After a recent road trip, and a conversation with my brother, I vow to stop over packing. Really, I will stop. Talking to him I realised I have a family tradition of packing like I am going to a deserted dessert island.

I do have some personal essentials that I need, that are not easy to find - allergic to lots of soaps, need shampoo that works with my hair, etc.

However, the things I take in excess tend to be snacks, chips, cookies, bottled water, bottled drinks. We are talking large grocery bags of these things. I feel like a pack animal dragging these things into a hotel. I even took meal replacement diet drinks. I intended to drink them on holiday. Who am I kidding? I almost never even drink them at home.

I am not even a big eater.

I get in this excited pre road trip shopping mood and get some of everything I might want or crave while on holiday.

Am I the only one who drags all these things, eats maybe 5 percent of them and feels like an idiot for dragging them along?

I finally decided on my recent trip - no more. My SO has been saying forever that we don't need all these things and the work of dragging them into the hotel is a pain. The last trip it was so cold the drinks were at risk of freezing if left in the vehicle overnight.

I am done. I always easily get over it if I miss a meal. I vow to stop this silly habit.

Anyone else an over packer, or reformed ex over packer?

You must be my SIL

I am the opposite...very light packer. To the point where I should pack more. Oh well, guess we all learn to live with our quirks.

I am a terrible overpacker. Now that I have a baby in tow when I travel, it is even worse. I have had to pay extra fees for my luggage being so heavy. I would like to reform myself. But I just can't seem to leave my loot at home.

We have been threatening to stop the over packing for over 20 years. All we have succeeded in doing is to get a larger vehicle for our extended Road Trips. We are on our third van, a full size extended one. But when we go we are usually on the road for anywhere up to 6 weeks and with camping gear and everything else you need for the different occasions, weather conditions, food, snacks coolers, just to name a few....Heck.. take all you need and enjoy yourself. After all you are going to be in a vehicle with other people for days and days so you might as well be comfortable. I doubt you will ever change and I know we will not. Happy Motoring.

I tell myself that I can always buy anything that I need. and I often do!! I've gotten heavier jackets, cooler clothes and even bathing suits.

I find that stopping for snacks is better than taking them along. We need that few extra minutes of standing and walking around.

My SIL is an avid overpacker. I think it's actually a result of displaced anxiety. Instead of worrying about bad weather or accidents or ??? - she worries if she has the right bathrobe (takes a light one and a warm one and a terrycloth one for after the shower - each with matching slippers - and everything else in similar quanatities).

She also does the food thing. I keep telling her they have food everywhere - and as long as you have water and a couple of snacks in the car - you can always get more wherever you're going. (And she does this on trips from NYC to DC in Oct - not trekking through the mountains in bad weather.)

The only thing I overpack is shoes - I want to be sure I have a comfy dry pair as well as a choice of better ones (had a heel break once on a business trip and have been paranoid about it ever since.)

Thanks everyone, I feel better.

I do think I am really going to take less next time.

The place we stayed on the 2nd floor with no elevator had me hating all those bags.

At the last place we stayed, I was jealous of the people I saw with one large bag and one small bag each in the parking lot next to me. They were done in one trip.

Redrock, we once rented a van to drive to a ship since our vehicle (midsize sedan) was too small. This was for only TWO people. That was a personal record. Thanks for the kind words.

Melissa, I paid extra for one of my two bags on a flight a few years ago. The gate agent seemed shocked that I did not move things to my other bag to make them each the right weight. I had everything arranged how I wanted it in those bags. No way I was going to open them, have my clean clothes fall on a filthy airport floor and rearrange them for a few dollars.

I am not too bad on clothes, by my standards. However I know I take more than a lot of people. My thing is not washing clothes on holiday (with a few reasonable exceptions).

I get the shoe thing. One time I forgot to change shoes before a flight. Good thing. They were the only ones that were tolerable after a few days of walking even if they did not look so great. So, I always take at least two comfy pairs in addition to a nice pair (or two for a dressy trip).

Thanks again for all the replies.

Well, yes and no.
The beauty of using cars for road trips is that you can pack things in smaller suitcases/ bags and not have to take everything in the hotel room each night.

My travel mentor taught me that when you are traveling with a car/ rental car, keep the big suitcases in the trunk of the car and load up a smaller duffle with what you need for the overnight stay.

I LOVE road trips and this method works great for me.

Patti? Is that you? Oh wait, you feel like an idiot for over packing, so you're not her!

One of my best friends is the queen of over packing. She literally amazed an engineer (he hadn't traveled with us before- or since, come to think of it!) at the amount of stuff she got in the car. We had about a 6 inch gap between the top of the SUV and our stuff for 4 people and a 3 1/2 day trip (including a tailgate though)- I had to ride in the middle of the backseat because the rest was full. It was pretty ridiculous. Everyone's always annoyed, until something happens and you need the rope she brought with her on a plane trip to tie your broken flip flop back on, or you need a phillips screwdriver to fix [whatever it was- it might've been the car, I was not on that particular trip] and she just whips one out for you.

