Packing Heavy--a Saga

Maybe an inch makes a big difference but we occasionally take one 24" and one 21" suitcase between the two of us for our typically one month stay. Since we often house exchange we aren't changing locations often. We usually take the larger suitcase only if we know we are going to buy something that will require more room (down comforters or pillows) so we're not traveling too heavy or full.

We haven't experienced the hard to maneuver trials that you experienced with the 24" so maybe just that smaller size or lighter weight makes a critical difference. We even do OK with the 24" on trains but we have to leave it in one of the racks near the door which makes me a little bit nervous.

Now waiting for the luggage at the carousel when returning and anixious to be home is a PIA I'll agree!

Frank II, I feel your pain.
On our first trip to Italy from Colorado I had packed us in a 25" suitcase and we each had a very small (smaller than the carryon 21") rolling suitcase. We were on a 21 day trip without a tour, traveling on our own. We landed in Venice both very excited to be there. Got to the train station and were walking to our small hotel in Cannareggio, not too far from the train station. We get to one of the cute, Venetian bridges that crossed the Cannareggio canal. That slope is not smooth. You have to go up steps and then down steps.
Before we got across the bridge hubby and I stopped to get a nice view and he says, "If we ever come here again we are not hauling this big honking suitcase." I quickly said "Agreed!" because he had just opened the door for future trips. We have been back 8 more times with carryon only and it makes it so much more fun! And by the way, we don't own that 25" suitcase anymore.

A 25" suitcase is likely also to be wider and deeper than a 24" bag, so there is quite an overall size difference. And weight as well. My just-larger-than-carry-on bag died mid-trip this year and the replacement is a bit larger. No more than 1" longer, but definitely deeper and possibly also wider. The increased size made a noticeable difference in maneuverability down the aisles of trains. And the bag itself was about 2 lb. heavier. The big plus is that it has only 2 wheels rather than 4.

Before my next trip I'm going to look for a 23" (approx.) bag with two wheels. Even if I can't buy it for $60 at Marshalls.

And I agree that there is nothing more miserable than hauling around a large/heavy bag that contains a lot of clothes you are not using.

Thanks Frank II for the reminder that packing light is not just about getting on the airplane with carry-on only. Getting on and off buses, the tube, trains, elevators and stairs is challenging enough, without handling big heavy bags.

This is a great reminder why I always try my best to pack as light as possible when travelling! WOW

Nothing reinforced my desire to travel light than when my mom came to Italy with my husband and I. She had been visiting my sister in the UK when we met up, and she always takes a big bag - I want to say 25 or 28" - and a carry on. She is still taking over my sisters possessions that she couldn't take when she moved 10 yrs ago, hence the larger bag...and she only ever goes and stays with my sister so she isn't moving around on trains and subways and buses.

So instead of doing something smart and saying - why don't you leave that large bag at sisters and we'll give one of the kids some money to hop the train and bring it to London when we get back to the UK (as we were flying home from London) - she brought it. So hubby and I both have carry on and personal, mom has large and carry on. Of course, hubby ended up lugging the large bag, I got two of the carry ons and mom the other (she was 66, I wasn't going to make her drag around that bag). And we are def purveyors of trains and buses. So after lugging that giant bag around - on and off trains, buses on the Amalfi Coast, vaporetto in Venice, metro in Rome, up and down stairs at our accoms - I'm like - we are NEVER bringing a bag that size with us! We've always gone carry on and this def showed us how annoying having a larger bag is.

From the title, I thought maybe Frank had lost his mind and hauled a 28 incher on his trip. And I get that it seems to be a contest amongst some posters on this forum to see who can pack the lightest. But I don't see the horror of checking suitcases, or waiting for them at the carousel. I've rarely been thru passport control before the bags started to arrive. And if I do have a wait, it's generally not that long. It's not like I've got a hot date waiting for me.

As for managing a 25 inch on buses or trains, it depends, I suppose on your fitness. Yes, they take up a bit more room and weigh more. I don't use one any more if we are doing a trip with a lot of location changes by train.( I do use it for car trips or for stays in one location). DH, OTOH, refuses to travel with anything lighter or smaller. He claims that he has no trouble carrying it, so who am I to argue.

The only trick is to find what works best FOR YOU, and go with that. Packing light has different meanings for different people.

Thank you for the tale from the dark side. I remember going on my first RS tour. We were staying overnight on Mont St. Michel. Guide told us to take whatever we needed in a smaller bag for the night and leave the rest locked up on the bus. One poor lady did not get the memo and brought two rollers, she was carrying for her husband. What a nightmare. Hundreds of steps. Other tour members took turns dragging that luggage.

