Y’all pack way too much. You probably shouldn’t start packing days ahead of time unless you’re actually headed into the bush, have a host of particular medical needs, or the like. What you bring and don’t use is just more CO2 for the rest of us to enjoy.
You likely need only a backpack with some basic essentials and a few days’ worth of clothes. You should be able to pack sufficiently in less than an hour.
But what if…?
No. They have it there. You’ll be fine.
Edit: Travel light and adapt instead of carrying your life on your back. Do you enjoy wheeling around those giant suitcases just to vacation in a metropolitan area? Do they not have your favorite snacks, hardback novels, workout equipment, climate-appropriate clothes, activity-related shoes, or proper toiletries? Or is it just important to look like a tourist everywhere you go?
That's a good attitude to have when you are trying to calm a mind anxious about whether you forgot something, but it is a really wasteful strategy long-term
Let's have a more constructive discussion. Between a wallet, phone, charger and a 2-3 sets of clothes, what part is overpacking for a 1 week trip? That much stuff should fit in any adult-sized backpack, with room to bring some destination-specific outerwear if needed.
That's kinda me, though a little more than half an hour tho.
I already know the things I need to have passport, wallet, toothbrush, etc. Then it's just clothes which is just knowing I how many days I'm going for and having that number of clothing. And yeah I'll often do laundry day of, because I know how long it takes to do, so why not?
It's not really all that difficult. But I admit I often forget the headphones so I have a few sets that I've bought at the airport. But not a big deal.
I travel two different ways. Either with kids, or for work.
Either way I try to travel as light as possible. I don't want to pack more than 2 days worth of clothes if I can avoid it. Having kids means they are going to bed early at least every other night and most hotels have a laundry room.
I just don't want to deal with it.
Plus wherever I'm traveling probably has a store where I could buy a shirt if I really needed to. Hell, casual wear is my usual souvenir when I travel anyway. Trucker hats especially, but hoodies and T-shirts as well.
How much work is doing laundry? Put it in one machine, press a button, put it in another machine, press a button. Fold it enough that it doesn't wrinkle. Done.
I'm just gonna sit in my room and stare at my phone during that time anyway.
It's more about how much luggage I have to tow around with me, baggage claim, etc. Airports make me anxious. They're big and open and crowded, I just want to get out quick.
Yeah I agree with this completely. Better to pay to do laundry than lug around a bunch of bags.
And it's the airports not the airplanes that make me anxious. Once I'm on the plane and in my seat, I've done what I was supposed to do, it's up to the pilot after that.
Though if I'm somewhere for a few weeks I'll buy a bag there and fill it with stuff I've bought and check it. But only a carry on when going outbound.
I have no idea why there's downvotes on this. Whether it's for a day trip or two weeks, ideally I'm bringing a single backpack, and I'm always a little miffed if that's not possible.
Particularly if I'm going somewhere urban, I go to a laundromat one morning, grab a coffee from nearby, make some small talk with the locals or just chill waiting. It's a nice break before going on with the rest of your day.
I am panicking right now about how I will be packing the night before my flight in a month and a half. Fuck you brain! I have a system. ^what if that system fails?^
I'm usually a night-before kind of packer. But I usually over-pack and over-prepare. I'll bring everything from sunscreen, to rain coats, extras of every piece of apparel, even extra toiletries when I can.
I go from being totally unprepared two days prior, to basically ready to go on a month-long trip for a week vacation, in less than 4 hours.
We agreed a week in advance to pack a specific size luggage. I had my luggage packed a week in advance. The night before she finally packed and we had to check a extra bag.
Oh, I almost never go far from a major metro. I can buy anything I forget, generally a replacement is less than 10 minutes by car at most, and usually less than 5 minutes walking.
There's just something satisfying about the SO going "darn, I forgot my brush/comb/usb charger/phone cable/toothbrush/whatever" and within seconds I produce one for them.
I don't usually travel by plane so checking bags isn't usually a concern.
In my case it's similar, but specifically I overpack work stuff (camera gear, mostly) thinking I'll be taking time during vacations to film personal things/try new techniques/update my website/plan future shoots/do marketing/etc etc etc. All the stuff I never have time to do while grinding away at home.
Sometimes on big road trips where we don't visit family, I manage to film some personal stuff (landscapes, etc), but right now we're on the annual family visits trip and feeling like fuck no am I not gonna bother haha. Then I spend the whole time complaining about why on earth I felt the need to bring this cumbersome stuff every time I'm packing the car...
What I don’t get is when I was a yoof I was a disorganised, impulsive, random mess.
So how is it me that’s the organised one who has everything planned and packed and my wife who’s literally doing her laundry the night before.
Life is very odd.
I have enough close that I could wear something different daily but I don't. I just cycle the same few pieces. I also haven't night hardly any clothing in the past 15 years.
I'm the sort of procrastinator who avoids tasks because I will obsess over them until I am consumed by them. I have a trip in three weeks, and I want to start packing right now so that there's time to shop for anything we might need but don't realize we don't have, but I also know that I'll be doing laundry the night before we are set to leave because I always forget that one thing.
My wife will pack a few days in advance, and will pack the clothes she has clean. Maybe there will be one load of laundry to wash the one thing she knows she wants to bring but she knows it is dirty and knows exactly where it is. She will do that load of laundry three days before we leave. She's like some kind of sorcerer.
I day before and have a list on my phone for the things that can't be packed until the day of (cpap, meds, etc.). I mark them off as they get packed. Then I reset the list to use on the next trip.
My wife talks about packing early, but always ends up putting it off to the last night before the trip. Then she gets stressed out that she is missing something because she refuses to write down a list.
Outside of trips I can't keep track of most things because of ADHD and she is the reverse, not needing lists for most things. Our travel habits are the opposite of the rest of iur lives!
This is my wife and me. Also, she loves to plan trips and I love to be spontaneous. The compromise is she plans everything for the trip and doesn't tell me anything. That way she gets her organization and I get my surprises.
Last trip I went on I packed six days before, but on the night of the trip lay in bed awake, anxiously worrying that I'd chosen the wrong luggage and wanted to use my other stuff instead, so I had to get up and start repacking everything at 2AM and I was destroyed with tiredness the day of the flight.
