Steph

I also do the "mental pack" starting from the moment travel plans are set. I usually do the same thing someone mentioned earlier and buy a few things at a time from the drug store so i have everything that I need by the time I go(+much that i really don't need). I visualize how my suitcase will look months in advance but i don't usually pack until the day before I leave. i always overpack. This summers trip will be difficult for me because i will not be able to pack as much as usual sine i will be travelling by train one i arrive in germany and will have to lug my suitcase with me. When i went to Aruba the other month (for 7 nights) i was afraid my suitcase was over the weight limit for checked bags!!! (just made it - the limit was 70lbs, my suitcase was 65!) <BR> <BR>Steph <BR> <BR>and to the poster regarding mental problems- yes i have them (anxiety/panic disorder) but don't we all have our quirks and personal problems??? relax- i work at doing just that every day!!!)

Jordan

Ignore Miles. He, under various aliases, is always scanning posts to make snide comments about the posters, esp. if female, and often accuses people of needing therapy (which, by the way, Miles, is easier to spell than "psychological counseling"). Lives, it seems, in something of a glass house with little else to do and no one else to talk to.

cj

How about a list of the "must takes"? Anyone got a good one?

Pris

Actually, there was a good thread on this a few months ago -- anyone remember the title? It may have been on the forum now known as "grab bag." <BR> <BR>If you mean clothing, I always have at least one tunic-length vest with pockets. It camouflages the parts of my figure I'm not proud of and relieves the monotony of the Indispensible Black/Navy Dress, and black/navy slacks or skirt and white top, etc. The pockets are very useful for carrying non-valuables like film, metro cards, etc.

pam

Fixation on packing? Yes. Healthy? That's a matter of opinion. I have become the acknowledged packing queen in my family and among my friends. I keep a toiletry kit packed all the time; all that I have to do is restock the cotton balls/qtips, check the shampoo level and throw in makeup to be ready to go. I recently was called upon to pack my sister- and brother-in-law for a 3-wk trip to Russia, including diapers and baby clothes for children they were traveling to adopt. I packed a friend in an 18" carryon and handbag for a weekend in NYC with her guy and his family. I start with a list, usually based on previous trips' lists, and adjust for climate/activities anticipated (as far in advance as possible). I trial pack a couple of weeks out, then refine the list/make sure everything I want to take is in good repair and clean. Three days to a week out I will pack and leave the suitcase open. I finish packing the night before, close the suitcase and place it by the door. My list is there with things checked off and last minute things to put in handbag are highlighted or otherwise marked. My traveling clothes, moneypouch, everything I will wear on my person on departure day, go on a hanger in my bedroom. I think I am so obsessive about this because my mother used to do just the opposite. The night before we left on vacation, every light in the house was on, every bed had an open suitcase and stacks of clothes. I think it traumatized me. (Sometimes I even pack for trips which are not being planned. Once I was so overwhelmed by preparing our new house for move in that I escaped and packed "to run away to Italy." It's amazingly cathartic. Hey, this is pretty harmless as an obsession/addiction goes...but it is comforting to know I'm not the only one.)

Meagan

I laughed so hard when I read this!! I thought I was the only one totally obsessed with pre-trip planning. I've done nothing but talk about my trip for the last four months and I don't leave for another 7 weeks yet! I'm sure my friends are wishing I was already gone! My favourite packing tip (besides packing once, then taking everything out and only packing half) is this: pack what you think you need then take your luggage for a little walk around the neighbourhood - this should give you an idea of how much fun it is to lug around 65 lbs of stuff you don't really need!!

elvira

I have a master list for packing (everything but clothes) so I don't forget the sinus medicine or ATM cards (you laugh, hah hah, but my niece who's the packatthelastminute sort left her ATM cards at home; gee, wasn't it just dandy her obsessive-compulsive list-making aunt remembered hers...) that I use to start filling the suitcase about 3 weeks before liftoff. If I'm missing anything, I've got time to buy it, and, wow, probably on sale instead of full-price at a 7-11 on the way to the airport. <BR> <BR>About a month before the trip, I start making the clothing list - I've done it so many times that it's by rote. Again, I've got time to fix the hem, get the jacket dry-cleaned or buy new shoelaces. <BR> <BR>Enough things go wrong on a trip that I don't need to be walking the streets in the pouring rain, looking for a hotel room because my reservations are lost, with no umbrella 'cause oops I forgot to pack it during the last minute tossing stuff in the suitcase the night before. <BR> <BR>And, yes, I'm packed a week before a trip. I can cross that off the to-do list and relax the last 5 days before blastoff. Anyway, usually something goes awry that last week that takes my whole attention, so I can focus my attention on that instead of being scattered because the suitcase is not packed or I can't find my passport or, gosh, did I transfer enough money from my savings to my checking??