I travel with the RS 21 roller because I can handle that and a cross body bag by myself. I always check because I do not fly direct and do not want to hassle with my luggage for two or three hours at the airport. I especially do not want the joy of having to fit luggage into an airport bathroom stall. What a pain. I also do not enjoy the overhead bin lottery. I would rather check it and wait.

A heavier bag means taxis and elevators, which is fine with me. My packing requirement is about weight. I pack in a carryon size bag, because packing a larger bag would be more weight than I want, in fact, my bag is rarely stuffed, because my goal is <25 lbs (It used to be 20 lbs.) Size is not my important requirement, but I don't think I could easily handle a 25" bag. However, even with my weight restriction I've been cured from the extreme clothes limitations, since my RS tour in Greece. I can carry 6 days worth of clothes easily in my carryon bag (plus one change of clothes in my personal item), and I am doing this more and more, and even moving up to a heavier bag for solidness (9lbs. vs 6lbs.) for checking. I do pack heavier than I used to do. The increase in weight makes for more comfort in clothes and no or little hand washing. I'm cured from my packing too light disease, I hope. I check my carryon bag to avoid having to deal with it irregardless of weight. During the time between airplane and the baggage control, I do what Emma does, take time to freshen up, etc. I don't mind stopping and catching my breath before moving on. If I stayed for a season in one place, I would consider bringing a slightly larger bag, but I'd take a taxi to save the aggravation of the weight, and I'd make sure there was an elevator or a carrying hotelier. The older I get, the more I'm into convenience when it comes to the transportation portion and what is in my bag.

Preach! I am a packing enthusiast, enjoying doing it in nearly equal measure to discussing it and all of its iterations. I thumbs up CJean's perspective/attitude. While I tend to be easily thrilled by how sveltely I manage all my accoutrement when on a journey, I am pretty happy that not everyone does everything exactly the same. A fantastic husband/wife couple on SOIT May 2015 chose lugging quite the bulky 26" roller cases, fairly large backpacks AND a personal bag, each. The sublime Matera accommodations had the classic smaller-than-a-phone-booth (kids, ask your parents) elevator and my daughter jumped in to help the struggle as wife tried to get only her items and herself up to their upper floor room. Resulting in a grateful tour member who was super happy with the assistance and when later in the tour we shared a meal, the couple graciously and generously bought both of us dinner and drinks.

Poor Frank II, I feel for you! I checked s bag a couple of trips ago, the drop off line was almost as long as the security line. Never again.

I pack in the RS rolling carryon (new version), try never to check a bag, and go for about 16 lbs packed. Sometimes my rolly feels so light I have to look down to make sure it's at the end of the handle! (It's a very well-balanced bag when packed well.)

Packing light is really important to me because I take long trips. And if your main bag is a carryon, it's pretty easy to fit it in a bathroom stall.

Frank II, I have a feeling that even by the time you got to your location you were cursing your thinking and then to add insult to injury you had 2 and a half months to fester over having too much stuff and still having to drag that suitcase home. It is one thing to stew on your mistakes for 2 weeks, quite another to stew for 10 weeks....everything becomes a saga by that time.

I'm with Emma! We each check a medium size bag (a size up from carry on), even on our soon-to-be four RS tours. Yeah, a few snide remarks from fellow travelers, said mostly in jest, but we each handle our own and help others when we can - on the train in Spain, cobblestones in Italy, up the hill in Hydra or Arles, we've managed just fine. I'll hand wash a few things along the way, but refuse to do it every night. Just not my thing. Three shirts for 14 days? Umm, no thanks.

To each her own.

I returned last week from an almost two week long trip in Spain and earlier in the summer, from a week in Israel. I only took a carry on roller bag and a personal item each time. My new resolve is to check a bag instead of trying to lift the carry on bag up into the overhead storage. I'm height-challenged and more than once a kind stranger has rescued me and helped me to put the bag into the overhead storage. I've tried different types of roller bags and it really hasn't made much of a difference in the difficulty of storing them. If I am with my husband (who is over 6' tall), I'll continue to carry on since he can lift the bag up for me, but if I am not with him, checked bags are now the way to go for me.

