Unpacking your luggage after arriving to your beautiful Ocean Isle Beach vacation rental is probably the least favorite part of starting your vacation, right? You want to see the beach, explore the neighborhood, go grab a bite to eat, and get into full-on vacation mode ASAP. We get it! Consider this: it only takes you a few minutes of your precious vacation time to get settled into your rental, and we have a few simple hacks that will make this as quick and painless as possible. Try these!

Use packing cubes for easy unpacking.

We’ve all heard that packing cubes make packing for a vacation easier and more efficient, but they also make unpacking your bags easier too! Open your suitcase, pop them out, and transfer them as-is right into a drawer or dresser. The bulk of your unpacking is done. If you don’t own packing cubes, you can check out this articlefrom Travel + Leisure that reviews some of the best.

Always unpack priority items first.

There’s something called the three-night rule when traveling: if you’re staying somewhere for three or more nights, it’s worthwhile unpacking your bags. Less than three days, not so much. If you’re in a hurry, you can start by unpacking your priority items first: items that wrinkle easily, shoes, and toiletries. Just start with those basics and come back to the rest at a more convenient time.

Clean clothes out, dirty clothes in.

This is a great strategy for adults and kids alike. Once you’ve unpacked your luggage, use that empty space as the place to store your dirty clothes. Once you near the end of your vacation, most of your clothes will already be back in your bag. Genius! You can also opt to use plastic bags similarly by keeping one in your luggage for your dirty clothes, even if you choose not to unpack everything.

Bonus Tip: Extra plastic bags are always helpful for containing wet items like swimsuits, dirty diapers that need discarding, keeping shoes separate from everything else, protecting electronics, and a receptacle for trash—to name just a few of their many practical uses. Bring a few extra with you while on vacation.

You can read more about these and other helpful tips for unpacking and preparing for your Ocean Isle Beach vacation right here.