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[JulieBeeRN]

LOVE packing cubes. I actually flew this weekend with my brand-new-to-me COMPRESSION packing cubes. I was skeptical but I do think they let me shove more in my carry-on. And I am team carry-on-only unless flying Southwest, usually. (Then I'll chuck a bunch of full sized liquids in a checked bag lol.)



Ooh what are packing envelopes? I googled and all the results were Uline, ha.



That part doesn't annoy me as much as:

1. Gate lice, just board WITH YOUR GROUP like you're SUPPOSED TO but then, as a member of team carry-on, I get anxious about overhead bin space and become a gate louse myself. Am I ashamed? Yes.
   
   
2. The people who SPRINT to the front of the plane after landing, as soon as the seatbelt sign is off but before the door is open. Let's all get off the plane in an orderly fashion, row by row, thanks so much. This happened to me on my last flight, I stood up to get my bag down from the overhead, cutting a woman off of her sprint and she hovered SO CLOSE to my personal space while we all just stood there. Waiting. Together. She cut so many people off. The only exception to this is if you have a tight connection, which I know was not the case in this instance based on the arrival time and airport.

I am the same way about wanting to get a whole new wardrobe almost every time I travel! I literally went through my closet the other day to remind myself of all the clothes I already own. And I've still got a couple of things en route for my next trip ...

Right after covid, they would release people from the front, row by row. I feel like we got off the plane faster.

 

[.landry]

So in full disclosure, my fridge contains at least eight cans of IPA *shudder* - leftover from some gathering that apparently @Smugpugmug crashed unknowingly to me and left behind - they reside in the vegetable drawer - because, well, there was room

This is where our *intentional* IPAs live

 

[JulieBeeRN]

Yes! Last fall we were looking for a 2 night getaway on AirBNB. And VRBO. Ended up getting a good deal on a brand new townhouse from hotels.ca of all places. Anyway, I digress lol. One of our picks on AirBNB had a list of "rules" that made my head spin. Now, I'm a reasonable person. But when you have me schlepping my garbage in my own car to the dump 5km away.....no, sorry, I draw the line at that. We made our $$'s do the talking and walked straight away from that listing....

We’ve never stayed in an AirBNB or VRBO. I have a perhaps irrational fear, that we will pay for the room and it will fall through at the last minute and we would our money & have no place to stay.

 

[QueenIsabella]

We did this with my wife's 98 year old grandpa's funeral. We somehow turned it into an extended family beach resort trip
You can't have a funeral without fun!

We probably won't be doing that, because most of the attendees live driving distance--it's just our group of 5 coming up from North Carolina (and my brother who lives abroad, if he decides to scrape together enough money for a plane ticket). But, we will have a couple days with my sister--my kids adore her--and the funeral location is a tourist area, so there will be things to do, for sure. The memorial service was moved to July 7th, so we'll depart earlier, and have the Saturday to hang out.

 

[Disney_David]

Airbnb story - rented a very swanky new cabin in the mountains. Outrageously high cleaning fee.

The icing on the cake: a tip envelope for the cleaning crew (I WAS the cleaning crew lol) AND my daughter found a pair of handcuffs under the pull out living room couch.

Fun times

I am sending you my address so you can post those back! Thanks!!

But seriously, ewww

 

[Disney_David]

This is where our *intentional* IPAs live

Hahaha. Not IPA, but that’s where my beer lives. It’s a thing I guess

 

[barkley]

boy howdy, i'm gone for a day doing/recovering from one of my once per month grocery shopping trips and we are up over 5 pages!!!!

comments and new stuff below..........

I remember reading on a Dis thread years ago, I think it was the cruise forum, about bringing your worst underwear and then just throwing them away every day so make room in your suitcase for souvenirs

i do this with pajamas. i am TERRIBLE about tossing out my horribly worn but insanely comfy stuff. i will swear up and down that when i take something off i'm going to toss it but then it inevitably ends up in the hamper and years go by..........so now i purposely take it on vacation b/c i know if i toss it in the trash on departure morning there's no turning back.

