lynn

Hi - <BR> <BR>I was just reading another thread and saw a reference to going home to do a "draft pack." That really struck me because I do the same thing and started wondering how many others do as well. <BR> <BR>I get so excited about going that the closer it gets, the more time I want to spend doing things that involve "the trip" or preparations for it. I start talking about what I want to wear and bring for at least 3-4 months before we go and then perform several "mock runs" a few weeks before we leave. <BR> <BR>Sometimes, the anticipation and planning of the trip is almost as fun as the trip itself! <BR> <BR>Any others out there with a healthy fixation on packing? <BR> <BR>Lynn <BR> <BR <BR>

Lori

Oh Yeah, you are not alone! I do a "trail" pack a couple of weeks before the trip to see if it all fits <BR>I get the luggage in the house from the garage and keep it open in our spare room, adding and subtracting things so to speak, as I plan! Of course the actual clothes don't go in until the day of the flight (and I plan them months in advance too), but it's fun to plan this way (OK, so maybe we are weird, but it's harmless weird). The actual trip really is over quickly, the planning before hand (and the laundry after tend to extend it!

lynn

Lori - <BR> <BR>The trip always feels short no matter how long you go for. That's so true. <BR> <BR>I always feel like I'm sort of on vacation for the couple of months before while doing all the final planning and restaurant hunting, etc. and then, when we get back, it feels like 2-3 weeks went in the blink of an eye. <BR> <BR>All the more reason to really enjoy the planning part because it lasts much longer! <BR> <BR>Lynn <BR> <BR

adrienne

<BR>Hi Lynn, <BR> <BR>I'm definitely a pre-packer, although mentally...I don't actually pack my clothes until a day or two before my trip. As I'm drinking my morning coffee I make endless lists and matrices of clothing - what will go with what and how many combinations of outfits can I manage with just a few skirts and shirts. I pack my toiletries well ahead of time and each week add something else I've bought at the store. I agree, this is part of the pre-trip excitement along with an endless itinerary of things I want to see and do. It does seem to make the vacation a part of my everyday life to do these things. Just 5 weeks and 6 days until I leave! <BR>Adrienne <BR> <BR>

glamgirl

Lynn, <BR> <BR>My routine is down pat: <BR> <BR>1. Make a running list of what I need to bring, starting about 2 weeks before I leave, and including basics like toothbrush, makeup, etc..to things like "lavender tank top", Gap jean capris, etc... <BR> <BR>2. beside each item, I draw a small square. as I place items in the suitcase, I fill in the square. That way, there is NO mistaking whether something has been packed or not (I can never remember if I've left anything important out, so this way, I look down my list of filled squares, and know that I have!!) <BR> <BR>3. Usually at this point (btw, packing is done the night before), I've WAY overpacked--too many shoes, about 3 white tops when only 1 is necessary, etc. At this point, I take a break, take a walk around the block, have a cigarette, and really think about how stupidly I've overpacked. I go back to my suitcase, take out about 1/3 of what I've put in, and call it a day. <BR> <BR>The last part (unloading a FULL suitcase) takes a lot of discipline, but practice make perfect...I'm so much happier to travel lighter, and have more room for foreign purchases!! <BR> <BR>gg. <BR> <BR>

packlight

I've been keeping a runningever-expanding list for years of "what to pack " that I keep in the back of my date book and add to every trip. I don't know how I would pack without it.

Andrea

Are you confusing/equating giving birth to traveling to Europe.Are you also thinking of making a trial run to the airport............

Miriam

Hello Lynn, <BR> <BR>I`m the opposite...I hate packing and that`s why I try to spend the least possible amount of time with it. I start to pack 3 hours before it`s time to leave for the Airport. Ok, sometimes I`ll forget sth., but at the end I`m not going to explore the Amazonas and I can always buy what I need. I don`t mean things like passport, tickets, vouchers and CC`s-but if I forgot to pack a pair of shorts-who cares? I`ll buy a new one when I`m there. I must admit that I`m "a bit" untidy, so most of the time I start washing the stuff I need the evening before and hope that it`ll be dry the next morning....Shame on me. <BR>But I have an obsession about the important things like tickets...I more than double-check on the way to the Airport if everything is there. I know from experience that forgetting those things can be a real disaster(I was stranded in N.Y. without a pin-number for my CC....) <BR> <BR>Miriam <BR> <BR>Miriam

Sheila

You have GOT to be joking! Yes? No-one's that...organised, surely

Ann

This is amazing! My philosophy is life's too short for hard work like that.

