Travel Checklist

Okay, so we have taken about a trip a month since the beginning of the year, and I have gotten really good at packing for all of us. One of the best tools I have found for this is my Traveling Checklist. I found the original list in the book "Secrets to Getting More Done in Less Time" by Donna Otto.

I liked the idea of the list, but it was not practical for me. There is no color coordination of my "uniform"...namely jeans and a t-shirt. I didn't need to remember pantyhose or tennis clothes. However, I did need to remember to bring the kid's special sleeping items EVERY TIME. There is no forgetting bedtime buddies. Well, there sometimes is forgetting of them, but there will not be as much sleep. So, I tweaked the list to be more in line with what we need, and thought there might be other moms that could benefit from my version of a packing list. Every time we have traveled, we have added to the list. This last time, we did not forget anything we needed.

Here is a look at the list:


For clothes, I just think about how long the trip is and list the number of each item I need in the column for each type of clothing. Then as I fill each person's quota, I check them off. My favorite thing about this list is that I added a "Which Bag" column. For all the items other than clothing, I list where I packed everything so that we can find it easily. It also makes it easier when re-packing (for the trip home) to remember where everything fits!

The other thing I think is great about this list is that if it is a long time between trips, and I am no longer so used to packing, I will still know what we need to bring with us. I hope you get your own list together to help you in this process, too. If you are interested in the excel version of the list, email me and I can send it to you. =0)