I’ve got the traveling bug. I’ve had it for years, for decades. According to my parents, my first word was related to traveling, I first left home before two years of age, employing rudimentary tools that have me worried about what kind of ideas my kids are going to come up with and use against me.

Packing list for my first plane trip: Crayons, coloring book (Holly Hobby) , snacks. Clothes packed by: Magic Fairy (mom). Plane amenities: playing cards, wings, three choices of meal and two snacks. Huge seats and plenty of wiggle room.

Packing list for my more recent plane trips: Crayons coloring books, flexible toys, books, snacks, stroller, sling, toddler, baby, baby food, juice boxes, milk boxes, cell phone, carseats … And my job is also to be the magic packing Fairy. Oh, and four people in seats designed for three. And doffing shoes at security x4 …

I didn’t have to worry about all this crap when I was six. Geeze. I got wings! Magic fairy (mom) just threw all our clothes in a big box and sent it on ahead. Easy peasy. After packing my family through several vacations, I can see why she was such a fan of box and ship.

The first time I had a shampoo bottle explode in my suitcase was not fun. After that I packed them in my carry-on. Until the rules changed again, and again, and again. Gahhhhh. So I stopped packing shampoo. And that got expensive. And complicated. I got tired of stopping at a grocery store at the start of every trip.

Through trial and error I’ve finally worked out some basic guidelines for travel: what to buy and what to bring - and how to get along as the rules change.

First, always wrap each bottle. Then put them in a bigger bag. Worse case scenario - you cut a hole in the corner of a bag and squeeze out what you need as you need it. Without having to get dandruff shampoo out of your sweaters.

One to two days

Shampoos, soaps, mouthwashes, toothpaste, lotions - use travel sizes or make your own with the travel kits you can get at most drugstores and discount marts now.

Vitamins, pills, med kit - pack enough for an extra day, in labeled baggies or a small pill segregation package. Prescription drugs should stay in their original containers; I usually save a recent bottle after the contents have run out so I can bring enough along without losing everything in one fell swoop.

Three to six days

Shampoos, soaps, mouthwashes, toothpaste, lotions - take a partial bottle. I’m a big saver, so I usually have a half bottle of what I need handy in time for vacationing. I’ve also found that half-filled bottles seem to react less explosively to changes in cargo bin pressure.

Vitamins, pills, med kit - again with the partial bottles. Most of these should be okay through security - get a letter from your doctor if you’re not sure of some prescription medications.

More than a week

Depending on the destination - bring your own, probably new, everything. But there is that pressurization problem, so do use them a few times first. If you can get them locally, easily, then do so. If they’re half-used you can take them back home (wrapped up). Or leave them for next time if you’ll be back soon.

Other ways to bring it along

Some things new to my travel list are laundry and dish soaps. But buying little bottles of the non-stinky stuff and then abandoning them doesn’t work out well. Dish soap is problematic. Sometimes I need it, sometimes I don’t. If I’ve got kids, lunches, or my breast pump … I need it. And thinking about it, this trick would likely work for body wash as well.

I actually incorporated this idea from the makers of Palmolive. They used to sell pre-soaped cloths for dishwashing, very handy to keep in camping kits, hurricane kids, and my breast milk pumping bag. Hard to spill, folds up neatly, meets TSA guidelines.

But with a few days of advance prep work, you can make your own.

Step one, lay out a cookie sheet or large plate.

Step two, gather several washcloths (for laundry soap or body wash) and lay them on the sheet or plate. For dishsoap, reusable dishwashing cloths should work fine.

Step three, measure and pour. Just enough on each cloth for what you need - my laundry soap requires about 1oz per load, and a healthy squirt of body wash should soap up well in the shower later as well. Spread the liquid out thinly; let it soak in evenly.

Step four, fold and place in zippy bags or other leak-resistant containers once the cloths are dry.