I'm lining up with Emma on this one. It's been a while; but in the past there were a fair number of postings by people who boasted of taking only two sets of underwear, one pair of shoes, etc. I read them for laughs, to see how crazy (my opinion) those fanatics could get. For me it's important to be clean and to look reasonably nice.
I actually prefer checking a bag to doing only carry-on. From the West Coast we usually have to do a transfer. I like having the airline deal with moving my bags. We put toiletries, meds, a change of clothes, electronics, and all paperwork relating to the trip in carry- on totes to guard against being stranded without essentials.
We generally each take a 21" roller bag. My husband's isn't even full, and I am able to get a week's worth of underwear, sleepwear, at least 5 bottoms, 6 or 7 tops (they mostly all co-ordinate), 2 pairs of shoes, an extra cardigan or jacket, umbrella, a couple of books, toiletries too big for carry-on, and some miscellaneous doodads into it.
We usually travel for 3 -4 weeks, and expect to do or have laundry done once/week. No sink washing for us.
20 minutes waiting for luggage doesn't seem inordinate to me.

I almost always try to do carry-ons only. I have the RS Convertible Carry-On, which I like to use because it keeps me hands-free. But as a solo traveler, I find it really tedious in the airport when I have to lug my 20 lb. bag with me to get food, go to the rest room, browse the duty-free shops, or just take a walk. Especially when I have a layover. I've also used wheeled carry-ons, but they are heavier, they aren't hands-free, and the wheels use valuable space in the bag.

Last time I was in Europe, I checked my bag on my flight home from Trondheim, Norway to Seattle via Keflavik. How wonderful it was not to have that heavy bag on my back in the crowded chaos of travelers all waiting for flights to depart from Keflavik to the US at about the same time in the afternoon! I honestly didn't mind the 10 minute wait to pick up my bag when I arrived in Seattle.

One challenge I always seem to have when I'm moving around is dirty laundry. When it's clean it all fits nicely into packing cubes. I bring compression bags for the dirty laundry. But even when it's just 3-days worth (about the maximum I'd ever have) and I compress it way down, it forms a big mass and it always takes me longer to arrange things back into the bag. Anyone have any tips on that?

My next trip is to South America on a tour. Since I won't be dealing with transit at all (just charter buses and airplanes) and I expect others on the tour will have checked bags, I am thinking of allowing myself a bigger bag. The tour includes snow-capped mountain regions and tropical jungles, so I'm expecting both cold and hot temperatures. Please don't mock me!

Comparing the luggage/weight from the first trip to the past number of years for international travel is like night versus day. During a conversation today with a friend about to depart on an international trip...she was incredulous at how little we take as carry-ons only (no checked bags) and the related light weight. It's not hard...just make choices as to your travel style. Our travel style is faster (too much faster) than most forum posters, light and happy, happy.

...four wheeled monster.... (I dragged it on two wheels about half the time.)

Could the "four wheel" be part of the difficulty in handling the checked bag? The four wheeled bags seemed to be design to push on smooth surfaces and are not ergonomically configured to pull let alone carry.

My checked bag is a two wheel rolling duffle bag with a rigid bottom and two roller blade type wheels that can handle rough surfaces (e.g. cobblestones) weighing 8+ lbs with linear dimensions 15"H x 30"W x 13"D = 58 inches < 62 inch maximum. The 13" depth allows for relatively easy carrying. The duffle bag has top strap handles and handles at each end. It even came with a shoulder strap that I don't use. The bottom line is that while rolling is the point to point mode, it can easily be lifted or carried (assuming you can deal with some weight).

My duffle bag has cinch straps so there is no need to stuff it outbound. The extra space does give me the option for bringing back purchases, or off loading my carry-on for the return flight (where delayed stuff is not a crisis).

...for the record, we always check one bag on the way home - because it's been expanded out to fit our purchases in. Actually, it's usually full of the dirty clothes and leftover liquids/311 bag - all the breakable/expensive stuff is still coming on the plane with me.

I agree with Edgar's comment re four spinner wheels may be part of problem. I have worked in retail and in warehouses in the past. When moving large loads, a two wheel hand cart is very efficient and easy to control. You can tilt it so that the center of gravity is right over the wheels and pushing or pulling can be relatively effortless if you know what you are doing. Take a look at those labourers in Venice. When they want to move large loads, they use carts which ride on two large wheels. Imagine if they had to push a cart with 4 spinny wheels which can go off at any direction which gravity takes it.

I am okay with taking a large 25" bag in place of two 20" carry ons between two people. If on the move, I much prefer dealing with the one big bag than having to worry about my spouse dealing with another 20" bag on her own. I move just as fast with the bigger bag and this frees her up with not having to deal with luggage, which is one less thing that I have to worry about. It is easier for me to lift one big bag up stairs than it is to lift two smaller bags up the same stairs.

