Cost: Free!
Travel represents a big change in routine, with a lot of picky but high priority details. Reduce departure panic by planning a 'staging area' for any kind of trip. The staging area holds everything that is going to go on the trip. Get things into the staging area as early as possible...your clothes aren't going to get that much more wrinkled if they are packed 8 hours earlier.
A perfect staging area is:
- Is impossible to miss on the way out (e.g. near the front door, garage door, or keys)
- Has enough space to put everything needed for a trip (air travel, car, or camping even) or that needs to go to the office with you.
- Is not a storage space or 'dumping ground' - everything put there is intended to go with you on the immediate trip - there is no time for last-minute sorting in the staging area
Here is my typical staging area with suitcase, carry-on bag, and the phone charger plugged in with the phone in the luggage. That way you travel with the cell phone charged but can't leave anything vital behind. Since I'm using the 'two of everything' method there is no reason to wait until I've brushed my teeth before packing the toiletries bag - its already in there.
When I travel I always pack the day before, I also lay out my clothes for the next morning like a 5 year old. I am a tiny bit (okay, a lot) foggy in the morning - especially for that 8 am flight you leave at 6am for...and what might be manageable 'normal' level of forgetfulness becomes a travel minefield.
If you have something you need to travel with but cannot pack ahead of time, my suggestion would be a long color cloth ribbion (I got the idea from the 'remove before flight' tags that aircraft crews use) that you can leave hanging out of the bag as a visual reminder that you need to put something in there. Binder clip your ribbion to the inside of your suitcase.
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