Bill

I detect a gender difference at work here, and it confirms what I have noticed over the years about my wife and me. She, like many of the women in this thread, goes into the kind of contingency planning that would make the Joint Chiefs proud. A carefully crafted matrix on the computer, planning each item of clothing, each miscellaneous do-dad, and each peripheral aspect of leaving the home unattended. <BR> <BR>Dedicated slob that I am, I bring down a big duffle from the attic a few hours before we leave and stuff in a handful of each of the essential clothing groups. Not a fool-proof solution, to be sure, and one time I ended up having to buy a couple dress shirts in Amsterdam so I wouldn't be going to dinner in polo shirts. ("Oh yeah; shirts!") <BR> <BR>I would feel I had betrayed the male half of the species if I did anything remotely like "practice packing".

Shanna

Hey, I'm the "draft packer" and so glad to hear from everyone that they share similar traits. I've been chuckling to myself all day. I, too, have the extra bedroom laden with potential wardrobe items and an entire closet shelf devoted to "maybe." Just spent five hours yesterday looking for my translator. I'd painted the house and remember where it used to be but couldn't remember where I tucked it. It's in its proper place now, with the string bag for shopping, the dual-voltage hair dryer with adaptor plug, travel kleenex packs, a variety of snack items, two collapsible bottles. I'm sorry - THIS IS FUN! I have my little piles of stuff and a tablet and pencil on every surface in case I remember something as I walk by. I like the idea of the matrix for clothing - have to try it, since I'm having difficulty with this trip: Paris in May can be wet, dry, hot, cold. I'm in a dither. Has anyone come up with a way to make sure you take everything you need with an outfit: belt, slip, etc. I once packed all accessories - jacket, belt, scarf, pin, earrings, slip, shoes - only to arrive without the dress! Ooh, Lynn, I practice shooting pix without looking too! You get some great people shots that way. Like many, I have my lists that go backward, "Out the door," "Locking the suitcase," "final pack," "carry/check." Judy, my cat too! I get so sad seeing his cute self among my packing; he wants to go too. And the nightmares! Can't get the suitcase closed, can't find the tickets, can't find the car, can't find the airport - I see it - but I can't get to it (sort of like Atlanta). And Cass, I also have the short, long, longer trip cosmetics AND their accompanying bags. Obsessive. I love getting ready to go somewhere - it doesn't matter where. I could be going to prison and would be all excited about the trip. Thank you all for the good laughs - just this morning I reviewed my calendar and had that thrill of panic! Eeeek! Only two weeks - I'll never get it all done; now I'm moving at hyper-speed, gals. If you see a blur whiz by, that's me. This is not neurotic. Happy trails!

Wendy

Boy, am I jealous! I don't own enough clothing to prepack. I'm always washing something the night before we leave! You guys are too much.

MaureenGP

Oh, my goodness, I love this thread because I thought I was the only crazy "packer" in the world! I love to pack for trips and I obsess from the minute I know I'm going. When we went to Spain last summer for a month, I swear I planned the packing for a year before. This year, we are going to England and France for two weeks and I was already planning our clothing six months ago, and I have actually been putting stuff aside in my suitcase since March (for a June trip). I have my husband's suitcase planned and will probably begin packing it this week. Our teenage daughter, however, will undoubtedly pack the night before--she hates the pre-planning and will not cooperate with my obsession. This is not an anxiety problem on my part, but a way to prolong the trip, just like I spend many months reading appropriate fiction and non-fiction books about the places I am going to see. It seems a harmless addiction to me, and I have no intention of trying to change. <BR>By the way, I not only have the pre-packed toiletry bags like some of the other posters, I actually have "travel only" clothing. Some of it is Travelsmith items for my husband, with the hidden pockets, etc. But I took the advice I read on a bulletin board once and started assembling a basic black, white and beige wardrobe in drip-dry fabrics. By adding new tops or scarves, etc., you change the look of the wardrobe from trip to trip, using the same slacks, skirts and basic dress. I start with black slacks, black skirt and black dress, and add a black sweater or blazer. Then I add tops with some color to them, and maybe beige slacks and a black and white skirt. They all mix and match. I'm always on the lookout for things that will update this basic wardrobe. It is not as drab as it sounds, because I combine tops in shades of purple or rose or patterns for color.