Right after covid, they would release people from the front, row by row. I feel like we got off the plane faster.

i remember on one flight as we were making our descent the pilot announcing that NO ONE was to leave their seat or attempt to remove their luggage from under their seats or the overheads upon landing until 'further instructions are provided'. when we landed this directive was repeated in a fairly stern voice. as we taxied to a stop the pilot announced 'the following passengers (named them off) will remove their luggage and exit the plane first while everyone else remains seated'. our names were included in that list. as we exited the plan we overheard the announcement 'now that the passengers who we show as having soon connecting flights and NEED to be off the plan quickly have disembarked everyone else may take their leave' only time we were not stressed trying to get to a tightly timed connecting flight.



other stuff.............

kitchens in 1 b/r villas-i love them, heck i love just having a microwave and a mini fridge in a room. i can keep milk for my coffee, cold sodas, water. space for our leftovers (and if we have a full size fridge and we've gone off property to someplace like cheese cake factory you better know there's some slices of cheese cake in there). with a full size fridge we've always arranged to do a grocery store stop to snag some stuff like premade salads and sandwiches, chicken strips/fried chicken, large frozen entrees, milk, soda, water...even if we don't plan on eating actual meals in the room i can cook up a party size frozen lasagna along with some garlic bread and have it in the fridge so that when the hungries strike (or if we want to prevent them before we take off for the parks) we can grab a quick snack. it used to be more challenging to get everything we needed if we were doing a transportation company that had their designated store we were unfamiliar with and would only have 30 minutes TOPS but with the advent of online ordering we can set up 90% of what we want for pickup and use the time to just grab the ready made stuff.



so back to packing-

anyone have any odd items that are MUST HAVES on your packing list that you doubt anyone else would even consider (or at least question your sanity)?

mine would be those little kid's cartoon character washrags that are sold in little shrink wrap pellets at the $1(.25) store. i like a ROUGH washrag so it exfoliates as i wash my face-these suckers ARE rough so i stock up on as many as we will have days on vacation and pack them in a gallon ziplock bag. use one per day and the next day toss the dried used one in the ziplock to take home and launder.

does anyone else always take paper plates/plastic utensils/laundry and dishwasher tabs? the kitchen set ups only ever have 4 plates/sets of utensils and i'm not going to run a load for that so we use the throw away stuff (the rooms w/microwave and mini fridge have nothing so it's a must for us). in my experience the rooms w/laundry only give one box of detergent and charge an arm and leg for more (same with dishwasher tabs) so i pack extras of both in sandwich ziplocks.

i have never bought a nice pan to take but i have hit a goodwill to get one in good shape to take and leave, spatulas and stuff like that are definitely from the $1(.25) store which i throw in the last load (that i hit the button on as we exit the room) and figure if housekeeping wants to toss or keep it's their choice.

 

[bluezy]

All these AirBNB stories have me worried about our trip this summer. Last year when our extended family (DH & I, our 5 kids and their spouses/kids) was at Disney World, we casually talked about doing a family trip to somewhere closer to home this year since it's our "non-Disney" trip year (we generally do Disney every other year). Everyone thought this was a great idea.

*My* vision of this proposed trip: We would choose some touristy destination within 2-3 hours of home (DH & I and 4 of the kids live within 30 minutes of each other. One son and his girlfriend live about 2.5 hours away). We'd choose a hotel or hotels to stay at and everyone would make their own reservation based on their budget. We'd do things together every day, but have free time for a few hours every morning or evening to do things on our own.

What this trip actually is going to be: All 15 of us in an AirBNB not really in a specifically touristy area. While the area is nice (it's an area that a lot of people around here have second/weekend homes), there is nothing unique about it. We will spend our days fishing (not me!), boating/kayaking (not me!) swimming (again, not me!), bowling, shopping, maybe going to a zoo, and going out to eat. We will need to drive 15-30+ minutes to get anywhere from the house. This looks more like my nightmare vacation than a fun and relaxing vacation to me. The good thing is, the house is only about an hour and 15 minutes away from home so I'll just go home if I don't like it. *And* we're only there for 4 nights. If I have to do all the cleaning and following a million little rules, I'm going to have a meltdown. I did look over the "rules" but don't have the actual contract (our oldest son took care of finding the house and reserving it). I will say that this house/landlord has gotten stellar reviews and lots of repeat customers over the last 5 years, so hopefully someone would have complained if there were any really annoying rules. I'm not sure I'm going to survive this.

