Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Zooming Thru Life
Two uses for common zip-bags

by Paul M. Carhart

Two related tips from the forthcoming book, "Zooming Thru Life: Creative Tips To Bring Sanity To Your On-The-Go Lifestyle."

The beauty of plastic bags

When you're cramming all of your stuff into a backpack or other tight piece of luggage, you may find, especially when high altitude is involved, that some of your more liquid items get onto your clothes, which then must be cleaned upon reaching your destination. This often happens when traveling at high altitudes.

You can avoid this nasty occurrence by putting toothpaste, mousse, perfume, hairspray, cologne, after-shave, lotion, mouthwash, etc. each in their own small plastic zip-bag. That way, if any substance does escape its original container, it will still be contained within the bag.

Addendum: In times of increased terrorist threats, airlines sometimes do not allow passengers to bring liquid containers onboard. Still, this tip is equally relevant to the weekend or road trip traveler. You don't have to go above the clouds to have the lid pop off your shaving crème.

The zippered condiment bag

Here’s another use for essentially the same sorts of zip-bags mentioned above but because the application is completely different, I thought it deserved its own entry.

This one comes from the cake decorators but can be easily adapted to a road trip, camping trip, picnic or lunch pail.

Rather than bring a large container of ketchup, mustard, mayo, ranch dressing, etc., simply put the desired amount in a small zippered sandwich bag, zip it up and off you go.

When you're preparing your food on-site, simply snip off a corner of the bag (see Chapter Two: Daily Diligence, Carry a knife) and squeeze out the condiments where desired.

After you're done, you can just chuck the empty bag with the rest of the garbage.




If you liked these tips, you'll be pleased to know there's a whole book filled with similar advice. Paul Carhart’s book, Zooming Thru Life: Creative Tips To Bring Sanity To Your On-The-Go Lifestyle, will be available from your favorite online bookseller, early 2010. Stay up to date: Visit paulcarhart.com and Become a fan on Facebook.