I don't know if I'm all that organized, but most of my friends and coworkers say I am.
I love my packing folders and packing cubes and since I don't care for the hotel toiletries, carry travel size items of my own products, as much as possible. I always get all my clothes out and matched into outfits a couple of weeks before I leave, iron them, and place on hangers with one outfit on each hanger. In my computer room I have a futon bunk bed. The bottom bed folds out into a full size bed and it has a twin bed on top. The only time that futon is unfolded is when I'm getting ready for a Disney trip. lol I hang the clothes on the top bunk rail. I then arrange them in the order that I'll be wearing them with an extra outfit at the end. I then pack underwear and a nightgown in one slim cube packing cube and bras in another. I pack odds and ends in a small packing cube and a couple of swimsuits and a coverup in another. I have a hanging Vera Bradley toiletry holder that I always repack as soon as I get back from a trip, so it's always ready. It has travel size containers of shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, shower gel, bubble bath, body spray, tooth paste, folding travel tooth brush, dental floss, cleanser wipes, moisturizer, eye cream, night cream, contact lens solution and extra contacts, small comb and brush, Body Glide, deodorant, bandaids, mole skin, small pair child's scissors, razor, etc. I'll go grab that out of the closet, roll it up, and place it on the lower bunk. Drop whatever shoes I'll be wearing on the lower bunk with it. I then pack cans of sunscreen in a clear waterproof Vera Bradley bag I have and add it the stuff on the bottom bunk. I wear mineral makeup and have quite a few small 3gm stackable jars that screw together into little columns. I always restock them after each trip too. I go get them out of the bathroom drawer I keep them in and place them in a VB makeup bag, with some travel size makeup brushes I have, a couple of travel size lip sticks, travel size gloss, lip balm, travel size mascara, eyelash curler, a small mirror and a tiny 2" diameter glass dish I use for swirling the minerals and place it on the bottom bunk too. (I also have some like 5gm jars that screw together that I put my moisturizer, eye cream, and night cream in that go in the toiletry bag). I then drop my park bag in with the rest of the stuff on the bottom bed. I must have a white noise machine, so keep one in my carry on all the time. It never comes out of there, but I do check to make sure it is working before each trip. Leaving that stuff there and looking at it every day, I know I won't be forgetting anything. The Saturday before we leave, I drop some dryer softener sheets in each bag and each packing folder to make sure everything smells fresh the whole time I'm down there. I roll up any dresses I'm taking into a medium packing cube. I then use the packing guide that comes with the packing folders and fold my shorts/capris and tops into a 18" packing folder, starting with the extra outfit, then the outfit I'll be wearing the last day, and so on, until they are all packed and will wind up in the order I'll be wearing them, with the first day's outfit on top.
When I get to the room, I just slide the clothes out of the packing folder and onto the closet shelf in the room and they're in the order I'll be wearing them, already in outfits. I unzip the packing cubes and drop the swimsuits, underwear, and bras in a drawer still in the cubes and drop the shoes in a bottom drawer. The only thing I hang up are any dresses and the toiletry bag. The only thing on the vanity is the makeup bag, the bag with the chargers in it, the brush and comb, deodorant, one can of sunscreen, Body Glide, the little column of stackable jars that have the moisturizer, eye cream, and night cream, and the toothbrush and toothpaste (in a glass cup from the room). On the edge of the bathtub I place the bath products, shampoo, conditioner, razor, and cleansing wipes. I can't stand a messy room, (but like to use my own bath products), so keep everything else put up in the toiletry bag. It makes repacking to go home alot easier too.
A week before the trip I make sure camera batteries and MP3 player are fully charged. I then place the chargers in a small VB makeup bag, the camera in a VB tech case, and the MP 3 player in a VB contact lens case. I place them, along with some snacks for the airport, sunglasses, prefilled pill boxes, a book, another VB contact lens case that holds a contact lens case and a tiny vial of contact solution, a small folder with all my paperwork, tip envelopes, AP, gift cards, etc, into my personal item. I have one Vera Bradley pill box filled with my routine meds and a second where I have the slots lableled Excedrin, Pepto, Motrin, Cold meds, etc and filled with the corresponding meds just in case I need any down there.
I can get nine days worth of shorts/capris and thin tshirts and tanks into a 18" packing folder which fits perfectly into one side of my 22" Heys Exotic Spinner carry on. The other side of the carry on holds the white noise machine, the slim cubes with my underwear, nightgown, and bras, park bag, and an extra pair of shoes. Going down there I have very little in my checked bag--an empty 20" packing folder, the hanging toiletry bag, the packing cube of swimsuits, one or two more pairs of shoes, the plastic bag full of sunscreen cans, and maybe a few odds and ends. Once I get down there, I put the 20" packing folder on the floor of the closet and use it every night to neatly repack the clothes I've worn that day into, so that at the end of the trip, I'm already repacked and all I have to do is drop that folder into the bottom of my checked bag with the now empty 18" folder, slim cubes, and medium cubes on bottom. I can then take the stuff off the tub and vanity, replace them in the toiletry bag, roll up the hanging toiletry bag, drop my shoes in and be packed and out of the room in just a few minutes.
I don't like dealing with security at the airport, so try to make is as easy and painless as possible. If at all possible I have all liquids in my checked bag, so I don't have to deal with a 3-1-1 quart bag. I wear easily removable shoes (preferably flip flops) through security. I work at a hospital so can easily get a pair of paper booties to wear through the scanners. I don't carry lap tops or any other electronic device that I may have to open. I always pack any jewelry in my personal item and wait until I get through security to put it on. I don't wear underwire bras or pins/clips in my hair and wear comfortable but fairly form fitting clothes. I don't want to give them any reason to search me or my bags, so make sure I'm not carrying or wearing anything that they could possibly consider suspicious.
Before the trip I go to Home Depot and pick up some lime green Mickey heads. Since I write very small anyway, I write all my ADRs (time, restaurants, and conf #) on a couple, cut them out, place them back to back, laminate them, cut them out again, punk a hole in one ear, insert one of those rubber luggage tag thingys in the hole, and attach it to my park bag. That way I always have all my ADRs handy and have a lime green Mickey head showing I'm a DISer.
Also before each trip I print out mousekeeping envelopes and prestuff them, so all I have to do when I get down there is take one out of the safe each morning. I don't have to worry about having to find the correct bills down there.
I refuse to go on a trip unless it's paid in full. I hate having a balance on my credit card, when I come back, so I always order Disney gift cards to cover any tips, souvineers, OOP meals, etc. I always order enough to make sure I have plenty of money for the trip (although there have been times I've found something unusual that I just had to have, so did use a CC for a big purchase, i.e. the big rug that's on my living room floor I just had to have in Morocco one year. lol). With the Disney gift cards I always have some left over, which is nice. I come home with money left for the next trip, instead of coming home owing money. lol
