I absolutely love traveling and exploring different countries and cities! One of my life goals is to travel to a new destination every year, and I’ve been on track for the past 10 years. Over time, I’ve learned some tips to increase efficiency and ensure smooth sailing when it comes to traveling.

Below are five travel tips that you might find useful:

1. Book your airfare early morning on a Tuesday about six weeks in advance.

Airfare tends to fluctuate frequently, and the worst time to book airfare is on a Friday and the weekend when the prices are high. If your airline has a decent cancellation policy, monitor the airfare prices periodically after booking to see if or when the prices drop because they usually do if you book ahead.

If you book a round-trip flight with Southwest Airlines, book your departure and return flights separately. They have a generous cancellation policy where you can cancel your flight up to 10 minutes before departure. If the price drops for the departure or return flight, you can cancel and book it at the lower price without affecting or losing the flight.

2. Make a travel checklist of what to bring, customize it, and save it for future travels.

Generic lists are on the web, but create one to make it yours. Once you have a travel checklist of what to bring, save it to your computer or phone (I save mine on my computer). When it’s time to travel, you can pull up the list and cross items off as you pack them. Whenever I do this, I typically don’t forget to pack anything. Also, it’s good to make a copy of your driver’s license or passport (whichever one you’re bringing) to keep somewhere safe while you travel in case you lose it.

3. Roll your clothes tightly to pack in your suitcase so that you have more space.

I learned this tip from a Southwest Airlines video years ago, and it has done wonders. You can roll up your shirts, pants, dresses, pajamas, and shorts to stack on top of each other to get the most out of your suitcase space. This might allow you to bring a carry-on suitcase and not check any bags (which typically delays you). I usually bring one carry-on suitcase and small travel purse that I put inside my backpack for domestic trips.

4. Pack a small bag of necessities and snacks to put in your bag or backpack.

My carry-on suitcase isn’t always accessible, especially when I’m seated in the airplane. A checked bag might get lost too (although hopefully not!). It’s nice to have a small bag with necessary items, small toiletries, or make-up that you can take out easily and use.

I also like to pack a few snacks in case I get hungry but don’t feel like purchasing overpriced airport food or have food options nearby at any point during the trip. I don’t always eat the healthiest during vacation, so Balance the Superfood Shot comes in handy. They are portable, do not require refrigeration, and provide nutrients that I might not get throughout the trip. If you want to order some for yourself, visit their website here.

5. Plan some things for your itinerary but explore and go with the flow for the rest of your trip.

After experiencing both sides of the spectrum of planning too much and not planning at all, I found that the best experience is a balance. You don’t want to overload your itinerary and stress out, but you might potentially miss out on really great activities and restaurants with zero planning. What I’ve done is pick the top three highly-rated activities on TripAdvisor (that I want to do, of course) and cross-check on Yelp and Google to see if they’re highly-rated there too. If it’s positive across the board, then I would add it to my itinerary. The same applies to restaurants, but it would partly be based on your taste too. Make sure the restaurants are open on the days that you’re traveling and check the hours. Allocate 1-2 planned activities and restaurants per day but go with the flow for the rest of the day.

Most importantly, have fun! How often do you get to vacation, right?

If you have any additional travel tips, comment below!