Packing and Organizing to go away Post #1

You would probably have not noticed my absence in the past few days as my blog posts continue to appear but I am currently away at a work conference halfway across the country (I pre write all of my blog posts a week ahead so that I do not have to come on every day if I am too busy).

But anyway the point of my post today is organization when planning to go away on a trip (big or small). I only went away for 4 days this time but the planning philosophy for us remains the same if it is 3 nights or 2 weeks. We have travelled a lot as a family both within Australia, overseas and also for work and so through all of this travelling we have come up with a system that seems to work for our family and so I thought I would share it as some of it may work for you.

A week before I am due to leave I type out an Itinerary to leave at home for my husband. This explains when I am leaving flight no's etc and what is going on while I am gone- pick up's and drop off's and where Flynn needs to be. I email this to Simon, print a copy for me and also for the fridge at home so that anyone who is coming over can also see what is happening while I am gone.

I then print out my itinerary for the actual trip and any relevant travel info such as flight info and hotel bookings etc. I normally print 3 copies, one to leave at home, one for my suitcase and one to keep on me in my travel wallet. This way I am covered if one gets lost and Simon also always has a copy at home. This is obviously a lot more vital when you are travelling overseas but I still do it when I go interstate as well.

When we travel overseas as a family I leave this itinerary with my mum with a copy of our passports as well. In the past this has come in great handy when we needed to call back for things.

I use the below packing checklist for larger trips to make sure nothing is forgotten and use this to check things off as they are packed. I found this is a great way to make sure you do not forget anything!!