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The Pain of Packing

Traveler’s Lament
I love to travel. I hate to pack.
I want to pack light. I hate it when I don't have something I need.
I want to have a travel wardrobe. I hate spending a ton of money on one piece of clothing.
I love cruising. I don't cruise often enough to be good at packing for a cruise.
I love traveling with the whole family. It is hard to transport everyone's luggage.

Have you ever felt like this when you are trying to plan and pack for a trip?  
Here are some tips that will help de-stress your travel planning and packing.


Talk about the baggage plan ahead of time.

Before you even leave for your trip.... 
Before you even start packing....
Talk with your family about packing. Set some expectations about how much each person will reasonably need to bring on the trip. Remind yourself and your family members that you don’t have to bring everything you own. Be sure to emphasize the "only as much as you can carry yourself" principle. It is true that most group members will ignore this, but hopefully it will still be implanted in their minds. That way, when they "cheat" and over pack it won't be quite as bad as if you did not establish an expectation to start with.

Plan for expansion during the trip.

I don’t know what it is about traveling, but clothing seems to reproduce and expand during the trip. Items pack down so neat and small when you first put them in your suitcase, but now that it’s time to re-pack them for the return trip, they take up twice as much space. This is even before you add in the new things like that cute shirt you bought at the local artisan shop.

With this in mind, be sure to leave some space in your bag. You probably don't need to bring as many shirts as you think. After all, you know you will buy one or two cool ones along the way. Add them to your wardrobe mix and wear them. 

Do some laundry.

Recently our family went on a cruise. My sister-in-law brought a couple of very formal gowns. When she unpacked them, she discovered that they needed to be pressed. She was checking into the service on the ship and discovered that for about $50 for the seven-day trip she could have laundry service. This included all four cabin occupants.  
She was able to send a load of laundry out every day--it arrived neatly hung up back in her cabin the next day. She left the cruise with all of the family's laundry washed and folded. She also had one of her gowns dry cleaned before she left the ship. The cost was about $11. When you compare the cost of this service to the cost of having one gown dry-cleaned by your local cleaner, you might decide to book a cruise just to have your laundry done.
This was a huge stress relief as she did not have to worry about doing a mountain of laundry from the trip when she got home.   


Use a packing list. 

I have created my own multi-purpose packing list that I use over and over again. I keep it on my phone in Google Keep. It lists not only things to pack, but also things to do to prep the house before I leave. I use a checklist style. If I know I won't need an item for the trip I'm planning, I simply check it off of the list. The list is ever evolving. I update it, but I never delete it. 

Lana was attached to paper lists for a long time. She still has her self-made list from her 1999 trip to Chile. But these days she uses other people’s pre-made packing lists that are easily accessed on the internet. 

Some sites have lists that are tailored to specific destinations and types of travelers.

Here are a few of our favorites:
Her Packing List -This blog is a comprehensive travel tool for the female traveler.

Packsmith by Tortuga - A blog about packing carry-on only. It's full of tricks and tips.

Travelers' Checklist - A customized list based on location, traveler and activity. This list is not necessarily geared to traveling light. 






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