 

[DLgal]

I pack some weird stuff when I travel, I guess. Maybe not. Who's to say?

My pillow. I can't sleep without it. If my luggage somehow got lost, I'd literally go out and buy another one or order one for next day delivery. It's a Tempurpedic neck pillow. Can't sleep on any other kind. I brought it to the hospital with me when I had my babies.

Trash bags and waste bin liners for the bathroom. The trash cans are always way too small in hotel rooms and I hate having food related trash mixed in with the bathroom trash.

I bring a liquid hand soap pump. I hate washing my hands with bar soap.

I always bring a small bottle of Dawn dish soap and a sponge in a Ziploc. Its handy to be able to wash out reusable mugs, water bottles, etc.

 

[rlk]

Do we have any Pickleball players here? I have never played and not sure I will, but it does look a lot easier to play than tennis. Every day on my run/walk, I see tons of people playing or waiting for their turn. I do know that in my area there has been some tension between various groups vying for limited space to play this growing sport.

 

[wweazel]

All these AirBNB stories have me worried about our trip this summer. Last year when our extended family (DH & I, our 5 kids and their spouses/kids) was at Disney World, we casually talked about doing a family trip to somewhere closer to home this year since it's our "non-Disney" trip year (we generally do Disney every other year). Everyone thought this was a great idea.

*My* vision of this proposed trip: We would choose some touristy destination within 2-3 hours of home (DH & I and 4 of the kids live within 30 minutes of each other. One son and his girlfriend live about 2.5 hours away). We'd choose a hotel or hotels to stay at and everyone would make their own reservation based on their budget. We'd do things together every day, but have free time for a few hours every morning or evening to do things on our own.

What this trip actually is going to be: All 15 of us in an AirBNB not really in a specifically touristy area. While the area is nice (it's an area that a lot of people around here have second/weekend homes), there is nothing unique about it. We will spend our days fishing (not me!), boating/kayaking (not me!) swimming (again, not me!), bowling, shopping, maybe going to a zoo, and going out to eat. We will need to drive 15-30+ minutes to get anywhere from the house. This looks more like my nightmare vacation than a fun and relaxing vacation to me. The good thing is, the house is only about an hour and 15 minutes away from home *and* we're only there for 4 nights. If I have to do all the cleaning and following a million little rules, I'm going to have a meltdown. I did look over the "rules" but don't have the actual contract (our oldest son took care of finding the house and reserving it). I will say that this house/landlord has gotten stellar reviews and lots of repeat customers over the last 5 years, so hopefully someone would have complained if there were any really annoying rules. I'm not sure I'm going to survive this.

I have never had a list of unreasonable rules in years of AirBnB stays. Often it is "strip the beds and dump the bedding and towels in the basket/laundry room, and remove all food from the fridge."
Some do have outrageous cleaning fees, but you can see that before you make the reservation.
In the past year we have stayed Air BnB in Redington Shores, FL, Ithaca, NY, and Marquette MI. Easy arrival and check in, clean, no hassles.
Just like hotels, I'm sure there are dirty, unsafe, unreasonable places that don't look like their pictures, but I wouldn't worry overmuch in advance.

 

[Micca]

my fridge contains at least eight cans of IPA *shudder* - leftover from some gathering

Huh? Although English is my first (and only) language, I'm struggling with the term "leftover" in the same sentence as IPA.

 

[bluezy]

...
anyone have any odd items that are MUST HAVES on your packing list that you doubt anyone else would even consider (or at least question your sanity)?

