Pre-Packing for your next trip

November 12th 2007
Susan
Uncategorized

Ever go away for a weekend (or longer) and forget your Sudoku puzzle book for the plane? What about your hairbrush? Or, worse yet, your passport?

I’ve done all of these. Each time I managed to wheedle out of needing it (the passport one was, obviously, before 9-11 security craziness), but not without major stress to myself and my traveling companions. “Why don’t you make a list?” asked T# who is very good at never forgetting anything. And I mean ANYTHING!

It’s not that I don’t make a list and check it twice for packing, I always do, the problem is that when I make the list I forget to put these all-important things on it. Then I went on a crazy organizing spree and came up with a solution: pre-packing. There are two elements to pre-packing: 1) the List and 2) the Bag.

The List

The List operates on the assumption that we usually go on a trip for one of three reasons. 1) vacation of 7-10 days 2) weekend for 3-4 days or 3) work 3-5 days. You create a List for each of these three scenarios and keep several copies of each list in that bizarre ‘private things’ pouch in the side of your suitcase that you never use for anything else. On this List are the things to pack in that particular bag, made using MS Word, that has boxes next to each bullet item, and is separated by category into where each item is normally kept in your house. For example, under “Bedroom” you would have the clothing, jewelry, etc. that you normally take with you. If you are very optimistic you can also create a specific List to keep in your toiletry case or your carry-on luggage case. One person I saw online even had mini-lists created and laminated for her kid’s daily backpacks and her purse. I’m not that obsessed. Yet.

The Bag

The second part of the pre-packing strategy involves what I call the Bag. The Bag is a 1-gallon plastic zip-lock bag into which you put two different collections of things. One Bag is for your toiletries. This is where you put an extra toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner. Buy travel size if you like and if you want to carry them on, but do buy something other than what you have at home regularly. Otherwise you’ll end up like I did when T# went on a trip to Covina, CA and took the last toothpaste in our house with him. And left it there.

The second bag is a bit more counter-intuitive. Put into this bag the things you always need in your carry on. A pen, a pencil, your passport, your sudoku book, a list of people you always send postcards to so that they can be jealous of your travels. Some cough drops and candy. A film canister with some extra $1 in it for buying a snack on the plane. Whatever. But then it’s all together in one spot and you don’t have to be the rude seat companion who paws through all their carry-on luggage to find their ballpoint.

Pre-packing can save you a lot of hassle in the long-run. Plus, if you’re going through a dry time in the travel department it is a good excuse to drag out your luggage and dream of what you might need on the beach in Hawaii. Or the streets of Japan. Or in the Dead Sea… or….