I prefer carry on for at least the way over. But for a trip like yours I might be tempted to go a bit bigger, too. The main benefit of carry on to me is the ease of moving place-to-place. If you are switching hotels every 2-6 nights then the lugging is a real hassle, especially if your transport is by train. I would consider a hassle walking to/from the tube twice (beginning and end of trip) and a delay at baggage claim possibly worth not having the bag in the airport and having a few more comforts for a long trip.

I often check my bag (carry on size) on the way home because it's just easier to manage airports without it. Plus then I can not worry about size or weight limits. I don't buy much, but a few bigger items, like books, and the fact that dirty laundry takes more space than clean means sometimes my bag is too big on the return. On domestic trips I mail home dirty laundry (cheaper than the checked bag fee!) but that doesn't work with international shipping!

It is annoying to have to wait at baggage claim, but it is really nice to be in the airport with just an underseat tote bag. This is especially true when there are layovers. And since I'm going home I don't much care if my bag is delayed - I can live without that stuff until the bag arrives.

You were lucky.... 20 minutes was pretty fast. I have waited up to an hour at baggage claim.. I think it was about 90 minutes in Rome. (I travel some with my mother... carryon is not happening in this lifetime, some battles are not worth fighting! )

I hate the spinners for the very reason you mentioned. You put your personal item on them and "boom" over they go . (Rick's carryon does the samething, but my more costly luggage doesn't do that....

No revelation other than to just chalk this up as a learning experience in your preferred travel style. I don't mind the idea of checking a bag on the way home from somewhere but I don't want to do it getting there. I know the chance of bags being lost is slim, but when it happens, I don't want it to be MY BAG that has wandered off. In fact I probably will check a bag returning this fall as Delta keeps yankin' my chain, canceling my carefully chosen flights, leaving me with a 5hr in Hotlanta. Who wants to carry around a backpack for five hours?

I usually wait more than 20 mins at baggage claim before my spinner is thrown out, sometimes twice as long. In London the most tedious part is staying at places where there is no elevator. Then you have to lug the spinner up the stairs, hopefully no one wants to come the stairs at the same time, since there is barely enough room for you and the spinner. That is one distinct disadvantage staying at B&Bs in London. My spinner is 25 inches, I always have to go baggage claim since it's always checked in, the lowest I've been able to manage so far is 27-28 lbs.

Packing light does include lighter weight fabrics save for medium weight merino wool products including a sweater and socks.. Pay retail prices? Bah! Be a smart shopper. My last purchase, a few days ago, was a high quality shirt at less than a third of the list price and it joins my regular wardrobe.

Before my next trip I'm going to look for a 23" (approx.) bag with two wheels. Even if I can't buy it for $60 at Marshalls.

Late January to early March is the best time to buy luggage cheap since some of the big names like Eagle Creek, PacSafe, even Briggs & Riley send discontinued bags to the clearance stores and web sites that time of year. Sierra Trading Post (same parent company as TJ Maxx, TK Maxx ,and Marshalls) even has frequent additional 25% or more discount codes if you sign up for their mailing list or like their Facebook page. My Eagle Creek 21' was something like $80 after discounts from STP. Granted, it's somewhere between lime and neon green, but I see that as a plus since I'm not going to mis it coming off the baggage carousel. (I've always got a connection since I'm departing from Podunk Field, have the Skymiles credit card for free hold bag, and will cheerfully wait 20+ minutes for a bag to reach the carousel if it means I can invoke Delta's 20 minutes or 2500 frequent flyer mile timely domestic bag guarantee)

I unapologetically pack heavy since I don't regard it as a real vacation if it involves me having to wash my underwear out in a sink. And if it's going to be more than two weeks, I've come to plan laundromat or hotel washer/dryer access into the trip plan. And while up and down stairs on the Paris Metro is not fun with a bag, at least it's over quickly, unlike waiting for your underwear to drip dry. I've also not had problems with 2 wheels on uneven pavement or cobblestones.

I will also say I've packed too light on trips before and regretted it.

In line with what Fred said above, I was checking in to a B&B in Brighton a while back with a 26" American Airlines (remember?) roller with double rollerblades and a pullout wire to prevent the tipping over problem, and the clerk asked us why we had such big bags -- we had booked a room with a mini balcony overlooking New Steine (sp?) square, and the staircase to get to that room had a low bannister that meant there wasn't quite enough width on the staircase for the bag -- it was like moving the sofa on "Friends" to get that bag to the room.

Ah, Frank, the seductive appeal of that slightly larger bag -- I took a rolling duffle only slightly bigger than carry-on limits for a one-month trip to Austria and Germany but because the space was there ... all sorts of extra items made their way into the bag, resulting in an additional 5 pounds (!) which got hauled around. Bag had two big wheels, which were lovely going up and down curbs and across uneven pavement, but for the next trip I went back to 22" hard-sided spinner which forced me to limit my packing. (We routinely check bags on all flights so the wait at the baggage carousel is built into our travel mindset.)

