I've got a main packing list that I always use for all trips, with just a few little tweaks depending on the weather where I'm going.

My norm is to pack my bag 48 hours or so before my trip, and since I live so close to the airport I check my bag 6-8 hours ahead of my flight and get my boarding pass at that time. I then arrive back at the airport shortly before my flight with nothing to do but go through security.

I always begin packing at least two weeks before, and I'm a compulsive overpacker! I've really got to stop planning for every emergency under the sun, especially seeing as so far, I've yet to encounter any problems when I've been travelling.

I'm another one that makes lists for weeks ahead of time, but waits till the day (or evening) before to pack. I'm slightly obsessive about packing - I don't pack very much and so I make sure that what I have counts (I once spent a month in Italy and Greece and only brought a small carry-on). But I love travel gear - I'll obsess for months about what bag to bring and what walking shoes to wear...

One evening, in between trips, I sat down at the computer and made a list of everything I might want to take with me regardless of where or what I was doing. I made a similar ist of everything that needs to be done before leaving home like holding mail, papers etc. Then when I am going on a trip I take my check list and check the things I need, what I have and what I need to get. As I pack, I check it off.

I sort of keep a tally of what I need in my head. I go over it for a couple of days while running down various "Escape" tasks. Banking, plants, blah blah.

But it all comes down to the night before. I lay all the stuff out. Only what I need, then I begin a two hour puzzle festival to see how everything fits. This is all a sham, in the end. It all fits the same way it fit last year and the year before. I try to shoe horn frivolous crap in, trying to fool myself. Then my other self catches me, makes a "Get Over Yourself" face and takes it out. Occasionally, there is a quick self/self negotiation and Frivolous D convinces Solemn D.

Then, in the morning, I cram the thing I forgot in the top. Then I'm gone.

D

Pretty much the night before regardless of how long I'm gone for, could be a day, or 4 years.

I've never really had any rhyme or reason to my packing. Though it's usually night before/morning of departure.


This last-minute work has backfired before...When I went to Hong Kong, I forgot all my boxers at home. So first thing I did was shop for new underwear...great

For a big trip I start gathering everything about a month before hand, go over the list, re-check over and over again, and then the night before I'll check and pack again...if there is time the day I'm leaving then I do it all over again.

For short trips...at the last possible second.

umm i've probably packed my back 6 times in the last month and I don't leave til december. excited? YES! trying to figure out what gear I want to buy? YES!

i'm a little obsessive compulsive, but also I want to buy my clothes/gear,etc so all I have left is the expensive camera/accessories that I can hit the family up for Birthdays and Xmas. don't want to give them the opportunity to buy me something cheaper! haha.

Typically I pack the morning of.

I pull everything I want to take out of the closet and bathroom and set it on my bed/floor. Look at it. Put half of it back and make sure I have a credit card in my pocket.

One thing I learned in the Army...you can try to prepare for everything, but the unexpected always happens. More importantly, weight = misery.

I do it in two stages. I know what I have, more or less, and then I know what I need. For a week or two, I acquire what I need, then I throw it all together the night before. It usually takes a few hours for me to finish. First I make a pile of what I think I need, and then see if it fits into the chosen container. If its a too tight fit, I start eliminating things, but never socks. One can't have too many pair of socks.

Tortuga, I'm like you. I make a big pile as I think of stuff. It contains stuff that will never be packed as well as stuff that will actually make the cut. Then approximately 1-24 hours before the trip I will actually pack everything. I tend to like to pack the night before, so that I can wake up in the middle of the night remembering something I ought to add or delete. And I continue to do that adding/deleting until I walk out the front door.

Going to Kauai on Wednesday. I haven't started packing yet. I always thought I started early but I guess I don't. Usually, for a big trip, I make a packing list, which if you think about it, is sorta like throwing things in the floor but on paper. I think most of us do it alike but with a few variations.

Ha! The plane leaves in six hours. I guess I'd better start. If I find an internet place, I'll log in on the thread about "Where are you logging in from?"

Well, we leave in 8 months and we have already thought about what we will pack, and need to buy before we depart. I will definitely make a detailed packing list a month or 2 before we go (what can I say? I like to plan things).

The actual packing will probably take place a day or two before we leave, that along with putting all of our stuff in storage, cleaning our apartment...makes me tired just thinking about it!