My H waits until the morning of to pack. It drives me insane and he always forgets something. One time I had to overnight fed ex his running shoes because he was running a marathon. It was about $100 iirc. I was furious. He also never packs a sweater even when I tell him it could chilly at night. We’ve been at venues like the US Open and have had to spend money on a stupid sweatshirt for him. Once I can see, but every year???
I had to throw stuff together at spur of the moment to catch a flight when my mom fell. I forgot so many things because I had no time to make a list.
@MaineLonghorn, this is the first thing I thought when I saw the thread title. My kids learned to pack pretty young, but before they did, I had 4 people to pack for while dh did his own thing and invariably said “Aren’t you ready yet?” as soon as he shut his suitcase. Then cue the toe-tapping and meaningful looks at his watch.
Nowadays he drives me nuts by cramming the car with just-in-case items including a selection of tools (in case he needs to rebuild the engine, maybe?) and piles of stuff from work that will remain untouched throughout the trip. The tools have occasionally come in handy, but I feel like Ma and Pa Kettle traveling in an over-packed car.
My H packs early, for his scuba trips he has everything laid out a week before. I will start 2 or 3 days before, throwing things I will need in a suitcase. No way would I be bothered painting nails, plucking eyebrows, and a thyroid condition has taken care of the need to shave legs (old lady bathing suits eliminate the need to shave anywhere else!). I do the travel plans, checking in for trips, making sure I have hotel confirmations, etc.
I have to admit that despite Hubby’s last minute packing, I can’t remember that he has ever forgotten anything. Despite my advance planning, I have walked out the door and failed to get one of the packed suitcases into the car - fortunately that was a trip to the in-laws where there is great shopping. When flying with one of the kids for Music Conservatory auditions, I forgot to pack my shirts that were laying on the bed beside the suitcase. Blame that one on Mom’s nerves.
I love the going off to run a marathon without shoes story, @emilybee - but I’m sure if that occurred in my own household, I would fail to see the humor.
The recent trip my son made had me howl with laughter. He was headed for a trip to see a friend and meet people for job prospects. The flight was super early in the morning and he chose to stay out late the night before and throw things in his bag and run out the door. I had bought him grandpa pajamas for Christmas with the button up long sleeve pajama top. Yes, in the dark he thought it was a button up shirt and packed that instead. He said he didn’t notice until he was getting dressed for his interview. After I stopped laughing I had to make sure he didn’t actually wear it.
I always leave refilled toiletries, cosmetics, OTC medications, reading glasses, small cross body purse, flip flops, underwear, lingerie, neutral color shawl, sunglasses, hat, umbrella, folding raincoat, folding nylon bag, sneakers, socks, etc. in an empty suitcase. I can be ready for a trip in 15 minutes.
My kid ran the 5k part of her triathlon in my flats, because her other option was the flip flops that she wore in the car on the way to the park. She left her running shoes out of the car. Still won her division.
I can pack for our HI trip very quickly: most of the gear is already in the bag. All I have to do is add some shoes and clothes, but they are already “pre-selected.” Toiletries are also pre-packed. If we are staying in a hotel, I take out the egg pan and the package with spices; if we are going to a condo, those items stay in.
Most of the time, I pack the morning of trips, even when I have early flights. For destinations with specific requirements I do make lists, and I do check specific items to make sure I know where they are and that they are clean, etc., but unless there is very specific equipment needed (like on a ski trip), I just gather up things shortly before I leave and stick them in my bag. I then unpack the minute I get to my destination.
I’m a very fast packer, and I just prefer that my things don’t stay crammed in a bag for too long.
My DH will often only bring three pair of underwear, as if he is saving so much space, not ever recalling that after hand washing, the hanging to dry can take days to be effective if it’s cool or humid.
Well, H & I at least agree to both pack enough underwear for the entire trip with NO washing, even if we MAY wash at some point along the trip. It’s so easy to do and not good for us to PLAN that we HAVE to wash. When we go places where we don’t perspire or don’t perspire much, it’s fine to re-wear clothing without having to wash daily anyway.
