When you're going on a trip, when do you pack?

[prolesunited]

Do you wait until the last minute or prepare ahead with lists or somewhere in between?

Do you pack too much?

Any good tips?

[grannylib]

1. I usually don't use a list unless I am going camping; then it's essential!

I usually pack most stuff a day or two in advance.
I use heavy-duty ziptop bags for shoes and anything that may leak, and I can pack prodigious amounts of stuff by rolling clothes rather than folding. I also make sure to pack one or two empty tote bags for the inevitable stuff I acquire on the trip...

And I have learned that the x-ray machine at the airport can see right through the big barrel curling iron, so it's no use trying to smuggle Cuban cigars from Canada in there.

[LeftyMom]

2. I initiate the compulsive list making as soon as I decide I'm going

I generally overpack as well.

[Blue-Jay]

3. Are you saying that I should start packing?

[prolesunited]

9. Of course not!

That would be very passive-aggressive of me, wouldn't it?

I was just wondering what other people's habits are.

[_testify_]

4. I pack the day before I leave.

I have a 'plus two' rule - I bring clothes for each day, plus two extra of everything else. If you have trouble fitting everything in your bag, put as many items as you can in ziploc bags, the sit on them to squeeze the air out and seal them.

I usually have a travel size everything for toiletries, so those get packed right away.

[Whoa_Nelly]

12. Sit on baggies!

I LOVE it! :rofl:


It's a great idea, especially with those super huge baggies you can buy now!

Thanks for the tip!

[_testify_]

22. You're welcome!

I learned it in the Scouts, when you had to pack for a camping trip. Everything had to be waterproofed, so the baggie trick killed two birds with one stone.

Also, did you know you can start a fire with a 9V battery, some dryer lint, and a steel wool pad? :)

[deadparrot]

5. The day or night before I leave. nt

[pitohui]

6. no i don't pack too much, i often just backpack only

if left to my own devices, i bring only a carry-on

however i often travel with a high maintenance friend or high maintenance hubby and they insist on packing so much that we have to check bags

going by myself i start packing in advance and double check so i can really get it down to a v. light weight

traveling w. others it isn't necessary so i can just wait for the last minute and throw everything in the bag

[Mutley]

7. Usually the night before I leave.

I pack as little as I can possibly get away with, especially if I'm flying. If I can get away with a carry-on only, I'll do that.

[Scout1071]

8. Night before I leave.

Although I try to keep some sort of mental list before going - as far as needed items I might buy before hand. However, I've actually tried to buy some of these items at my destination. I've been really thinking about what I have to bring and what I don't. Trying to save the weight - and therefore the gas - at every opportunity. I travel a good deal for work and have made every effort to cut my total weight on each trip by 1/3 - 1/2. If I'm there for a good week, I'll look/call ahead and find a drugstore nearest to the hotel to buy sample sizes. Dunno if it helps, but it makes me feel better.

[u4ic]

10. At the last possible minute n/t

[Nicole]

11. Night before I leave, no list

no over packing.

I keep a cosmetic bag packed at all times with small sizes of shampoo,conditioner, toothpaste, etc. I never like the hotel stuff as much as my own. I keep samples of perfume or skincare items I get at the dept. store in there as well. It really helps to keep that bag packed at all times because I never forget an item that way.

The night before I leave, I pack my shoes & clothes. The morning of trip I put my medication in my purse after taking my daily dose. I put my camera & iPod in my purse as well.

In this case, my purse means a large tote bag. I only take a small purse if I need one for dining out when dressed up. In that case, it gets packed with the shoes. :)

[fortyfeetunder]

13. In advance if I know about the trip

..but I've had a few last minute trips and I take the absolute minimum for those...always keep a toiletry bag packed and an extra pair of undies.

[RevCheesehead]

14. I have to pack at the last minute.

Otherwise, the cats go crazy, and sit inside the luggage. Aw, hell - they do that anyways. :)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

15. Generally, about 15 minutes before I'm due to leave.

[querelle]

16. One Week Before

Just in case I forget something then I can consult my "mental list". I never write things down. Last year, I was going to England with a friend and arrived at his house to pick him up to go to the airport and he still had not packed! I was freaking out! He managed to throw his luggage together in 15 minutes and didn't forget a thing. Wish I could be more like that sometimes........

Q

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. I'm still probably more last minute than your friend...

My mom got remarried last summer and my stepdad took all of us to Hawaii, like a big dysfunctional Brady Bunch. So, about a week before the wedding, my mom tries to take me shopping for vacation clothes, bathing suit, dress for the wedding. Massive fight ensues over the dress. We leave the mall with me only buying a bathing suit and not speaking to each other.

Flash forward to the day before the wedding...
I need shoes, dress, manicure/pedicure. Get call from my sister confirming that I am indeed showing up. Then, I go to the insanely expensive mall. Buy a dress at Bebe (one of the cheapest stores there), but somehow can't find any shoes. Go to bar for lunch. Ate some really good fish & chips. Get manicure/pedicure. Show up at my mom's house. Eat dinner. Go to DSW and buy shoes. Show up at the hall to help decorate a couple hours late. All hell has broken loose due to my mom's fucktard brother. She's crying. People are yelling. I basically say, "Screw you all. I'm going home." Meet some friends at the bar.

Day of the wedding...
Get up early. Go to the laundromat. Start doing laundry. Call up my sister to ask what time I need to be there for the photographer. She tells me the time. I inform her I'll be late because I'm at the laundromat. Show up at my mom's house. My mom's in the limo freaking out because she thinks her freakazoid brother has showed up. (It was his freakazoid wife instead though) I go upstairs to my old bedroom and dump out all my laundry onto my old bed. The wedding party finally emerges from the limo and find me staring at a massive crumpled pile of clean clothes. I pack for 10 days in Hawaii. Get dressed for the wedding and I was still ready before the rest of them.

I think I deserve an award for that or something.

[LostinVA]

18. The last minute, my SO -- way before, and the irony?

SHE always forgets something, whereas I never do....

[1gobluedem]

19. The night before

And I do make a list, especially if it's a business trip. I figure out an outfit for each day ahead of time or I end up missing some vital piece of clothing or the wrong shoes.

My SO, on the other hand, has the strangest method of packing ever. He puts an empty suitcase in the car and then carries things out to it. He's obssessed with packing light because he hates to check bags so he always forgets something vital - like the time he went to Florida for a week with one pair of shorts.

[In_The_Wind]

20. I start packing a week in advance because I don't want to forget anything.

AND I always pack way too much! :shrug:

[NewWaveChick1981]

21. The night before.

I travel a lot for my job, and I have certain things that I just keep in the suitcase. I put my last-minute items in just before I leave. I have a tendency to pack too much, but there have been times that packing just a little too much has been a good thing.

Don't put everything in one suitcase if you're traveling by air. The one and only time I did that, the airline lost my luggage. I didn't get it until two days later and had to buy emergency stuff. I always take my necessities in a small carryon so that doesn't happen again.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

23. last minute.

Bah. I hate packing. I hate unpacking too.