I'm not like that- I'm doing well if I remember PJs and undies, but it's nice to travel with someone who is- as long as it's not in your room and you don't have to unpack it! lol

Husband and I love to drive the California coast from Vancouver, BC.

Husband has a Z06 Corvette ... packing?? somewhat of a problem (under statement).

We are usually gone for 2 weeks. I find that I end up wearing the same shorts for 3 or 4 days and just fresh T-shirt daily (oh .. and undies of course). I always try to remember this when I am packing. Re: bringing food ... never do. The most we do is when we set out from the house at the crack of dawn we stop at our local Starbucks for grande coffees to go and bran muffins (yes, we do have to stop relatively soonish for a bathroom break after that breakfast). We have bottled water in the car and that's all.

One of our recent road trips was through Lake Tahoe and I saw the most massive pine cones I'd ever seen on the side of the road ... I had to have a few (okay, 7 or 8). Due to trunk size constraints, they were on the floor by my feet for the entire rest of the trip.

We're going again in August this year for another two weeker. Can't wait.

However, we'll be in the 2007 Corvette with much, much less storage than the 2002. Oh well ... it's all about appearances right ... so what if everything I'll be wearing looks like I slept in it the night before from being packed in a Glad bag and stuffed in the so-called trunk.

C_W_I

Its not hard for two people to fill a van. We fill our E-350 SD Extended Van each time we take a Road Trip. I am most likely the one to the most over packing. The wife seems to get by with less bulky bags. I wonder if that is because her clothes are smaller than mine.?.?.?

Traveling to Africa and only being allowed 22 lbs of luggage cured me of over packing. Didn't matter how big the suitcase was, couldn't go over 22 lbs. You learn fast...

I overpack food as well. While touring Yosemite, after a hike, we found ourselves very hungry and far from restaurants or any food. We had to backtrack to the closest restaurant which was closed. Luckily, the golf shop grill was open. We had microwave hotdogs, if I recall correctly.

Another trip, although not a car trip, we were re-routed on what should have been a one-stop with plenty of time to have a meal to a two-stop air-trip leaving us without time to get a meal. In fact, while we were in line to board, they wanded my husband, so I ran to a coffee shop across the way and grabbed everything I could including three big muffins.

Those incidents happened awhile back, but I still think of them when I pack. I try not to overpack. Of course, there is a fine line between overpacking and being prepared.

Although I can travel extremely lightly when necessary, such as never checking luggage when I fly, I have found the solution to overpacking: I bought an RV. Twenty pairs of shoes, twenty changes of clothing, and a few bags of groceries? No problem! I've even got the kitchen sink! My daughter and I call it "The world's largest tote bag."

I carefully pack light when I am traveling by plane or train, but I couldn't care less how much stuff I throw into the trunk of my car for a roadtrip!

Finally learned not to bring food. Part of the the fun is trying new and different snacks at pits stops along the way, including stopping at fruit stands, where you can get healthy stuff, too. I do often bring a jug of ice water and some grapes.

Paper sacks stress me out; I never know what's in them once they've been in a car a day or two.

Since I like to shop when I travel, I rarely buy anything new before a trip.

Starrs, I never got the hang of the several small bags. I don't know what I will want to wear. My SO loves the idea.

Boxer, what does your husband take? Do you get equal space in the corvettes?

Redrock, I always think it's harder for tall or larger people to get by with those baggage limits since their clothes are made of more fabric. I think petite people have to be more comfortable on flights than taller people like my SO and myself - more leg room. However, I think smaller people might be less able to lift the 29 - 30 inch monster bags I often take.
May I borrow your van? It seems lovely for a road trip.

"World's largest tote bag". LOL The reason I don't want one is someone has to clean it. I do not clean on holiday and have a lot lower tolerance for filth than my SO.

Coco, I get the travel with someone more prepared than myself idea. Alone, I map and plan every detail. With my SO, I never have to read the map(which we always have).

Claire, I always take food on planes. If I don't and there is food, it will be something I hate or something that makes me feel ick. If I bring food, the flight will offer things I like and am able to eat. Also, I agree on the time to eat at the airport thing - I never rely on it.

Thanks everyone for the interesting replies.

I'm like suze. Went to Europe for a month with a carryon and plan to do the same thing again in April, but on roadtrips--heck, I just pile and pile the stuff in--as long as I don't have to carry it, I don't care!

I see a rend here! Me, too. I'm pretty darn self-disciplined for air travel but a real back-slider in the car. Until, that is, we bought and traveled in a Miata. Had to bring the absolute minimum. But it turned out to be fun. (But I love the idea of "the world's largest tote bag.")

sorry, that was supposed to be a "trend," not a "rend."