A Journey of Packing

Whether it’s work travel or vacation travel, packing a suitcase is a major process. For me, it’s an emotional journey that can include denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance. This is true whether I am packing for myself or supervising the family luggage stuffing.

My process begins by laundering every item of clothing in the house. I have two reasons: One, even if I’m going to Florida, it might snow, so all the scarves we own must been clean and folded. Two, if someone breaks into my closet while I’m gone, I want them to think I’m tidy. It’s important I make a good impression on burglars bent on stealing my 7-year-old Target brand yoga pants.

The next step of the process is to purchase shorts. The older I get, the more traumatic purchasing shorts has become. Shorts are never in stock when you need them. They’re always on the racks three months before you need them. How does one know what size they’ll be in three months? I never do. I also purchase footie socks, travel-sized toiletries, and zippered plastic bags.

Aftera few weeks, I have a pile of things to pack that endures I’m prepared foreverything from a rainy day to walking the red carpet at the Oscars.

Nomatter the trip, business, or pleasure, I always have a wrinkle-free dress, fivestyles of black sweater, and workout shoes since the hotel has a gym. (Denial!)I also have a lot of underwear ready because what if I’m gone for five years?

OnceI’ve determined the correct shorts, ball gowns, jeans, and flip-flops for everyoccasion, I try to cram it all into the suitcase. This occurs the day I depart.It always goes very badly. (Anger!)

We’vereached the part of the process where I dump the entire contents of the suitcaseonto my bed and start again. Here’s when serious emotional work begins. (Bargaining!)I hate every pair of jeans I’ve owned since 1991. Bringing three pairs ofabusive jeans on vacation seems self-sabotaging. I also remind myself that atrip to the Oscars isn’t on the itinerary, so I don’t need the formal wear I’veinexplicably included. (Acceptance!)

Afterseveral panicky hours, I cull it down to three black sweaters, one pair ofjeans I hate, a pair of shorts, a white shirt, a black dress, and flip flops(black.) And, of course, 27 pairs of underwear just in case there’s not aTarget where we’re going, and twenty-six pairs explode en route to ourdestination.

Onlythen can I start panicking about my kid’s questionable decision-making.

Thisrecent article from AAA has twelvegreat suggestions. Both AAA experts and experienced moms agree that a list is amust if you don’t want to forget anything.

Whenit comes to packing for the kids, I’ve tried to teach them to pack instead ofpacking for them. I hate to hover. Especially since I’m in the midst of my ownjourney of self-discovery through casual wear. I laundered all their clothes.What more must a mother do?

Okay,well, probably a lot more. My mom friends weighed in with some good ideas:

For those long road trips, pack the kid clothes in squarelaundry baskets. The baskets stack in the van, and if you’re doing laundry onvacation, the clothes go right back in the basket.Consider rolling clothes instead of folding to maximize space. Ican personally attest to the brilliance of vacuum packing the clothes. (It’sthe only way I can bring all those black sweaters.)Another mom advises telling the kids that the departure time is threehours earlier than it actually is to eliminate that last-minute rush and drama.This is especially useful if you’re trying to get to an airport.

Keepin mind that the universe likes balance. This means that if you’ve packed yourselffour times the number of underwear needed for a week’s vacation, your kids willbring exactly zero underwear. But they will pack every device charger known to man.They may have to wear a charger instead of boxers if you don’t check on that,at least.

Well,unless there’s a Target where you’re going.

Originally Published in The Extra Mile

@rebeccaregnier Packing tips. Want more? Click my bio for the full #column #columnist #packing #travelhumor #writer #authortok #writer #bombecktok ♬ original sound – Rebecca Regnier

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