That window of time when everything is done but you’re not leaving yet

I'm usually frantically packing the night before the trip with the trusty Rick Steves packing list (located at the end of any RS book) as my guide for what to pack.

Roubrat, your post makes me laugh (not at you, I assure you), because the idea of having SIX DAYS between being ready and leaving ...well I thought at first you were a few hours or the evening before ...

My husband, meanwhile, is never even ready to leave on time and this makes me absolutely crazy. He tends to literally stay up all night the night before departure packing.
The first time he did this, and I mentioned it to a friend, the friend asked, What does he do ?? Build the suitcase from scratch??!!

Anyway none of that is of use to you for your actual question. The main thing I can think of is to keep an eye on the weather in both your transit points and your destination(s).so you can both anticipate possible hiccups in your travel and adjust packing accordingly IF it becomes necessary. Otherwise, enjoy the lack of stress you have provided for yourself that you will be leaving since you are so well prepared !

Kim, I know I'm irrationally early, I'm just so excited I can't sit still. 😬 My husband would be packing the night before if he had his way. I think the next trip I'll pack closer to departure because now I have way too much time to second guess everything...

I would back into those six days:
Clean the house
Eat all fridge food
Two days before:- get toes and nails done
Day before- clean out fridge and empty all trash
Wash sheets
Gas up car
Day of: unplug appliances ( after making my to the airport coffee)
And off we go!

There’s nothing left to research or plan, and there’s still 6 days to
go.

You are my people, were we separated at birth? 8 days to go for us and my wife and I just went through our itinerary again just to make sure hotels were booked for the right day. Happy to say nothing mysteriously changed since we checked 2 weeks ago. I usually spends this week reviewing health and car insurance info just in case something catastrophic happens and I'm not thinking straight.

Truth be told, if I didn’t think everything would be a wrinkled mess, I’d be packed for my departure in 3 weeks!!!

Got any decluttering to do?

Need to try a meditation app, lol??

Enjoy! You’ve done a marvelous job to not be frazzled at this point!

OMG roubrat! I'm leaving the 7th for Italy. Totally with you on this.

I’m the other long lost relative!
I’ve still got a couple of weeks to go, but somehow managed to spend a few hours on the computer today checking and rechecking everything.
Last week I did a test pack, both for carryon and for checked, just in case you know.
Won’t decide which till the night before leaving.
That last couple of days I always change my mind about stuff then change it back again!
Lists everywhere…..

I am impressed. If I have everything done a couple hours before needing to head to the airport, I feel quite accomplished.

Just don't take anything out of your bag and forget to put it back in. My son packed ahead of time for his grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary celebration but then had a need for pants he had packed. He wore them but forgot to put them back in. He arrived with shorts on and no pants in his suitcase!

We leave Wednesday for Portugal. I packed a carryon today and have liquids and small incidentals left to pack.
We leave at 6:30 AM. I’m a night owl and I’m obsessing on sleep. More like the lack of sleep the night before, and never being able to sleep on the plane is causing my anxiety.
Tomorrow I’ll start cleaning the house, empty the fridge on Monday and Tuesday and probably add another outfit to my bag.
I can’t decide what to wear on the plane. Such silly things to stress over.

We leave in 27 days and I am resisting packing too soon. What happens to me if I am ready too many days ahead is I start doubting everything in my suitcase down to the socks. Then I start adding back in the items I took out. Then I start rearranging the packing cubes. Then I start checking and triple checking my day bag. This trip I will start laying everything out in about two weeks. It will leave me time for any last minute shopping. But I won’t actually put anything in the suitcase till the day before. There were some good suggestions on what to do with your free time till you leave. I hope I remember them later on. Have a fabulous trip.

The problem for me is that if I were "ready" that soon, I'd make up all kinds of new stuff to do. Repack the suitcase a different way, which would undoubtedly be no different. Pack it back the first way. Take the stuff out of packing cubes; put it back in again. Trade out the plastic zip cases for the cute blue mesh ones.

I'd just go round and round until the day before departure and probably end up back where I started!

