You’ve rounded up the troops and rented the house. Now all you have to do is keep these tips and tricks in your back pocket for a fun and relaxing trip.
The 14 Best Beach Vacation Tricks
From fixing broken flip-flops to getting sand out of your bikini
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Published Jul 9, 2015
1. Wear your bathing suit under your clothes (it’s just like underwear, right?) for impromptu ocean or pool dips.
2. Store your phone in a ziplock bag--the touch screen will still work through the plastic--to keep sand out.
3. Speaking of sand, use talcum powder to get it off your body. A bit of baby powder sprinkled on your post-beach bod actually works better than a traditional hosing-off session.
4. Use a fitted sheet for a sand-free beach blanket. Coolers or bags propped up in the corners will create a playpen-like lounge.
5. Vote on a beach read and have a mini book club with your travel companions.
6. Assign every family member a trashy magazine to bring. That way, nobody doubles up and you can swap them around--a fraction of the weight and at least double the pleasure.
Riches For Rags
7. Use a pill container or contact-lens case to store small jewelry so it doesn’t get lost in your beach bag.
8. Clean your bathing suit by showering in it. Two birds, one stone.
9. Mix up some lemonade (with a splash of vodka, if so inclined) and freeze it in a water bottle the night before hitting the beach. Grab it in the morning for ice-cold refreshment throughout the day.
10. Pay it forward. At the end of the trip, give beach toys or leftover sunscreen to that fun family in the house next door so you have a few less things to lug home.
11. Got a wicked sunburn? Soothe yourself with homemade aloe vera ice cubes. (Just make sure it’s aloe gel and not lotion or moisturizer, which will trap the heat from a burn.)
12. Fix a broken flip-flop with a bread clip. Not a long term solution--but it will keep things together long enough to walk home from the boardwalk.
13. Apply a baking soda and vinegar paste to jellyfish stings to deactivate the stingers. Sorry Monica and Joey: Urine isn't actually the answer.
14. Bring balloons. Blowing one up is the best way to unclog ears after a swim. Plus: balloons!
