Oh Nina66, start looking at packing in a different way, LOL. As the saying goes, noone ever came home from a trip saying "I wish I had packed more stuff".

The Pharmacies in Europe are fantastic, or at least they are in Italy and from I have read they are throughtout Europe. One evening over dinner in Verona I suddently got such a sore throat I could hardly talk (much to my DH relief I am sure). The waiter told us where the Farmacia was that was open 24 hours, Italian law requires each town have one avaiable 24/7 as I understand it. We rang the bell, the window was opened and within a few minutes I had an OTC medication. Within 24 hours I felt perfect. Wish we had that service here in N CA.

Shoes, three pairs (one worn on the plane). No more.

Clothes, dark colors hold up better when travelling. Mix and match. Take enough for 7 days and you have enough for two months (I know from experience).

Bathroom and beauty supplies. Pack in your carryone sample or travel supplies. Buy what you need when in Europe. What fun!!! And leave whatever is needed when you get ready to come home. You then have room in your carryone for any fragile delicate items you have purchased in Europe and do not want to put in your checked in luggage.

Take a coat or jacket on the plane. I do not carry a purse on the plane. I put a daytime and an evening one in my checkin luggage. Put items in them such as lingerie etc. Put your wallet, tickets, passport, cc and ATm cards etc.cash, in a small bag inside your carryon (so you can take that with you on the plane when you go to the restroom. If you can't put your carryon under the seat in front of you remove this small zippered bag from your carryon before you put it in the overhead bin.

If you for some reason need more clothes in Europe buy them there. Another fun experience.

Prescription medications of course should always be in your carryon along with extra glasses etc. But a ton of OTC medications are not necessary IMO. I purchased a small bottle of Advil Gels sometime ago. I refill it when I travel.

Anyway dear one, you gave me a good giggle, as I know that we all, as someone said here, have a "melt down time" right before we leave for a trip.

Best wishes to you and have a wonderful time in Paris. I look forward to your trip report.

OK - I'm done packing. I just took out two pairs of socks and some earrings. Happy now???

JUST KIDDING ;-)

Nina

I'm sure I can match you on the OTC meds. We took a 10 night cruise to Alaska in June & I had something to treat the ails of everyone on our "Roll Call". If they needed something, they came knocking. Guess they figured out I was an obsessive overpacker. ;) They made fun of me over the number of p.j.'s I brought too. <sigh>

I have to admit to packing the limit allowed by the airline, & often going over. What I don't understand is how some can pack so light. I never take any clothes or shoes that we don't wear. Okay, the meds. don't all get used, but pretty much everything else does. My family refuses to wear anything twice. Is that our packing problem? How do you guys do it???

Simone, you have me pegged. I am a fanatic list-maker, organizer and the Worrier Designate. Everything is fine until two days before we leave, when I completely freak out and start doing laundry. It is some weird, atavistic urge to get the cave clean before something really important happens. I cleaned my oven just before the first two children were born.

Surfergirl, your DH sounds like my mother. Before my first trip to Europe as a 14-year-old in the 70's she took me to the CDC in Atlanta for innoculations against diseases that had all but been wiped out--or were really not big problems in Europe (Typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, etc.) And when there was a cholera outbreak in Genoa and I was there, she wrote me a long and triumphant "I TOLD YOU SO" letter.

I overpack because I get so excited about my trip that I want to wear "this" and "this" and "that" and "those"!

I love clothes, I have come to realize, and love to create mini wardrobes for my trips. It is my downfall as I have to handle too much luggage.

I am trying to do better so I take out the extra meds that I used to take. I kept the Immodium because I don't want to be in that situation and have to run (so to speak) to a drugstore. It did come in handy when my friend and I were munching tainted almonds last year in Amalfi (too much information?) ha

Have a great trip, Nina. I wish I was going with you to share a palmier. Did I say share - we'd better buy a dozen!

Nina, there will be someone out there somewhere who will tell you that is one pair of socks too many LOL
Do you really need the earrings? :D

You're right Scarlett, I only need one pair of earrings for a month. Now I can add three more purses!!

Nina

I had fun reading this thread. I am a pretty light packer, but I always bring home SOCKS!

But I just realized that I've bought socks more than once while visiting New York. Weird: I come home from Europe with clean, unworn socks, but have had to buy socks in New York twice. I guess I underpack for a trip that is so close to home.

One great tip I have is to purchase a silk knit nightie from a place like WinterSilks.com. I got one last year for an Italy trip and I love it. It weighs nothing, rolls into absolutely no space, and drys in less than an hour. It will be the only nightie I take when we go to Arizona in November.

We used to overpack. And we always regretted it. Some time ago I asked my wife to go through my suitcase and toss out anything that she did not think I needed. She removed about 40 percent...and I abided by her good judgement. I went down 1 suitcase size and am down even farther now. She asked me to do the same. for her.with even better results. We are now both down to a roll on and a small backpack each. Works for 3-4 weeks for us. Mind you, we do not take anything that is not casual. Very good for train travel and we never pay extra baggage surcharges on the no frills airlines.