The beauty of being retired is we have multiple trips in various planning stages.

We leave in 12 days for our road trip to Arizona, Utah, and Oregon in our camper Van.
Just booked trip to Hawaii for March
In Early stages of planning trip to Scotland, Italy and Sicily next Sept/Oct.

Ps- just started piling stuff on the dining room table for our trip in 12 days. Since we don’t pick our van up from storage until day before, need to be organized.

I have to arrange the pet/house nanny months in advance. I've got my clothing choices and test packing done at least a week ahead of time. I spend the window of time de-cluttering the home and making sure I've got every chore completed (shutting off water valves to washer, etc). I even turn off the outdoor faucets from the inside (someone once played a prank on us and water ran for days).

I think what I would do with an extra week is practicing repacking my carry on quickly and efficiently. In the past I've always viewed my carry on as a spatial puzzle to solve, i.e. how to get the absolute perfect use of every square inch. I found it hard to replicate my complex arrangement quickly when I experienced my first "SSSS". I want to be better prepared to handle that stressful repacking event!

I would probably have to spend some of that week supervising and encouraging my partner who has a much more relaxed approach to life in general.

Oh seriously, the SSSS team have no idea what it takes to Tetris a suitcase back together, especially in a hurry!

Another member of the tribe! I got so tired of hubby delaying that I convinced him last fall it would be best if I packed both bags and he merely had to lay out his clothes, do his 3-1-1 (which I add to with stuff I cannot cram into mine), and his backpack with his myriad electronics. (I also get final approval on his clothing choices since I am the laundress.)

I pack 3-5 days out. That last week I work in the manicure/pedicure and we take long walks, but I also cook a couple of batches of something I can freeze for eating on our return. I have containers of chicken soup and chicken sausage chili in the garage freezer so I don’t have to think about dinners while I am still jet-lagged on return. Along with many of the other time-filing suggestions above, we also stay up as late as we can (which isn’t very late!) watching movies and trying to kill time.

I leave for Austria on Saturday and have been pretty much ready for weeks now. I just have nothing packed yet as things are either on my home office floor or hanging in my closet. I won’t put anything in my suitcase until Friday as I want to do a final check of the weather to decide if I should bring more short sleeve or long sleeve shirts. Also, if I were to pack too early, I know I would keep wondering, “did I pack x?”

I’m in my 40s so I’ll keep working this week which is a great distraction. I’m great at focusing so I won’t start to get excited about the trip until Friday or Saturday.

Wow, if you’ve triple checked everything six days ahead, I salute you. I’m not a procrastinator and I’m very organized, but I’m always working on my list of things to do up until the day before. My nervousness comes from worrying I will forget something or not get to everything in my list. If I do manage to complete my list, then it’s time to start worrying about canceled flights or a missed connection.

I’m always jittery before I leave, but I usually relax when I get in the plane. If it’s not a non-stop, I relax when I’m sitting on the second plane. : )

Roubrat (et al!)...I woke up thinking about you this morning! Seriously...at 445...eyes popped open....list-making started in my little pea brain!

• How about your purse? Are you taking your regular purse or do you have a travel purse? I usually clean out my regular purse (mostly the pouch with meds, hand cream, etc in it) and prepare it for transfer to my travel purse or personal item.

• I usually fix a 3x5 index card with the names of hotels on it in places where I think I might need a taxi, then I can just hand them the card instead of handing over my phone with the hotel name/address or trying to communicate with my exceedingly poor language skills.

• I am trying a new travel purse this trip and need to sew a split ring to the inside zipper pocket. I've got a ring on my travel wallet which will contain my passport/CC/DC/money (unless I've got them in my money belt) and I've got a DryDoc coil I'll use to attach the rings. I've also got my labeled ziplock for items that need to be out of my pockets or off my body going thru security - belt, scarf, toe spacers, jewelry if I decide to wear bracelets, packet of kleenex for my pants pocket, chapstick for the other pocket (hahaha). AppleWatch usually makes it thru security on my wrist.

