Vacation – Packing Tips for your Trip!
June 13, 2009 by Nikki
In my blog post, Organize your Family Vacation, I talked about different organizing tips to use while planning for your trip. This blog post goes into more detail about how to plan and pack for your trip! My family recently visited San Diego for a vacation and I found these tips to really help us and I hope they do the same for you!
I love lists! I think they are mandatory for packing and preparing, especially if you are packing for children along with yourself! Here are some examples of lists that may be helpful for you in preparing for your trip! The more you plan and think about what you need to do and pack for, the less chance you have in forgetting anything!
Getting Ready to Leave List: What do you need to do in your home before you leave? Laundry, run the dishwasher, mow the lawn, pick up the house, etc. Do you need to go the bank? To get cash, get travelers checks. Do you need to go to the store? To purchase sun tan lotion, books, magazines, items for the kids. Do you have your Travel Book ready to go? If you don’t know what a travel book is refer to my Organize your Family Vacation blog post.
House sitter / Pet sitter list: Directions on taking care of your pet, watering plants, taking out trash, turning on and off lights, getting mail and paper, etc. Important phone numbers, trip agenda. Emergency contacts.
Packing List: Figure out how many days you will be gone, and plan to pack accordingly. Check the weather at your destination! Pack outfits for your kids for each day with a few extra’s. Make a list of clothing categories, so nothing gets forgotten. Swim attire, PJ’s, Undergarments, T-shirts, Pants etc. Lay out each member of the family’s clothes on your bed or floor prior to packing it in the suitcase, this double checks that everything is there. Make sure to leave extra room for items bought on your trip, pack an extra backpack or suitcase if you can. On my vacation, I had one suitcase be the dirty clothes suitcase, so as the clothes got dirty they were packed in this suitcase. (It made coming home easy to know what clothes were dirty and what had not been worn.) Don’t forget to pack all personal care items in one place. As you are getting ready that morning, lay everything out as you use it on the counter prior to packing it. Again, making sure you have all of your make up, etc. Use travel size containers for shampoo etc, anything that could take up extra room. Wrap the items that could potentially be spilled into plastic bags. For example: Hairspray, gels, shampoo etc. ( You don’t want to get to your hotel room and find that your clothes have been sprayed with hairspray!
On the Road or Air List: Pack Snacks, regardless if you have children or not, but especially if you have kids! I am not above bribery! If I need to, I will pull out the lolli pops! Traveling can take up a lot of time and it is important to be prepared! On my trip, I had both of my kids take their own carry on bags, filled with the toys they wanted to bring. With a little guidance from mom, we made sure we had plenty to do on the airplane and during the times we had to wait. We included in this packing a portable DVD player, which they watched on the airplane. In prior trips, I have bought new color books, activity books and such to keep them interested. It’s something new and keeps them entertained. The carry on bag goes for adults to, make a list of what you want on the plane, a book, magazines, crossword puzzles etc. Making a list will make sure you don’t forget the pencil to go with the crossword puzzle.
Enjoy yourself… Hopefully with careful planning and many scratched off To Do Lists, you will have everything you need… Go Relax and make fantastic memories!!!
Relax!
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[...] Refer to my earlier post in the summer about packing and to do lists! This goes over in detail what kind of lists to write in regards to packing, leaving your home, [...]