Packing Means Organization and Lists

I have various packing lists on my computer that I can pull up and modify when we travel.

In the last few years, we have learned to pack much differently for flying than we do when we drive.

I like to use containers and actually check things off the list as they go into the suitcase.

Now, being organized is not to be confused with packing light! I do take quite a lot of stuff because I like to wear what suits the occasion or my mood on any given day.

I came up with what I simply call underwear packs. Especially when we are on the road – and it is about 1650 miles to Toronto – they are really handy.

I use the plain larger Ziploc bags and put matching unmentionables (other people don’t use that term any more), stockings, socks or knee-hi’s; a pack of dental floss and my meds in there and close it. Then each night, I just pull out one pack. I find it convenient. You might find it an overkill. It's a time saver for me.

I put my slacks and tops in my suitcase. Dressier blazers, blouses, sweaters, slacks and/or skirts go into a large hanging garment bag. I also put extra shoes and other things I will use when I get to our destination in there.

I have a multi-compartment container for toiletries that hangs in the bathroom. I have containers for other items as well and all fit around the clothes in my suitcase.

Sometimes I roll my clothes and sometimes I fold them flat. Both work fine for me. I tuck slippers at the side and pj’s and duster fit where there is a little space. I use a jewelry roll and try to figure out what I will use.

Since this is a long trip and I do not want to do any laundry, there is a lot of stuff to take and fit in there.

Hubby is more casual about his packing. He does put his jackets and dress trousers along with shoes in a garment bag but is very relaxed about how he packs his regular case. He likes a smaller bag for all his toiletries. (The smaller bag fits over the handle of the suitcase.)

I say Hubby is casual about his packing because he has a motto and it is a good one! He says, there is always Wal-Mart to buy whatever you forget. This philosophy does work well for a driving trip!

In the SUV, we also carry a soft-sided cooler with a long (shoulder) carrying strap. We keep water and some snacks in there. It has worked well for us. (Cold packs can be refurbished in the hotel room micro frigs or we fill ziploc bags with ice from the hotel machine.)

So, we take a few extra food storage bags and also a couple of "garbage" bags which we use for dirty laundry.

Hubby likes coats and sweaters to be hung on the little back hooks. We don’t quite agree there, but the marriage has lasted through a lot of these trips anyway!

Hubby’s promise was to try to take me back to Canada every year. We have pretty much done that. We did not go the year of the SARS epidemic or last year, and we have been there but some years we have been there twice.

The longest trip we took by car – a Lincoln Town Car – the land yacht – was round trip from Texas to Nova Scotia and back through Ontario. That was about 7,200 miles round trip.

The story from that trip was a woman coming up to Hubby parked in the car in the Sobey's Supermarket parking lot in Sydney, Nova Scotia,

“You are a long way from home!”

“Yes Ma’am. Texas is about 3,000 miles from here!”

“Well, have a good time here!”

Later after coming out of the store (while I was taking my time, of course), the woman came back to the car:

“I just wanted to tell you what my little boy said.”

“What was that, Ma’am?”

“That man sure drove a long way for groceries!”

If there weren’t stories like that to tell, there would be no point to traveling!