Judy

Hello Lynn, I "practice dress" in my oufits to see how they look.... and I love to have my suitcase sitting in our bedroom for about a week before the trip(my cat loves to lay in it!), it is such a visual reminder(like I need one!) <BR>I also fixate on my tkts. I get the tkt out about once a day, and examine it and read the all the stuff on the itinerary..... I don't know why I do this,,,,it is very strange, yes? <BR>I also have real nightmares about getting into a country and NOT having my passport....this scares the dickens out of me,,,,very bizarre dreams pretrip <BR>plague me, but that is a whole other story! Judy ;-)

lynn

Adrienne - Yep. I also make lots of lists. <BR> <BR>Judy - Yep. I also play dress up to see what looks best. <BR> <BR>If we buy a new camera before we go, we also shoot a roll of film in various lighting conditions to see how they come out and practice taking pictures without looking through the eye-hole. That's so we know how to roughly aim and get a shot without having to spend so much time aiming. <BR> <BR>You'd be surprised how good most of them come out! <BR> <BR>Lynn <BR> <BR

M&J

And here I thought my darling wife was alone in the "Practice Packing." We should now start a club and exchange suggestions. We devised a one-page checkoff list for "one week before" and then "things to do several days before" and lastly "things to do on day of the trip." For example, in the first column are items like confirming with a neighbor she is available for mail pickup and copying the airplane tickets. In the second column are items like check on weather forecast for our town and set sprinklers accordingly, packing tourbooks and info gleamed from Fodors. Then on the big day itself--toss out aging goodies in the refrigerator, water the indoor plants. The very last items are: the tickets, the passport, the credit cards.

willi

All my clothes are spread on the bedroom floor a week before going into the suitcase. If the spread is appaling, something goes. Then, the final test is to enlist my husband's appraisal. He gives thumb up or down and his advice is brutal but valuable.

adrienne

Hi Andrea, <BR> <BR>Loved your suggestion of a "practice" run to the airport. But, since I've been to Newark airport many, many, many times I think tonight I'll give a bottle of red a "practice run" just to be in top form for Venice and Paris. <BR>Adrienne <BR> <BR> <BR>Adrienne <BR>

Amy

Golly, I feel like a slacker! <BR>About an hour before I leave for the airport, I layer my stuff into one suitcase, do a mental checklist, and go. <BR>I do keep checking to make sure I have my tickets and passport, though. I don't know where they could go, but I look more than once; -)

Cass

Once took a picture of my room several hours before departure and it looked like a Class 4 tornado had had its way with a consignment shop. I've been known to pack, rethink, get a different suitcase and start again. At one point I worked from lists, but it finally dawned on me that making lists was mostly anti-anxiety therapy and had little to do with what actually ended up in the suitcase. <BR> <BR>I also tried to come up with a color-coordinated travel wardrobe to limit my options (black, black, white, grey, and black). But then my poor mind began to short-circuit over decisions about how many different sleeve-lengths of white tops to take. <BR> <BR>I now have several instant-departure packets of the things that used to consume a lot of time to sort out -- two different toiletry packs (one for 1-2 nights, one for longer trips) all ready to go; and one little jewelry packet with one set of gold(ish) earrings and neck chain and one set of silver; and one packet of pantihose/knee-highs that get washed or re-stocked as I travel. Also have a set-to-go "night" pouch with reading light, eyeshade, earplugs, lip balm, and travel alarm. <BR> <BR>Even if I try to pack the night before to limit the second-guessing, I'm quite capable of waking up in pre-dawn on the day of travel and deciding that I have to switch out one skirt for another, add a sweater, subtract a pair of shoes. And I've discovered -- which only makes things worse -- that as a rule, the last thing I add on the spur of the moment is almost always the thing I'm most grateful to have with me. <BR> <BR>And then there's the Weather Watch, in which I go on-line at the last minute to try to figure out how warm or cold it will be at my destination ...... and guess what happens then.....

Beth Anderson

I am usually still stuffing dreck into my suitcase as the taxi arrives. <BR> <BR>I do however have a running list of stuff I gotta remember not to forget on my desk...

Miles

Why are you so unsure of yourself? grow-up! What would happen if pilots were like you? There would be no more planes left in the skys. <BR> <BR>Whenever I travel, I pack the evening before I am due to leave. <BR> <BR>If you have some physcological disability conult your medical professional. Do not inflict your madness on others!

Beth Anderson

Miles Miles Miles that was very inappropriate. Lynn is a very seasoned traveler who has been very helpful to others. Check out the Asia board once in a while. <BR> <BR>besides, we all have our little idiosyncrasies you know. me, I have to sort my M&Ms by color before I can eat them ... <BR> <BR>&lt;wink&gt;