I like the idea that others have posted of staging packing on a different bedroom. I may try that, since we are empty nesters and are only using our one bedroom and have both kids rooms available. For some reason, we still think of the kids’ rooms as THEIR rooms and rarely use them. Old habits die hard! When H & I have had different colds, for a change, I slept in D’s room and H slept in our room, so we wouldn’t wake each other with our coughing and tossing. It worked well, but was a novelty.
I have forgotten Rx at least once and H and I have each forgotten things on occasion, but usually are decent packers. We hate having to buy extras of things we have at home because we KNOW she SHOULD have brought them!
I am duly impressed. My husband started getting things together yesterday for his trip to Alaska on Saturday. Anything he forgets he has to live without since my daughter lives in a remote village and my son in law is a foot taller and much heavier.
So we are now at a hotel near the airport. All packed and ready to leave the hotel at 6:15 tomorrow morning. H had his suitcase ready to go hours before we left. Now, an hour and a half away from our home and at the hotel he is wondering if he should take this or or should have taken that.
But tomorrow night, God willing, we will be where it is warm and have service at our request! And we will probably realize things we forgot. Not like we don’t travel a lot! Haha
My mantra is: even in Ubekibekibekistan they sell toothpaste. If we go someplace where no one has seen toothpaste… we can live without it until we get to a place that sells it.
Yes, it’s only when we don’t have Rx that I get worried, but that doesn’t happen often and we can borrow from one another, since we take same Rx.
Sometimes a bit of shopping on a trip can be fun, as long as it doesn’t take TOO long or cost TOO much.
I remember a trip to DC with H’s friends. Costco was 2 blocks from the hotel and nearly everyone from the group immediately went there to buy warmer clothing because it turned out colder for us HI folks than predicted and we hadn’t brought enough warm clothing. We couldn’t have purchased the pack able down jackets in HI Costco anyway!
I stage outfits in my closet and then pack early and just leave a note on top with what remains to be packed, if anything. I lay out whatever I’m wearing on the plane, including shoes, next to that because that’s part of the coordination. I have a prepacked makeup/toiletry bag that I throw in. And I roll clothes which both saves space and prevents wrinkles.
DH worries about his things and that is it. I am responsible for travel plans, house sitting plans, etc. My kids are older but are horrible packers. They bring mismatched, inappropriate or dirty things and it drives me crazy. I’d rather pack for them than go through the drama of them not having things to wear at our destination. No, you can not wear your frat tank with the spot on it to a nice restaurant. aaaargh.
My H tends to pack last minute and pack too much. He would love for me to pack for him and always peppers me with questions about what I’m bringing. After years of me packing for everyone including the dog, and him packing only his own personal items, I have no sympathy and don’t help him at all!
While I agree that you can get most items wherever you’re going, there’s nothing like the American pharmacy. They seem to be on every street corner and have great hours unless you’re way out in the boonies. I don’t want to spend half a day in some foreign paradise looking for tissues! I also once needed Ibuprofen for cramps and it wasn’t legal OTC in Canada at that time. Tylenol with codeine was OTC. That’s when I found out I was allergic to codeine. 8-|
S lives 3 hours away. Last week he came up for a couple days to see us (translate: eat our food and use our washer/dryer) and see his girlfriend who is in college nearby. They had a formal event where he needed to wear a suit. So he brought his suit, tie, and nice shoes. Where’s your shirt? He produces a white shirt from his suitcase that was apparently folded by a gorilla. Sigh - here, borrow one of your dad’s white shirts, they are all pressed and hanging in the closet. Where’s your good wool overcoat that we bought you that’s intended to be for these occasions? Oh, I just brought my down coat. Sigh - here, borrow dad’s good wool overcoat so you’ll look like a gentleman and not a kid. Where’s your nice watch? Oh, I just brought my casual one. Sometimes I wonder how this kid gets up in the morning!? He was driving - it wasn’t like he had space constraints!
I am a classic underpacker and H is a classic overpacker. I would argue that we both forget important items at an almost equal rate. The best thing about downsizing from a minivan to a Prius despite the fact that concurrently we upsized from 3 children to 3 teenagers was that he had to reduce what he brings along on a road trip. He still brings almost as much on his own as the 3 kids and I combined.
