When do you all pack?

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

I have a big family (7 people) that I’m generally in charge of packing for, and we leave in 14 days (check in in 15 days) for a long universal/Disney trip. I asked DH to get luggage out this coming weekend so I could start gathering stuff together. He thinks I’m insane and we shouldn’t start packing til the day before we leave lol. This started a debate. I told him I’m sure lots of people like to get a head start on packing, am I crazy? When do people usually start packing?

Typical man!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I always pack the Sunday before we leave. The day before, I do all laundry so it's ready to pack. I roll everything up so it doesn't wrinkle. This only presents a challenge when we're living here in the same season as our travel destination. When that happens, I still pack early but I keep washing the few items we have in our drawers still. Luckily, we have dedicated work clothes so it's not too much of a hassle. I find this much easier than stressing so close to our travel date.

I also keep Word documents of a packing list and a "Getting Ready for Vacation" list which details what I need to do right up until it's time to go. Things like vacuum, set timers on lights, rinse out the coffeemaker, empty trash cans, set the thermostat, confirm cat sitting with neighbor, etc. This keeps dh from standing around not knowing what to do to help, or asking me while I'm in the shower.

I think it all depends on people's schedules leading up to vacation. I'm at work on weekdays, so trying to pack a little each night after work, when I'm more tired and not thinking as clearly, doesn't work for me. It's just too much to do to have it so scattered/fragmented. I need to do it all at once: lay it all out on the bed then put it in the suitcases. Once it's on the bed, I cross it off my list. If I didn't work, I'd probably do it all the day before or maybe 2 days prior.

The downside to doing this is that usually dh will ask, "Which bag has my belt?" or something like that. What the... "I don't know; it's somewhere in there," because several days later, I just can't remember it all.

 

[Feberin]

I started a month before with a family of six. Weather is still mostly cool where we are and I didn't want to wait until too soon and find someone didn't have shorts or something. I also made my kids try on everything. I'm glad I did because all of my daughter's skorts are too tight and I needed to order some new ones. If it was clothes that were needed before we went then I just made a note to add them. A few days before I'll pack pjs, socks and underwear.

 

[nw6675]

We leave next week. I have a pile of snacks/kitchen type items and a bag with odds and ends (sunscreen, chargers, bug spray) started. I think I will start the real planning tomorrow as this thread has inspired me!

A few years ago we had to make a Georgia late night Walmart run when I forgot DH's underwear

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We pack the night before we leave. I always make sure I am off work the day before and we wash everything. I have a packing list saved in my notes on my phone. I put an "X" next to each item as I pack so I don't forget anything. For our upcoming trip we are leaving around 4, after last day of school, so we will pack everything while the girls are at school.

 

[MrsPete]

I usually start "laying" things out a couple of weeks in advance. This way I can make sure we don't forget anything. And I check the piles a couple of times. We have a spare room, so we use the bed in there. But it is only my DH and I, so it's easy. We will usually take the suitcases out a couple of days before to start the actual "packing".

If I had a larger family like you, I too would want to start early to ensure I didn't forget anything. Good luck!

Same, except I use the dining room table.

I lay aside our favorite outfits as they come out of the wash for about two weeks before a trip. Then I go through each person's pile and consider which items should go /what should be added. As I buy items for the trip (sunscreen, etc.), I set that on the dining room table too.

I have a HARD-AND-FAST-RULE that if we're leaving on Saturday, the suitcases must be packed and finished on Wednesday night. Thing is, we ALWAYS miss that deadline, but realizing on Wednesday that one child's bathing suit no longer fits and the other child's favorite dress has a hole in the seam -- well, that's not a crisis on Wednesday. Those same discovery as we're walking out the door on Saturday IS a small crisis.

My husband has a HARD-AND-FAST-RULE that if we're leaving on Saturday, the suitcases are all double-checked and placed in the car Friday night. We don't do fussy, panicky out-the-doors at our house.

This is a little off-topic, but I keep a "travel basket" on the top shelf of my closet. It contains our travel-toiletry bags (which we replenish at the end of each trip before returning them to the basket). If I pick up things like glow sticks or new sunglasses for a trip next summer, I throw them into that basket -- keeps me from losing them. I also store things in that basket that we only use while traveling; for example, that's where I keep our padded bicycle seats and the things that hold our sunglasses tightly on our heads -- things we really don't use often.

 

[MrsPete]

I started a month before with a family of six. Weather is still mostly cool where we are and I didn't want to wait until too soon and find someone didn't have shorts or something. I also made my kids try on everything. I'm glad I did because all of my daughter's skorts are too tight and I needed to order some new ones. If it was clothes that were needed before we went then I just made a note to add them. A few days before I'll pack pjs, socks and underwear.

