How IKEA became one of my favorite travel brands

IKEA one of my favorite travel brands? How does that make any sense? Well … IKEA creates a lot of simple yet functional products. And, well, simple and functional is often times exactly what you are looking for when packing light for business trips or when optimising for your multi-day hikes. So here is how IKEA became one of my favorite travel brands.

My love for IKEA

I vividly remember my first trip to IKEA. It was with my parents and we were looking for a new cupboard in the kitchen. When we came home, both my parents were struggling to put it together so I gave it a try. And I loved it. It felt like LEGO for adults. 

And over the years, my love for IKEA didn’t diminish (neither for LEGO by the way, but that is another story). First for my student apartment, later for the first apartment I had with my wife. And still, now, after so many years I just love spending a part of the day browsing through IKEA stores (I knowwww, but actually I do love it). To get inspired by the smart solutions, to find better ways to organise our home in Gent, to buy practical stuff we need to decorate or organise our home.

And the last couple of years, I have tried and found ways to optimise my packing for both business and hiking trips with IKEA. It once started out with color-coded toilet bags, but I took it from there. 

IKEA as source of many of my travel hacks

I love simple solutions to make my hikes or business trips easier. And hree of my favorite travel hacks are IKEA-based hacks:

• Color-coded toilet bags: I use color-coded toilet bags for different purposes. I have special colors for runs (my heartrate monitor, etc), fancy meetings (my cufflinks, suspenders, etc)
• IKEA plastic bags as liner: during my hikes, I line the pockets of my pants with a small IKEA plastic bag for my garbage. That way my sports gels or bars don’t leak in my pockets.
• Bags to keep my shirts clean and wrinkle-free: I use IKEA clothing bags to wrap my shirts and keep them clean and wrinkle free on business trips.
• Keeping my gear organised. I use the Skubb line to organise drawers and closets and use different Samla boxes to store my hiking gear for my hikes. 

And there probably will be even more IKEA hacks and uses in the future. 

In conclusion

So, it might be an odd thing to say, but IKEA has helped me in different areas for my trips throughout the years. So yes, IKEA is one of my favorite travel brands.