag serves as your immediate access point for in-flight comfort and early destination needs. It’s strategically packed with items that enhance the journey and prepare you for arrival.
A Curated Collection of In-Flight Comforts
Sloan’s weekender bag is a masterclass in preparing for a long flight. It includes a book (Atomic Habits by James Clear), YSL sunglasses for arrival, and practical health items like cough drops, Ice Breakers, wallet, ID, and both gel and spray hand sanitizers. A pen is always a smart inclusion for customs forms or sudden notes.
Innovative items like Sleep Plz sleep patches, which Sloan attests work within minutes, are perfect for adjusting to time zones or simply ensuring restful travel. Antibacterial hand wipes are crucial for sanitizing airplane surfaces, reinforcing a proactive approach to health and hygiene during travel. The carefully selected in-flight beauty bag, though “extra,” as Sloan admits, ensures skin hydration and a feeling of freshness, demonstrating that self-care doesn’t need to pause during transit.
From a mini La Mer moisturizer to Lumify eye drops and Glow Recipe SPF 50, every product serves a purpose in maintaining well-being and appearance. This dedication to preparedness, even down to nail clippers and a nail file, means avoiding unnecessary stops and feeling fully equipped from the moment you depart until you return.