When to start packing for a trip?

[romily]

When do you start preparing for a longer (and eagerly awaited) holiday?

I am leaving on 9th of February and I am stopping myself to work on the packing list yet! But have spend quite some time setting up my kindle with new books, and my ipod with required music, and made hotel bookings for first and last night of my trip, and started researching areas and made a to do list… I might go through my packing list anyway to see what there is still to buy.

Even though it's still over three weeks to go. I really enjoy the planning though even though once out there I might change my plans completely. What about you?

[Oweena]

For any trip over 10 days long I've probably written a packing list a few weeks ahead of time.

I normally pack about 48 hours before the flight, let my backpack sit there on the living room floor looking too big and heavy so about 12 hours before I fly I'll be madly culling it down.

I enjoy the planning and list-making that goes along with travel, but I'm a list person in my day to day life anyway.

[moxxxie]

It depends. If the trip is going to require special gear, I might start months in advance. I have a standard packing list that I modify based on the activities expected. I can pack in as little as 10 minutes or, in the case of my first trip to Italy to do a hiking tour, three months.

[Raised_By_Wolves]

^^ yes, it depends (weather, destination, duration, activities etc). i'm a light packer so it's very annoying to pack both cold and warm stuff ror the same trip.

i put most things ready in one spot and pack the day before. if i know i have no time to pack the day before then i pack most of the stuff the weekend before. the last bits that go on top are packed after getting dressed on day of departure. it's not complicated as i have all travel things in a specific spot in the attic and i know exactly what to pack. besides, i have been using the same travel things all these years. they are still in good condition and still fit me.

however i had to be a little creative with food as Norway is much too expensive to eat out twice a day so eating (and drinking) needed more planning.

[go2]

Packing gets done three hours before I leave home. And gets done to a generic list, which doesn't alter much whether I'm going for two weeks or six months.

But three or four months beforehand, I'll have checked out what I'll take and maybe made a new outfit or two, to suit the place I'm going to.
F'instance, I'm off to Spain in April, starting with a major festival in Seville, so I might make myself something with some ruffles in it, and buy a heavily-fringed shawl to blend in.
And, as I'm only going for a couple of weeks, I might book all my hostels ahead of time, instead of just the first (which I've done already because of the festival).

[Liiisa]

I start "packing" data in an Evernote notebook the minute I decide to leave, which is usually 4-6 months ahead for something that's more than just a routine US trip. One of the things I have in there is a canned packing list, so as the trip evolves, I tweak a copy of that for the trip I have in mind.

So, the list gets made way ahead of time; the actual packing I usually do the night before, though I'll have a basket that I throw things into starting about a week out.

[owlet]

I start preparing probably a week or two before if I'm likely to have to buy stuff. Actual packing probably a few days before, as there will be things I use daily which will need to be packed on the last day.

Quickest ever? 5 min. Longest? Probably two weeks once, but I ended up using things and having to wash and repack, so learned from that.

[sophie]

I leave in a few days, and I started packing today...piles here and there but I have time to decide what not to take and all that..plus I wanted to see if one suitcase would fit into the other since I need lots of room for all the presents I plan to buy!

[txgirl]

If I'm super excited and have the time, a week before.