Does anyone else over check everything before leaving for a trip. I hate the 24 hours before leaving and making sure all is done. Maybe I should go have a message. Husband driving me nuts. I love all the feed back this site has. Au revoir

one obsession is re-checking expiration dates on all documents...

but my worst fettish/obsession is re-checking my purse for the tickets/passports at LEAST three times in car/driveway on final dash to airport.
really...!!! what is WRONG with me!!!

of course.. all of this personal mistrust was created one day after travelling flawlessy with school children for 15 yrs.. and i realized three nights BEFORE one trip that my own daughter's }American passport was EXPIRED!!!

(and we live 4 hours from the nearest embassy. and this was a SATURDAY!!).

helps to have friends in the business!

was taken care of monday morning at embassy, on the spot, and got back home in time to give departure orientation night before student exchange trip the next morning.

i have not been the same since!!!

(this was about 20 yrs. ago!)

i like also to have all MY packing done at least one day before trip so i can "enjoy" my last day before trip and only deal with necessary work/closing up house related things.. not packing.

but no one else in my family likes that, so they are always buzzing around last minute asking which bags, etc. they should take, interrupting my train of thought!!

i empathize.. but soon you will be on plane.. and off on your deserved vacation. enjoy it!

Thanks so much for the words of encourgment. I can so relate to what you just said. The bags are packed except for the last minute items, the credentials are on the counter ready go. I think as we get older we like to worry more. But rather be safe than sorry. Copies and such.
I just which southern spains weather was a little warmer and Paris will be wonderful as always no mather what weather. Wishing all safe travels

I always have a major panic attack before going on a trip. I check everything again and again. Lincasanova, you only check for passports 3 times? I admire your control. For me it's at least a dozen, both before and after leaving the house. I know how crazy this is, and I keep reminding myself that if I forgot anything, I can buy it once I'm there. Well, except passports so that's why I keep checking. Once I'm at the airport and checked in w/boarding passes in hand, all my fears seem to vanish. Have a great trip.

Just remember 3 letters T.C.P.
T=Tickets- without them you go nowhere.

C=Credit card-you can replace everything else you forgot and pay for everything

P=Passport-Again without it you won't get far.

a friend told me once "ticket, passport, money, keys.." and that does help! i like TCP too,. good idea.

funny story.. my "a bit elderly" mom YEARS ago was a courier ONE TIME for a friend's business from jfk-madrid-jfk.

she had been handed the ticket/boarding passes by courier company just a few minutes before flight was boarding along with huge envelope of documents.

she also had some mail she wanted to post before flying off.

she threw the mail down the mail shoot at JFK. then proceeded quickly to flight.

arrives at desk and cannot find her tickets/boarding passes she thought she had in her hand. gets hysterical, flight is boarding, she is convinced she threw them down the mail shoot along with her NY post cards.

fortunately, one of the stewardesses, as my mom is whimpering , now sitting in vacant wheel chair at gate.. tells her she probably has them somewhere in that great 22 compartment "new for this trip" travel purse she has on her lap.

although she claims she had sorted through the entire purse.. they DID turn up at bottom of one of those numerous hateful slatty pockets.

of course.. when she got off the plane in madrid 8 hours later.. she was laughing out loud practically by the time she got to me, imagining MY reaction to the whole story, and thinking what the rest of the passengers must have thought of her in that state in the wheelchair!!

don't forget to call your credit card/bank to tell them you are going to europe...don't want to get the security/fraud hold put on while on holiday. then you can pay for everything else you forget...which you will. in fact, buy the incidentals there...soap and such. no need to take it all the way there.

The "fake" departure date idea is a good one. Set a firm goal of being completely ready to go 2 days in advance, then relax until the real departure time.

I always leave my packing to the end so that I always have something to do up until I leave. If I go on holiday in the afternoon, I go to work in the morning (help save the annual for more trips!) etc.

Do you hate the last day because you're panicking or because you're at a loose end?

The essentials to take are PMT (anything else you can get etc as Mucky says):
Passport
Money
Tickets

I rarely take foreign currency (unless I have some left from a previous trip) so for me, "Money" is ability to get money (debit/credit card).

Making me laugh... I'm with PM on this one... I check, I check again and again ad nauseum... get to the gate? I'm fine!

I'm also a basket case prior to departure, but once my butt hits the seat in the waiting area by the gate, I'm fine!

I do love the 'fake departure date' theory though, I wonder if that will work on hubby and the kids? I'll just tell them we're leaving two days earlier, maybe they'll be ready in time!!!

The day before...I am a nutcase starting about 2 weeks before. I have multiple lists organized by timeline and type of task. I even had our group (lovingly referred to as the Tennessee Trio of Terror by SharonG) involved in a packing practice party! It was a hoot thanks to SharonG's awesome cooking of french and italian dishes in honor of our destinations. We also made sure we weren't going over the weight limit for the RyanAir leg of our trip.

Before anyone suggests therapy, the excitement of the trip also builds at the same time and if I didn't have little things to worry about I really would go nuts!

Where2Travel wrote:

The essentials to take are PMT (anything else you can get etc as Mucky says):
Passport
Money
Tickets


Great idea, Where2Travel, but let's update this list to meet the needs of the 21st century. The need to check for passports and money is timeless, but most tickets are electronic days, so let's revise PMT to PMS:

Passports
Money
Slip of paper w/flight schedule

So remember, Fodorites, before leaving home, make sure you have PMS.

oh my. imagine being invited to a PPP.