Planning Packing

With holiday travel and at least four summer trips (one Carnival Cruise, one girls' weekend, one graduation weekend, and one service weekend for my amazing high school, Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts) coming up, it's never to early to start planning for packing.

To see a video of my packing tips, visit here.

Fortunately, I have a ton of old packing lists to help me get started on deciding what to pack, stored on my laptop or in the Notes section of my planner. Once my packing list is complete, I check the old packing lists to see if I've missed anything important.

Except for really long trips, I rarely pack earlier than the night before. If I pack too early, I end up needing stuff that I have already packed. I do sometimes dedicate an area for stuff that I am going to take with me and fill that area ahead of time. For example, if the trip includes swimming and I am done with my swimsuits for the week, they might go in that dedicated area.

That said, I plan for packing ahead of time. In fact, I started my Easter packing list right after Christmas. My mother-in-law visited and left an insulated casserole bag at our place. I started the list with the bag as the first item to pack, as we generally visit her house sometime during the Easter holiday.

Some of my favorite packing tips...

*Packing lists are something that can be standardized on a laptop. However, I don't recommend it unless you are taking the same kind of trip (say, for business) over and over or you make a list, all inclusive list. Camping, flying, visiting family, or staying in a hotel (or on a CRUISE!!!) all require different packing lists. The other disadvantage of electronic lists? You can't just add to them quickly when you think of something unique that you need for the trip. If you do use an electronic list, consider putting a reminder to "check custom list in planner" at the bottom and just put custom stuff on the list in the planner as you think of the item.

*Keep packing lists in your project section until after the event, labeled with the name of the event and the date. Don't destroy them after you have packed. That way, when you are ready to repack for the trip home, you can simply check the list again!

*Make your packing lists in categories that make sense to you. I use different areas of the page for different pieces of luggage (like carry-on, backpack, rolling bag). Other great subcategories include by day, by activities or events, by time of day (morning, afternoon, night), or action categories, like hair styling, makeup, or toiletries.

*Don't forget to pack for daytime wear, special activities clothing (like swimming, church, or elegant dinners), night wear, or exercise gear.

*Put dots next to items that you need to inventory before a trip and a task in your weekly pages to do the inventory and shop about a week ahead of time. For example, I need to check on how much sunscreen we have on hand before my cruise.

*Double check old packing lists in your notes or file section of your planner to make sure that you didn't forget something important.

I hope many of you are blessed with at least one trip this summer!

P.S. My friend Donna just wrote an excellent quick packing blog here. Go visit her page!

Etcetera.