Holiday Tip #4: Tiny Clothes Dryers In Your Kitchen

On long trips, washing and drying your clothes in your hotel room can save you a day at the Laundromat and a few extra bucks. Like many savvy travelers, I always grab some detergent and string when I pack. And I either hang my clothes over the shower curtain in the bathroom or I use the string to create my own clothesline.

What I’d never figured out, though, is how to get them to dry faster. Until one of our readers suggested something a little unconventional…

Try this, she said: Whenever you finish a loaf of bread, save the square plastic bag clip. Then, on long trips, take a handful of them in your suitcase and use them as clothespins. Since you don’t have to fold your clothes over the line, they’ll dry faster. And bread clips are the lightest, most compact clothespins you’ll find. They save space — and they don’t cost a thing.

Lately, I’ll do anything I can to save space in my suitcase. Because I’ve taken to filling it with in-flight magazines! I attended our Breaking Into Airline In-Flight Magazines workshop in Houston earlier this month, where in-flight magazine editor, Ann Silva, affirmed my belief that it’s one of the most fun and glamorous travel niches out there… one of the best-paying… and, paradoxically, is positively hungry for travel stories.

[Editor’s Note: Learn more about opportunities to profit from your travels (and even from your own home) in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.]