Audrey

Bill, <BR>You made me laugh. My husband finds my list making and pre-planning annoying and believes it to be a fault of my gender. However, when he needed his hair gel/Q-tips/extra razor blades they were at his fingertips. Did he thank me? Of course not. Will I keep packing for him? You bet, because he drives AND kills bugs. He's useful in other ways too, but they escape me at the moment. <BR> <BR>Audrey

aj

This is so funny! I thought that I was the only one. I also like to "dress up" in my travel cloths to see if they will work. We are one week before our trip to Paris and Rome and last night my husband decided to get all this "travel stuff" out! This is so unlike him. It is nice to know that others really enjoy the pre-travel part of the trip!

Bill

Audrey - <BR>Especially the bugs! Ever been to the Carribean? &lt;grin&gt; <BR> <BR>Actually, the male equivalent of "practice packing" in its degree of fanaticism is over-planning the trip itself. I'm a total nut-case about researching every last detail about the trip we'll be taking (and half a dozen other trips that we may or may not take in the future). I've got three different road maps of the area we'll be driving through this summer (Bavaria, Austria, and the Italian Alps), each with yellow highlighter lines all over them. <BR> <BR>This forum certainly hasn't helped to keep me under control!

Sara

Well, I HATE packing, so I definitely do not do a "practice" run! I am a "list" person, however, so I make out lists of what I want to pack ahead of time. The night before I leave, I get out my list and pack. I do tend to agonize over what clothes to take, and I spend some time going over this in my head before deciding for sure. I find it hard to "pack light", but I'm definitely going to do this for our upcoming Italy trip!

Ann

There are only 2 essentials when traveling to Europe: your passport and plane tickets. Everything else you can buy. I pack the night before, and make no lists. I'm going on vacation to have fun, not worry about whether I brought the correct number of socks.

pam

Ha! My sister-in-law just "referred" a friend of hers to me for packing help! (I wonder if I could make a career out of this??)

TJBrown

I always do a "draft Pack" and never get it right. Last year--same thing. I overpacked for my three week trip to Italy, France and London. By the time, we got to London, I needed relief. I mailed some of my clothes back home--and was able to navigate the London subways much better. I hope to get it right this year. I will be spending two week in Paris around Christmas.

lisa

With each trip I bring less and less -- and I still bring more than I need to, every time. I've got it down to almost nothing -- it all fits in one carry-on -- but still, when I get home I inevitably realize there were at least a few things I brought that I didn't need. I dream of the day I come home from a trip and realize that I actually wore/used every single thing I brought more than once. That, to me, would be packing nirvana. Figuring out which shoes to bring is always the hardest part for me. <BR>Shopping with a friend recently, she pointed out that I seem to always look for clothing that "packs well," as if I'm always shopping for clothes to wear on vacation even when I'm not. She's right. I can't help it. I'm always thinking ahead to my next trip!

Melissa

Hi all - I just stumbled upon this site and am cracking up reading all of your posts. I too am a list maker, although I've never practice packed. I usually start days before putting non-essentials in the suitcase and end up going into the wee hours of the morning still at it. I'd like to ask for help since it seems most of you have traveled quite a bit....I'm going to be going to London, Paris, Austria, Switz.,& Germany (12 days total, first time overseas) and don't know what type of clothing,jacket and shoes to bring. This will be with a school group, basic sightseeing. I'm not a sneaker person though most of the others are. I'm not sure how warm or cool to dress, what weight jacket, etc. And I'm limited to 1 med bag (that I've got to be able to lift). (grin) I have a Travelsmith catalog but am still unsure what I need. Are those neck pouches recommended? Any suggestions wyould be appreciated. Thanks.