Something you should probably all know about me now before we move on any further in this blogger-reader relationship is that I hate packing.

I mean really hate it.

If I could go around the world with nothing but a passport in my pocket, I would, but I also like to have things like clothes and a camera on hand. Enter: lists. Specifically, my packing list, which I created in a .txt file in high school and have been adding to ever since, so now it’s a fairly comprehensive look at what I’ll need for any given journey. Thanks to that list, I can achieve results like this:

But I still hate packing … especially toiletries.

I have annoyingly sensitive skin, so I can’t just rely on what’s provided at my destination, much as I’d love to, lest I get labeled a leper. So before every trip, I find myself digging through the shower to find my shampoo, shoulders-deep under the sink looking for little travel containers, searching for the soap container and then giving up and just using a Ziploc, shaking the tiny dental floss container beside my ear to determine whether there’s enough left to last the whole trip, wondering whether I’ll really floss every night or is that just wishful thinking, trying to remember if the travel-sized lotion I used last time gave me a rash or should I give it another chance, staring in the mirror at my hair and weighing the pros and cons of leaving the styling gel behind (cons, always cons) …

And then once I find everything, shoving and mashing it into my suitcase and praying the zipper holds.

Especially with this sensitive skin, I’m surprised I don’t break out in hives every time I go anywhere.

Until now.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have joined the ranks of Sensible Adults and Regular Travelers and have created for myself a toiletries kit, containing everything I need, already packed and travel-sized. Those who know me well might wonder that it’s taken me this long. I’ll get to that in a moment, but for now, no longer do I need to search for the toothbrush travel cap, because a toothbrush with the cap is already in the kit. Accidentally left my tweezers or nail clippers in PA? Not anymore! Travel versions of each now live in the kit. And deodorant? My travel companions will ever be grateful.

Not only does it have everything I need without the stress of packing it up each time I go anywhere, but it’s a great design, too. And this is the reason it’s taken me so long. I’ve had toiletries bags in the past, but they never clicked. One bag was too floppy, another had only one pocket, the third had too many pockets, they all took up too much space. I had to unpack everything at each destination and repack in the morning. Ugh.

But now that I’ve found the right bag, it is a pleasure to pack it with my necessaries. Now, a companion for my journeys. Now, a friend for the road. Now, a reasonable amount of facewash for a 5-day trip instead of cramming the 18-oz bottle into the magazine pocket of my roller bag.

Now, I finally hate packing a little bit less. If only it were easier to decide which shoes to bring …