Why You Should Always Pack a Hat

Last week, we invited readers to submit their smartest packing tips. More than 500 people weighed in, offering a wealth of practical, travel-tested advice.

We discovered that our readers are avid proponents of doing laundry midway through their trips, rolling clothes rather than folding and using compression bags to squeeze a few extra outfits into their carry-on. (We also decided that we might not want to sit next to a few of you on the plane, based on how many times you apparently re-wear your clothes before washing!)

It was almost impossible to pick a winner, but in the end our favorite tip came from a reader named Bruce:

“Always bring a hat [even] if you think you won’t need one. In the hotel, place it on the nightstand and empty your keys, wallet, passport, etc. into it before bed. When you get up (or God forbid if you need to leave in a hurry due to fire, or some other emergency) you’ll already know where everything is — secure and ALL in ONE place, and so won’t have to search around to make sure you haven’t left something essential behind!”

We couldn’t resist sharing a few other creative tips out of the hundreds we received:

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“Scan your passport, passport photos and paper tickets (if not the [electronic] type). Store this … in your Web-based e-mail account. You can also store the details of your emergency ‘lost card’ telephone numbers in your Web-based e-mail account so you know who to contact if your credit card or ATM card is lost or stolen. This way, even if you lose everything, you have immediate access [to] your all important information.” — Dan Freeman

“For women who love perfume — I tear out the paper perfume samples from the fashion magazines and trim them to just the width of the folded scent sample; they last forever, [and] take up/add minimal space and weight.” — Martha Meier

“I have seen very expensive plastic padded sleeves for sale to carry bottle wines. I have been bringing wine and liquor bottles from all over the world using two pairs of socks (putting the bottle inside the socks, it gets protected by four layers), then inside a regular plastic supermarket bag, and then a T-shirt wrapped around. Then I place the bottle in the center of the suitcase. I never had a broken bottle.” — Angel

For more indispensable packing advice, check out Packing Tips from Our Readers.