Preparing a Packing List
- Lori
- Sep 24, 2023
- 7 min read
I was sitting at my gate, waiting to leave for Split, when I realized my driver’s license wasn’t in its usual place.
What the ??? Where could it be? Surely my driver’s license had been on the list. Surely I had placed it where it belonged. Surely I hadn’t crossed it off the list until it was there.
I had painstakingly followed the system that had become my salvation after so many years of leaving things behind.
But today, it seemed the system had failed.
The days before a trip are full of excitement, disorder, and sometimes, little rest. That’s why it’s best to do your planning when there is not a plane in sight.
Let’s start with what we know: make a list.
I’m a throw-and-go creature by nature, but when I decided my laissez-faire attitude wasn’t serving me well, I did what an organized person would do. I started making a list. Once in the groove, my one list became two, and list-making became quite fun. I began to develop a system.
There is my standard list.
The standard list is the most important — a list of things so obvious I thought I needn’t give them a thought. Things like a toothbrush, earbuds, power cords. My driver’s license. But forget them once, and you swear you’ll never do it again. Hence, the standard list.
I know I mustn’t be the only one who needs these lists because there is a multiplicity of them online. Some people sell them, for goodness sake! If you think you may need one, free, you might want to start with one of these:
My standard list is standard now. It’s been developed over many years and trips and gaffes, and I haven’t had to make changes to it for quite some time. It’s not etched in stone, but rather rests on my computer, just waiting for the next time I say, “Let’s go.”
If it’s on the standard list, I don’t leave home without it.
To develop my standard list, I did this:
On an ordinary day, from the time I got up until the time I went to work, I carried a bag with me. When I used something, I threw it in the bag.
Shampoo? In the bag. Deodorant? In the bag. Q-tips and cotton balls? In the bag. A tweezer. A razor. Meds. Every everyday thing went into the bag.
Then I played “what if.”
What if I cut myself shaving? Band-aids in the bag. Broke a nail? Nail clippers in the bag. Oh yeah, I always need a Kleenex. Kleenex in the bag.
Everything in the bag goes on the list before I put the stuff back where it belongs.
Seem silly? Maybe. But in some places I’ve been you can’t just run down to Walgreens to get what you need, and there are no pretty little samples waiting in your room.
(Speaking of pretty little samples, many of the places I go do have them and since you can bet I’ve paid for them, I take them home with me. As soon as I get home, I refill my toiletries bag so it’s ready to go the next time. I throw the extras in a box and donate the excess to the homeless shelter.)
In the evening I go through the same routine.
Find myself reading? “Book” goes on the list. That makes me think of writing. “Notebook” goes on the list. And don’t forget a pen, or better, two. Bedtime? Pajamas. Makeup remover. Write it down. You might need some melatonin. Set it aside now.
I think you get my drift.
Then there’s the trip list.
The trip list changes depending on where I’m going and what I’m going to do while I’m there — clothes, activity-, and weather-related things.
Clothes.
I’ve learned that everything I pack, at some point, I’ll have to carry. The corollary to that is I can get by with a lot less than I used to drag along. So I’d advise that if you’re taking something with you “just in case,” don’t. It’s frustrating to find clean clothes at the bottom of your bag when you get back from your adventure.
If it’s a longer trip, I’ll begin setting clothes aside in the weeks before I leave. I’ll actually wear the outfits I plan to take. I’ll try new combinations to discover what I can wear more than once without looking like I’ve worn it twice.
What will take up less space and won’t wrinkle? How few shoes will I actually need? (Shoes are an important one. Will I do a lot of walking? Do I want to be comfortable or stylish? Fun to be around or a real $%&*#?)
If you’re worried about what your friends will say, find some new friends. If you’re worried about what the locals will say, don’t. You’ll never see them again. And chances are they aren’t paying attention to you at all. Unless you are being a real $%&*#.
Electronic essentials.Power cords! If it’s an overseas trip, a power converter. Do your research and find what you need. Most are now universal and many have USB ports. Handy.
And I go nowhere without a power bank. These can give you days of charging power without another power source. They charge quickly and are about the size of a cell phone.
Weather- and activity-related things.
There are some trade-offs here. Again, the right shoes. Standing, sitting, or walking? What’s the terrain?
Will you need rain gear? An umbrella? Hard to carry, but may be hard to find if you need them. If you buy them at your destination, you’ll still have to carry them home.
I usually base my decisions on the weather forecast (universally undependable), erring on the side of “skip it,” and I have been cold, sunburned, and once, soaked. Really soaked. Only when the storm was over did I realize they sold disposable rain gear at the gift shop. All the identical blue ponchos around me should have been a clue.
I could go on and on and on about what you might need, but you’re smart. You know what you’ll need. But do you know how important it is to put it on the list?
Everything goes on the list!
I do a lot of adding and subtracting to the trip-specific list, so I use an Excel spreadsheet. Not because it’s necessarily necessary, but because I love playing around with Excel spreadsheets.
I combine my lists and then divvy the master list into columns — a column for each bag I’m going to take: the purse or backpack that fits under the seat; my overhead carry-on; my checked bag.
What goes where and what will I need when?
The contents of the carry-on are especially important. There’s some real trade-offs here.
On the side of traveling light: Will you really need it while you’re on the plane or in between flights? On the side of being prepared: what will you do if your checked luggage gets lost? Can you get along without it for a day or two? Caught in an airport is no time to be a fashionista, but neither do you want to run around in dirty underwear. (Remember what your mother told you.)
Packing has gotten quite sophisticated. The quest for packing as much as possible into as little space as possible has led to the development of “packing systems” — sets of compression cubes of all sizes and shapes designed for the extreme organization of your stuff. I haven’t tried them.
Once I decide what will go where, I pack it and repack it, asking myself what needs to be close at hand. (Phone. 3:1:1 bag.) What needs to be handy but protected? (Passport. Wallet. Tickets.) I try to pack strategically. What can be put out of the way until I’m seated on the plane? (Book. Notebook. Earbuds.) What can be left in the overhead bin? (Ruana. Make-up. Extra undies.)
It’s time to pack it up.
There comes a time when you have to say, “That’s good enough.” As I put something in my luggage, I cross it off the list, and not until everything is in its place do I pull the zipper closed.
And then I trust my list.
Because, here’s the thing: when I got to Croatia and unpacked my suitcase, I found my driver’s license strategically placed at the bottom of my bag with the other things I would need near the end of my trip. When I’d had my wits about me, I had tucked it in a fanny pack I wouldn’t use until I picked up the rental car.
That scare at the airport wasn’t because I hadn’t made a list, or followed the list, but because I didn’t trust my list. That was the real lesson I learned that day.
Over time and with lots of experience, I’ve developed a system, and I have to trust the system. Before I left for Croatia, I did things in the way and the order that I now know things work. But I didn’t trust the system after the system had done its work.
Trust your list!
As exhausting as all of this may seem, it’s worth it, and actually, quite fun. While I’m making my lists, I’m dreaming of what I’m getting ready to do. I’ve traded my time watching videos of what I might experience when I get there for the preparation it takes to enjoy it when I do. And finally, there’s the incredible sense of accomplishment that comes when everything on the list is lined out, tucked in, and zipped up.
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