"My family refuses to wear anything twice."
I just hope you make them carry their own stuff! We recently took our 10-year-old niece to New York for 5 days(her first trip there and also with us). She thought she was going to take a clean pair of pajamas for every night. No way!

On the other hand, I know people who go away for a month with the jewelry they are wearing and that's it. I would feel really deprived if I couldn't change my earrings with my outfit.

But most of all I want to tell you all how good you have made me feel about my packing! I may think I'm taking too much, but I can see that I fall at the light end of the spectrum.

(Some excellent tips from LoveItaly, by the way.)

HELP... I am and have hit the skids big time. I am leaving on Friday for my 10 day trip to Switzerland (2 of which I will be on the plane). I have a pile on my floor I am dreading to go near and I will have to weed what I just can't fit. A few years ago I bought a suitcase that the sales man said I would only need if I were going to Europe for one year. I think he made a mistake - maybe he meant one week???

allanc, I like your idea about going through each other's luggage and removing items. I was about to suggest that to DH as he walked into the room announcing that he was taking 10 pairs of underwear. That doesn't include socks. I reminded him that we will have a washer and dryer, to no avail.

Then I asked him about some of the things I was taking ... his answer, 'sweetie take whatever you think you will need'. Some help he is. It's like two drunks trying to help each other by suggesting that they have another drink ;-)

I'll try it again tomorrow when we actually start to pack. I guess that he would rather have me overpack than hear me complain later that I should have brought this or that - boy does he know me!

No matter what - the earrings and socks stay!

Nina

Marilyn,
We each carry a personal item & carry on onto the plane. Those roll, so it's not a problem. The others we check, which my DH takes care of. I'm as bad as your niece. I don't wear my p.j.'s twice either. I tried taking other's advice & cutting down on our packing for our recent 16 night trip. What we ended up doing was spending a lot on the ship's & hotel's laundry service. It would have helped, if either of our hotels or the ship had self service laundry. Obviously, our packing habits need some work. We have learned to cut back on the amount of shoes we take. Well, it's a start. :)

Hi susanna

>...always the shoes...hiking boots, tennys for biking, flip flops for hanging around,....<

Wear the hiking boots on the plane. Take them off and walk around in your socks.

((I))

I delight in packing light. I love to see how little my luggage weighs when checking in. I've found that you don't need any more for a month than you do fo a week.

I pack three pairs of slacks: one pair is always black. I pack six tops that go with any of my slacks: black, white, red, chambray plus one other. I pack two pairs of shoes: both are Ecco's and both are black. At least one pair has smooth toes that don't look too 'rough' for dress wear. I take five sets of underwear and seven pairs of socks. The comfort of my feet is my 'thing'. If I am traveling off season I include a set of silk long underwear which can be worn under my clothes or my nightie. My outerwear consists of a gortex rain jacket and a polartec jacket.

I also take a picnic kit in a small plastic box that includes plastic silver, plastic coffee can lids for plates, hand-wipes and Shout wipes (I seem to spill when eating).

I take a laundry kit with a stretchy clothes line, liquid camp soap for handwash, a few safety pins, a couple of Shout wipes, and a sewing kit about the size of a matchbook.

My first aid kit includes a few band-aids, an anti-fungal cream (I'm prone to athletes foot), fiber tablets, ibuprofen, and benadryl (works on my allergies and any sleep deficits). I also throw a few band-aids in my wallet.

My biggest problem is my prescription medications. I pack them in snack size plastic bags with a copy of the label on each bag and group them all in a quart zip-lock bag.

I wear little make-up, my hair is short and dries well on its own. I wear one pair of pearl stud earrings and take an inexpensive snazzy necklace to make my black top, worn with black slacks look dressy.

I think most of my luggage weight is in my guidebooks and one novel. Any ideas for reducing that load?

<I want to know what you guys pack and repack every trip and never use or wear????> I'm not being a packing show-off, really Nina, but *nothing* fits this category for me. If it doesn't get used, it might go on one trip, but certainly never twice.

There's one consistent trend I see with you over-packers... you're traveling with a nice husband, as best as I can tell. I don't know of any solo female traveler who is also an over-packer ~LOL.

While I manage to leave with one single suitcase and one small tote bag, it is a totally obsessive process for me to get there. I start packing a month ahead, and quite honestly... here's my confession... put more thought into the clothes, shoes, cosmetics in my suitcase than I did on planning the rest of my trip!!! It's just plain weird, I figured out a few years back that it's my own personal therapy rather than getting worried about the trip itself, the long plane ride, what if I lose my passport, etc.

Hey, Nina, hasn't anyone considered (and this is probably the only reason I never overpack) that if you take all of your favorite "can't live without" clothes, the airline just might lose your bag? Forever? That cute item you can't live without because it fits your body perfectly and you can never find another one that looks so good?

<My family refuses to wear anything twice. Is that our packing problem? How do you guys do it???> Your one question answers the other! Yes, That's how we do it... wear things twice (or more truly like 3-4 times).

Barbara – you are my kind of packer.

My newest plan to lighten my load is to download a few audio books and guidebooks into a PDA. I sure hope it works.