Scissors, duct tape, small kitchen knife. Ok...those things definitely sound scary/weird now that I see them all together. Regardless, they've all come in handy on more than one trip! I also pack battery-operated tea lights to use as a night light in the main bathroom of the suites at AoA since there's no outlet in that room (I always have nightlights in my travel bag for other bathrooms). And I always pack paper plates, napkins, plastic flatware, cups, etc. if we're staying in a hotel as opposed to staying with family. I also take a small can of air freshener and Poo-Pourri. There are probably a few other things but I keep a "bathroom bag" packed at all times and most of my "always pack/never use" things are in that bag.

 

[focusondisney]

anyone have any odd items that are MUST HAVES on your packing list that you doubt anyone else would even consider (or at least question your sanity)?

After year & years of being annoyed as the TP @ Disney hotels got thinner & cheaper, I now bring my own. I’m so much happier. And extra room in the suitcase on the way home.

 

[nw6675]

All these AirBNB stories have me worried about our trip this summer. Last year when our extended family (DH & I, our 5 kids and their spouses/kids) was at Disney World, we casually talked about doing a family trip to somewhere closer to home this year since it's our "non-Disney" trip year (we generally do Disney every other year). Everyone thought this was a great idea.

*My* vision of this proposed trip: We would choose some touristy destination within 2-3 hours of home (DH & I and 4 of the kids live within 30 minutes of each other. One son and his girlfriend live about 2.5 hours away). We'd choose a hotel or hotels to stay at and everyone would make their own reservation based on their budget. We'd do things together every day, but have free time for a few hours every morning or evening to do things on our own.

What this trip actually is going to be: All 15 of us in an AirBNB not really in a specifically touristy area. While the area is nice (it's an area that a lot of people around here have second/weekend homes), there is nothing unique about it. We will spend our days fishing (not me!), boating/kayaking (not me!) swimming (again, not me!), bowling, shopping, maybe going to a zoo, and going out to eat. We will need to drive 15-30+ minutes to get anywhere from the house. This looks more like my nightmare vacation than a fun and relaxing vacation to me. The good thing is, the house is only about an hour and 15 minutes away from home so I'll just go home if I don't like it. *And* we're only there for 4 nights. If I have to do all the cleaning and following a million little rules, I'm going to have a meltdown. I did look over the "rules" but don't have the actual contract (our oldest son took care of finding the house and reserving it). I will say that this house/landlord has gotten stellar reviews and lots of repeat customers over the last 5 years, so hopefully someone would have complained if there were any really annoying rules. I'm not sure I'm going to survive this.

Despite my handcuffs story, we've stayed in a ton of Airbnbs and VRBOs. Most of the time they've been 5 stars or close to it from my rating perspective. We've had a handful of misses,, but even they weren't terrible or dirty. We just manage our expectations, particularly if in the height of rental season and they are having to turn the places over quickly.

 

[nekonekoneko]

After year & years of being annoyed as the TP @ Disney hotels got thinner & cheaper, I now bring my own. I’m so much happier. And extra room in the suitcase on the way home.

Touring plans? OH!!!!

 

[nw6675]

After year & years of being annoyed as the TP @ Disney hotels got thinner & cheaper, I now bring my own. I’m so much happier. And extra room in the suitcase on the way home.

Same here. TP, Tide, and Cascade if staying in a villa. I suffer through the TP if just staying in a regular room.

 

[focusondisney]

Same here. TP, Tide, and Cascade if staying in a villa. I suffer through the TP if just staying in a regular room.

I can deal with it if a short 2 or 3 night trip. Anything longer, I’m bringing my own.

 

[barkley]

i do not bring my own toilet paper but i do bring the wet wipe flushable variety. we never use the hotels toiletries but i faithfully stash them in my suitcase each morning so we get re-stocked b/c our local women's shelter and homeless vets group LOVES them as donations.

 

[princesscinderella]

Do we have any Pickleball players here? I have never played and not sure I will, but it does look a lot easier to play than tennis. Every day on my run/walk, I see tons of people playing or waiting for their turn. I do know that in my area there has been some tension between various groups vying for limited space to play this growing sport.

No I have never played and don’t know the rules. I do however like the fun name, it would be funny if the ball was bouncy and shaped like a pickle though to make it a more literal game