How to Pack for a Trip
By: Keith
I can’t believe I didn’t write about this sooner. We’ve been traveling for two weeks with a week still left to go. Packing for a trip used to be nothing more than me throwing a bunch of clothes in a bag and getting on a plane; if I forgot something I’d just buy another of whatever I’d forgotten. But, since I got married and since we had kids, packing has turned into something of an art form. Also, we don’t fly much anymore. These days I prefer driving and taking road trips. Last year we saw the Gateway Arch, and drove all the way to Florida and North Carolina during our three week hiatus. This year it’s the west coast. Anyway, I have some packing tips.
1. Carry-Ons: I spent two weeks last year traveling around Scotland, London and Amsterdam. That meant flying, and it also meant I was fearful of losing all my stuff to a dumb airline. My solution? Pack everything in a single carry-on bag. It’s an unwanted hassle to keep track of bags on a trip where getting around is the most important thing. Had I been visiting family and not bouncing from Airport to Airport then packing a bunch of trinkets and stuff would have been ok.
2. Leave Space or Bring an Extra Bag: Never pack to capacity. Even with a carry on you should leave a bit of room for a souvenir or two. We recently bought a roof rack for our car. I told my wife, “Just because we have the rack doesn’t mean we have to fill it.” Boy am I glad we didn’t fill it because my sister is sending us home with bags and bags of my nephew’s old clothes (my boys are 5 years younger).
3. Make a List: I never make a list, and I pay for it every time. This time I forgot towels (we’re at the beach). My wife never makes a list either, and she’s not much more successful. My style is to toss stuff in the back of the car and drive, worrying about it later. She is meticulous and packs everything but the kitchen sink. Unfortunately she still manages to forget important stuff. Lists. That’s the solution.
4. Hotels Have Washing Machines: No matter where you are in the world there’ll probably be a washing machine. If you’re somewhere that doesn’t have one then you probably won’t care about having clean clothes anyway. In other words just wear a couple outfits and wash them. Back to the carry on argument – you shouldn’t need more than one bag anyway, even while driving (of course, thanks to my wife, we’ve totally failed at that).
5. Trash Bags: You really don’t want a trash can car. If you bring a trash bag (or two if you’re feeling really ambitious) then you’ll have somewhere to put all the empties.
That’s all I can think of, folks. I’m not much of a packer, and I’m certainly not good at planning. These, however, are some of the things I’ve learned through trial and error. Does anybody else have other suggestions?
Related posts:
The NY Times just published a little photo essay by a flight attendant explaining how to pack 10 days’ worth of clothing in one carry on. Shoes go on the bottom, and everything else has to be tightly rolled and then stacked, tightly packed, around it. It works, but the bag ends up really heavy!
.-= launa ´s last blog ..Provence Rainbow =-.
we successfully packed for a week with three kids in two bags (one medium sized and one small) and three small (under your seat type) backpacks. 4 outfits a person (kids get things dirty FAST, so I figured two outfits a day and wash stuff), adults in one bag (that means keith gets almost 3/4 of the bag since his clothes are so much bigger) and kids clothes in the other plus diapers. We even got a booster seat in the adult bag. And to tell you the truth, I think next time we’ll bring fewer adult clothes. I carry on the diaper bag plus snacks. Keith carries on the electronics (games/dvd player) and Ben (5) carries on kids books and stuffed animals. Ryan and Zoey get out of lugging anything for now. There’s enough room in every backpack to shove sweatshirts etc. I was surprized at how smoothly it went and will employ the same method in the future even to car road trips.. SO much less stressful!! Have a great last week! We’ll definitely be taking a page from your book in a few years.. and doing the round the country car road trip! I can’t wait!! Drive safe!
My tip: whatever you end up buying on the road, when you get home, leave it in your suitcase. For example, if you buy some resolve to clean up your kids messes in the hotel, leave it in your suitcase because chances are you’ll need it again. Same with cords for electronics. If you end up buying a spare, go ahead and leave it in the suitcase. If you keep doing this, your bags will pretty much pack themselves–and you’ll be prepared for some of the weirder situations that come up.
Mate, I though your traveling story make me has refrence to prepare family’s next month vacation. Many Thanks.