• I have usually checked my carry on size bag but I'm carrying on this time. Still, I'll probably type up a hotel itinerary to slip inside my bag just in case it has to be gate checked and gets mis-directed.

Previously I've packed early and forgotten what was in there but I've got checklists now for each cube and in general so just check things off as they go in.

I'm also creating a small side checklist because I'll be on the Best of Italy which has 2 nights in Venice. On previous tours where we went to Venice, I just took in my personal item with a clean shirt, unders, nightwear, 3-1-1, chargers, miscellaneous toiletry items. I'll repack the essentials in a packing cube and it will be easier if I think about it ahead of time!

I've got my travel outfit sorted...compression socks freshly washed, pants and shirts figured out (too hot to wear long pants right now but I'll wear them on the plane!).

Thanks for starting the thread! It helped me sort thru some things!

Thank you, everyone. I think next time somewhere between frantically packing the night before and twiddling my thumbs 6 days before will be my sweet spot. Now I have 5 days of asking my husband "how many pairs of socks did I pack? Did you pack your grey shirt?" etc.

Pam I'm taking a new travel purse/day bag. It still has new purse smell!

"Pam I'm taking a new travel purse/day bag. It still has new purse smell!"

Ohhhh....lolol!! Well, make sure you get that little package of dessicant that is stashed deep in one of the pockets! I need to cut the tags off mine as well!

I'm right there with you on packing early. It adds peace to my life to have that chore of choosing clothes, etc. out of the way. I lay everything out on the bed and take a picture of it so I know just what I have packed. We too like to go and have pedicures a couple of days before our flight.

I would probably have to spend some of that week supervising and encouraging my partner who has a much more relaxed approach to life in general.

Silas, that's too funny, and sounds kind of like me, although I suspect he'd call it 'bossing around.'

I lay everything out on the bed and take a picture of it so I know just what I have packed.

That's a good idea. Mentally filing this away.

Ohhhh....lolol!! Well, make sure you get that little package of dessicant that is stashed deep in one of the pockets! I need to cut the tags off mine as well!

I felt disproportionately happy cutting the tag off my new rain jacket. It's the little things!

Silas, that's too funny, and sounds kind of like me, although I suspect he'd call it 'bossing around.'

roubrat, my partner relies on my verbal abilities in multiple countries.....including our own! :)

Love the idea of making a few meals to freeze for return home!

And just like that I'm down to 21 hours until I check-in 😁

I agree with Kim on the weather. In May 2016 the weather for the week I was going to be in Paris was listed as mid to upper 70s & sunny. Well a storm came into France two days prior to departure and the forecast changed to low 60s, cloudy and off & on rain. So we, me & my girlfriend at the time, had to readjust our wardrobe and shoes. We only got hit by rain 1 day during an outside activity, the weather stayed in the 60s the entire time. What put a smile on my face was while we were up the Eiffel Tower it did not rain until we actually started back down, by time we exited it, umbrellas already in hand, there was a young boy selling umbrellas for 5 euros at the exit. He made a killing from all the folks exiting that did not have one, he must of sold about 20 of them by time we walked away.

The Seine was flooding & Metro Stations were flooding & being shut down, but hell I was in Paris and that's all that mattered.

And you've undoubtedly checked in by now!! lol!!

Wheeeee!!

I used to be the frantic packer. Not anymore, at least a week or two in advance I start laying things out in the spare room ( aka travel packing room). I don’t pack, but start gathering things. This has worked much better for the last few trips as I’m not rushing up the three flights of stairs in my house!
Roubrat, have a wonderful trip!

Thanks, diveloonie!

Pam, yes I did, the minute I was able to, as if that's going to magically make the night fly by lol

I’m at that point now and I have 10 months until my trip!

We'll start some pre-organizing for the trip about a week out, then officially pack the night before ... I'm constantly checking and re-checking everything and updating my trusty Excel spreadsheet until the packing starts ... on the day of departure, one final home walk-thru to verify power cords unplugged, doors/windows locked and blinds shut, a/c or heat on hold, no water running (especially in the commode ... don't need a $500 water bill the next month), lights out, timers set, etc..., then out the door.