How early do you start packing?

[pampaul]

I have a packing list on my computer at all times. I have separate lists for each family member, since we each bring different things. I pack for myself and my husband and my boys pack for themselves, I just hand them a list of what they NEED to bring and they'll throw in whatever else they want (they're 18 & 19)

 

My husband and I are leaving next Friday (14th) to Bermuda. CAN'T WAIT!!!

 

I have already gone though the lists and tweaked them as needed.

 

I did have to go out and buy a few things (I needed water shoes) bought a new beach bag, a few new clothes, beach cover up, etc.

 

The new stuff has been put aside and I won't wear any of it until vacation.

 

The only thing that is completely packed is my toiletry bag. I got a new one from L.L. Bean and I love it. I have a second set of toiletries that I always bring on vacation, so I have the bag ready to go. That way I'm not rushing around the morning we leave trying to remember to put in my brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. I just bought all new stuff and pack the bag.

 

I will take out the suitcases next Thursday morning and pack them. All of the clothes will be packed then. The only things I need to wait until the next morning will be our medications, his CPAP machine and electric razor.

[marshhawk]

I have a bottom drawer in the guest room, where "cruise" clothes go post cruise, about one or more month pre cruise-I have one side of the closet that I put the dresses that I am going to wear on the cruise- I am always scared I will pack a cat, so the suitcase doesn't get closed until the very end. My boss took photobucket off of my computer, along with some other sites, I want to see the pretty cat- I am a cat mom to 5 of them, and love them all!

[Crew News]

When the seasons change, we pack with the closing seasons items. Since we go to the Caribbean in the winter, that suitcase is packed with summer clothing in September. Going to Alaska in the summer, we pack cold-weather items when we switch our closets to summer clothing in March.

 

Of course, we keep our regular cruise items always packed: table cloth w/clips, LED candles, doorbell, duct tape, Ziploc bags, lanyards, shaving kit, alligator clips, small first aid kit, emergency flashlights, salt shaker, hole punch for stateroom cards, jewelers screwdriver kit for glasses, battery alarm clock, battery charger, multi-USB port adapter, US to European electrical adapter, Handiwipes packets, etc..

[cruiserking]

I usually pack the night before. My wife packs about a week before. Several days before the cruise I start putting my odds and ends into my carry-on luggage.

 

There's nothing like that first whiff of fresh suitcase that tells you, "We're going on a trip"!

 

Jonathan

[screwsmcernst]

I'm really not sure when I am going to start packing. we sail the weekend after Thanksgiving, and we we are traveling for Thanksgiving. So we have a short turn around time. :eek:

 

I guess I will start trying on clothes to take in October, and then organizing items around the beginning of November.:)

[CanadianDee]

Just an observation. Those of you who obsess with a packing list and start packing a week (or more) must be married, and predominantly female; I don't think a single male would go to all that trouble. Again just an observation.

 

LOL. You could be right. I'm another who has detailed packing lists that I adapt and modify, depending the destination and length of vacation.

 

I also plot our vacations out on a spreadsheet. My husband was quite ill this year and was confined to bed for recovery. I gave him daily "vacation planning" homework, which I believe greatly shortened his recovery time. :D