Yes, this is exactly why we have the above-mentioned gotta-pack-by-Wednesday rule. Of course, it's most important for kids who outgrow their clothes but it's not a bad idea for adult clothes too. One of my dear friends went on a short, mid-winter cruise, and she pulled out/packed a bathing suit that she hadn't worn in a couple years. She hadn't gained/lost weight, so she felt confident of it -- until she put it on and discovered that the elastic had rotted! We all know that happens. So she had to keep pulling up her bottom half.

 

[Lilsia]

Same, except I use the dining room table.

I lay aside our favorite outfits as they come out of the wash for about two weeks before a trip. Then I go through each person's pile and consider which items should go /what should be added. As I buy items for the trip (sunscreen, etc.), I set that on the dining room table too.

I have a HARD-AND-FAST-RULE that if we're leaving on Saturday, the suitcases must be packed and finished on Wednesday night. Thing is, we ALWAYS miss that deadline, but realizing on Wednesday that one child's bathing suit no longer fits and the other child's favorite dress has a hole in the seam -- well, that's not a crisis on Wednesday. Those same discovery as we're walking out the door on Saturday IS a small crisis.

My husband has a HARD-AND-FAST-RULE that if we're leaving on Saturday, the suitcases are all double-checked and placed in the car Friday night. We don't do fussy, panicky out-the-doors at our house.

This is a little off-topic, but I keep a "travel basket" on the top shelf of my closet. It contains our travel-toiletry bags (which we replenish at the end of each trip before returning them to the basket). If I pick up things like glow sticks or new sunglasses for a trip next summer, I throw them into that basket -- keeps me from losing them. I also store things in that basket that we only use while traveling; for example, that's where I keep our padded bicycle seats and the things that hold our sunglasses tightly on our heads -- things we really don't use often.

When I think of "packing", I think of actually putting the stuff in the suitcase. I don't many people wait until the last minute to check if clothes fit and wash them. That is always done a few days, at least, ahead of time. I don't physically start packing things into the suitcase until the day before.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Whatever 10 pairs of shorts are on top
Whatever 10 pairs of underwear are on top
Whatever 10 pairs of socks are on top
Whatever 4 t-shirts are on top
3 pairs OluKai flip flops
2 pairs New Balance sneakers
1 pair Birkenstock Arizona sandals
Toiletry kit (always ready)
2 bottles Neutrogena Beach Defense 30
6 silk Hawaiian shirts in dry cleaning bag

Boom, packed.

 

[chaoslobster]

I'm leaving in 10 days and I'm about to start packing. I made my lists and my lists of the lists a few weeks ago and started ordering anything I didn't already have.

Now I have boxes of crap laying around and I'm about to start opening things up, throwing out the packaging, separating items that came in a 3-pack but I'm only bringing 1, pouring bath products from the giant bottles I keep at home into a small one to travel with, etc. I'll also pull out my summer clothing and make sure everything fits and that I'm physically able to wriggle in and out of all my shirts -- I'm pretty severely disabled and the condition is progressive so it gets a bit worse every year. I use a dressing stick but sometimes a tank top is just too tight for me to pull over my head without help.

I'll spend the next week gathering up the items I intend to pack, trying things on, freeing products from packaging and such, and toss them into the suitcases. About 3 days before I leave, I'll start to re-pack the bags in a more organized manner using packing cubes and check off each item from my lists as it goes in. I don't have the stamina or mobility for a full afternoon of moving around the house bending and lifting, so I do it a little bit at a time.

 

[MrsPete]

When I think of "packing", I think of actually putting the stuff in the suitcase. I don't many people wait until the last minute to check if clothes fit and wash them. That is always done a few days, at least, ahead of time. I don't physically start packing things into the suitcase until the day before.

Ah, my definition of packing is a little more broad. I include planning outfits, gathering things together, making sure the things we want are all clean as "packing", even if the suitcase itself is still in the hall closet.

 

[Lilsia]

Ah, my definition of packing is a little more broad. I include planning outfits, gathering things together, making sure the things we want are all clean as "packing", even if the suitcase itself is still in the hall closet.

The reason why I don't count all of that as actual "packing" is because doing the laundry, or going out to buy new clothes is not actually packing. That is just everyday activities. Putting something "off to the side" is also not a big effort like actually packing is.

 

[nw6675]

We start our trek day after tomorrow so I am packing today. I am sweating like a FREAK! I can only imagine what I will look like in a few days in the 90s