Packing, and Other Personal Idiocies :-(

You can do it, Phoenix!!

I've been there. The low point was probably when I packed WAY too much for a 6-month stay in England. I love to travel but I'm also a homebody, I like to have my little cocoon to come home to. But I was absolutely cursing the chest (CHEST!) I took when we (E.G. and I) had to muscle the horrible thing from friend's house to tube to airport... bleh...

But on my most recent trip, I packed everything for my whole family for almost a week in Texas into just carry-on bags. Didn't even have to check anything. One for me, one for E.G., one for sozlet. Had just enough, including sozlet's favorite toys, wore everything (I think one shirt went unused), and even had room left over to take home stuff we were given while there.

Summer packing is easier though, you're right.

Still, you can do it!!

mayeb a good stiff drink before you pack , might make it easier........ and your wardrobe combinations funnier. ;-)

And a couple of doses of "mother's little helper!"

Phoenix, how well I can relate to this! no matter how hard i try, i always end up having to sit on a suitcase to close it. there's just some chemical that gets in the way, as you run around wide-eyed, throwing things into the suitcase, thinking 'better safe than sorry' and actually really believing in that very moment that yes, you might need this pair of high heels (what if there is an unexpected fancy occassion) or that 15 t-shirts is really not excessive... anything I have tried so far to reason with myself has always failed miserably at the moment of trial...

good luck!

what about breaking the packing stage up over a few days?
Designate a spot to ' dump' all possible clothing options.
a day later pick what you dont want
another day later pick more out you dont want
the next day make it a reward day and pack 3 things you DO want
come back the next day... and so on.. ?
that might help with the anxiety making it a few days task instead of " Holy sh*t" last minute stuffing..

I also have packing issues. (Is there a name for this syndrome?) I have dreams about packing in a rush and panicking.

I try to relieve the anxiety by making lists. I consider what to pack in writing for days or weeks ahead of time. Sometimes I completely re-think my choices while packing, but at least I've considered my options ahead of time.

I save old lists, especially of toiletries and such.

mac- I have a bunch of plastic bags filled with toiletries from former trips. All I have to do is pluck one out of a pile, and there I am.

Well, I have limited myself to two suitcases, one medium size, and one carry on size. I will put the warmer stuff in the larger bag, and the light stuff in the smaller one. Oh, since we will be "motelling" it, I can't take the chance that all the places will have a hair dryer, although most of them do.........And the travel iron.

Believe it or not, I keep my medications, vitamins, herbs and stuff in a plastic fishing lure box. Recently, I had to buy a 2nd box to keep it all. When I went to NY, and was only gone a few days, I just took the stuff that I needed for the few days. Since this trip is going to last a long time, I am just going to take both the boxes, and the hell with it.

Packing is fun for me. Mostly I love it. However, results vary.

My worst packing effort was for my first trip to Italy, which was for a month. Don't ask, I nearly took the kitchen sink. We were lucky to be able to leave the big honking suitcases in storage at the first hotel, which was also where we would stay before catching the plane home. Villa san Pio, forever in your debt. My husband bought a sport bag at a street stand in Rome and I had a small bag that had accompanied the two giantoids, and we selected a sane amount of things from the illconceived choices we came with, and got along fine.

Next two trips there, I packed very light, thinking out each item carefully. With a new understanding of the joy of mobility, I knew that I'd always remember this lesson.

Well, not quite. It turns out that if I am traveling by car in the US, I feel free to load up. And if by plane (and not planning to move around a lot) I feel free to check my luggage, which means I revert to old behavior for just in case situations. Bad girl..

Still, I try to keep in mind a sight I saw in Perugia. We were just coming out of a bar with fabulous chocolate pastries - called Bar Sandy. or something like that - and there trudging down the moderately long main street, Corso Vanucci, which was one of those pedestrian streets with no cars and I think cobbled, were two young women who we could guess right away were going to be studying at the language school in that city. I have never seen, before or after, such big suitcases. My mind's eye pictures them to be near five feet long, maybe twenty inches high, and, oh, say, thirty two inches wide. That's a long street. It turns out they stayed at our small hotel, which happened to be down a very very steep street from the main concourse. Then they had to drag those elephants up the stairs...

This visual is useful for me, or should be, when I'm making packing choices.

Yep. Mobility is precious. Once or twice in the travel I've done since I converted to bearable lightness of being I've had to buy something I decided not to pack -- the $50 or so total I've parted with in this manner has been well worth it.

I've learned to pack lightly for myself, but I can't can't can't pack lightly for the dogs. I've discovered myself travelling with 4 leashes for each dog - what am I thinking?

I'm a list maker. How many days, how many outfits. Everything has to "go with" at least 2 things. Layering is my mantra.

After the list is done, I stack everything on the bed - then stare at it. Pull each top and figure out what 2 bottoms go with each. No special occasion outfits allowed. I usually manage to eliminate a few pieces at this stage.

I try to take undies and socks that are ready to be tossed. And toss 'em after one use. That leaves a little space for treasures to bring back. And I pack at least one empty bag inside the packed bag - cuz you never know what kinda shoppin' miracle you may find.

I often go very limited palette. Black, white, denim, then a few colors and/ or prints.

Hey, guess what guys?............I'm 3/4 packed. Just the stuff that I can't put in until right before I go. I think that talking it through with you all was very, very helpful.

The only problem is now I checked the weather map, and apparently the temperature is going to be a bit above normal where I am going. Maybe I need to throw in a few more light shirts????

Hey, good going!!

Layers, girlie, layers.

How I long for the days when I could toss a bunch of stuff into the trunk of the car and hit the road. Sloppy, but it seemed to work.

don't you dare !!!


layers
layers
layers


and i don't mean hens

Weekend before last, I packed so that I could wear my new turquoise sandals with every outfit.

Of course, I packed an extra pair of sandals, just in case.

My packing litany:

My destination will probably have stores carrying a wide range of goods if shopping should prove necessary.

Everyone will know I'm from out of town and temporarily living out of a suitcase. Besides, I'm not stylish on my home ground.

My hostess has a washing machine. If not, there are laundramats.

I have only two hands and one of them is holding a crutch.

Two paperbacks are sufficient reading material. If not, there is probably a place to buy a third at my destination.

I am not a materialist, but a woman of modest needs and simple desires.

You mean there are two of us who do that?

Good grief, save old lists, I am impressed.

I agree with you, Noddy, that there are usually stores where I am going. Re umbrellas - I've sweated on that one twice now - for my trip to NYCity in 2003, and a trip to Rome in 1999, both trips being in April. Left the umbrella home after much soul searching. Needed one in both cities. In NY, it turned out I was a block from a drugstore, ran in and got one. In Rome, people with umbrellas for sale just suddenly appear on the streets...