No matter how hard you plan or how well-prepared you are, travel has a habit of upending things and making staying organized on the road a tricky business. Things are always changing when you are traveling, and part of the fun of adventures abroad is that there are so many unknowns, uncertainties, and new, exciting places to explore.

However, if you let the uncertainty of travel get on top of you things can quickly spiral out of control. If you want to enjoy yourself, however spontaneous you are, staying organized is vital. Luckily there are a few simple things that you can do that make staying organized while traveling a breeze! Follow this easy advice and you’ll never have to worry about chaos and disaster while on the road every again.

So whether you are cruising to Puerto Rico or backpacking around southeast Asia, here are a few practical tips to help you stay on top of everything.

Use a packing list

There is nothing quite like a packing list for making travel more organized. It is an incredibly simple tool that does so much to keep your whole trip in line, from ensuring that you actually pack everything you need (and bring it all home with you as well!), to helping you streamline your packing needs and make your luggage a little lighter.

Organize your tech

Do you tend to take a lot of tech with you on your travels? These days we all carry a surprising amount of hardware, from ebooks, phones, and tablets to drones and cameras. All this tech comes with a load of chargers, batteries, and memory cards, and it can be devastatingly easy to lose things, and incredibly hard to find exactly what you need when you need it. One way to make sure that your phone charger isn’t hidden at the bottom of your suitcase when your phone dies at a critical time is to use a technology organizer that keeps everything in one place, right where you need it.

Have the right luggage

Choosing the right bags for the right trip can make a big difference when it comes to making traveling easier and more organized. Whether you’ve researched lists of the best daypacks for hiking, or scrolled through endless pages of hardshell checked luggage for longer trips, knowing which suitcase or bag to take on which trip can make your life far easier.

Keep digital and hard copies of your documents

Although real trouble is unusual abroad, having all your important documents to hand when you are on the road is a great idea, in case of emergencies. You will obviously carry your passport, but it is worth taking visas, travel and medical insurance documents, vaccination status (if necessary), driving licenses, and so on, just in case. It is also a great idea to have digital copies of all your documents made, and upload them to the cloud too. This means that even if the worst happens and you lose your passport, you can still function in almost every situation!

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.