I use a 25 or 26 inch Samsonite spinner, depending where you start to measure. All I need to do, easier said than done, is keep the weight on the trip no more than 27 lbs.

Selkie, thanks for the luggage-buying tips. I've never paid any attention to sale cycles and have usually been shopping in April. With your info I hope to do better this time around.

Hmmm, the sink washing thing has come up a few times on this thread, so here goes: I travel for 90-100 days at a time, so paying for laundry happens 5-6 times per trip. Between, I use a 2-2.5 gallon Ziploc Baggie to wash clothes, never wash them directly in the sink. Put the laundry soap in, add some water, the clothing, more water, close the Baggie and "knead" the bag (with as little air as possible inside), let the clothes soak as long as necessary, then rinse and hang.

Frank,
You have been suduced by the dark side of the force! Glad your back with the rest of the Jedi travelers. I will always travel with carry-on only if for no other reason than to experience the look on the face of the airport gate agent when we state that we have no bags to check for a two week trip to Europe!!!!!

It looks like I ignited some serious anger.

Everyone needs to travel in a way that makes them happy. What one person does should have no effect on anyone else. (On the hotel shuttle there was a couple with a toddler and a baby. They had five 28" wheeled suitcases and two rollaboards.)

My latest journey taught me a few things:

1) I prefer two wheels over four.

2) I prefer carry on to checked bags. (When I checked in for my return flight, the desk agent couldn't believe I only had that one bag. I told her that was packing heavy for me.) Even though my checked bag weighed a little over 5 lbs empty, it still made it too much for my liking. If I should ever have to do it again, I'll get out my trusty 25" rolling duffle. I will also have to figure out how to clean it as it has been sitting in my storage unit for years.

3) I arrived at the baggage carousel at 830 PM local time but it was 1:30 AM for me. I was tired and the extra time I had to wait was time I could have been in bed. No need to "freshen up." Need to sleep.

4) The only real difference between taking a checkable size bag and a carry on is the amount of clothes I bring. Since my trips last 2-3 months, there is no way I could bring enough clothes to last without doing laundry. With carry on, it just means I have to wash a little more often. And with a ziplock, soap and water , it only takes a few minutes every other night or so. (By the way, heated towel racks are great places to dry underwear and socks.)

5) I could have taken a car service from my hotel to Heathrow for 42 GBP. That would have made it a lot easier for me. Instead, I took the tube for 1.50 GBP. I can find something better to do with the 40 GBP ($55 US)

There are many here whose preferences will be different than mine. That's fine. There is no right or wrong. Just what is right or wrong for you. Trying something different might open you up to a better way of doings things or confirm that the way you had been doing it was right for you all along.

There are many here whose preferences will be different than mine.
That's fine. There is no right or wrong. Just what is right or wrong
for you.

An entirely sensible way of looking at it, Frank. I'm constantly amazed by the passionate debates over packing! If you can manage the bag, whatever size or type, then have at it.

I love our 10 year-old 24", 2-wheeled Travel Pro bags so much that if the house was on fire, they'd probably be the first thing I'd grab (along with The Husband, that is). Yes, we check them. No, I am not ashamed.

"...I've packed too light on trips and have regretted it." Likewise, but the converse applies too.

Prior to the 2009 trip of 67 days, I never washed laundry in the hotel sink when I went solo, just did not think of it. Either it was done at a laundry mat or I carried enough. Now I always do hotel sink washing even if I bring enough. Before I switched over to the 2 wheeler, then now since 2015 the 4 wheel spinner, I had two pieces to be checked in., the second piece was the 17-19 lbs shoulder sack. Now, that shoulder sack is put in the overhead bin, only the spinner is checked in, so I have to wait for one piece to be thrown out, which could take more than 30 mins depending on your luck.

One time at CDG in 2007 it seemed rather tardy for the baggage to be thrown out. From the time we got to Baggage Claim until we got our pieces for two people, it was certainly more than one hour. I timed it then, it was one half hour there before the first luggage came out.

The main advantage with that 4 wheeler is that it does go faster on even surfaces, true, it is a hassle on uneven or non smooth surfaces. The key is to keep the weight light enough so as to maneuver it deftly when needed.

I'll wash undergarments in the sink - though I now tend to pack enough for our trip, but take old ratty socks and undies and discard along the way.

Now I try to pay attention to the accoms I'm booking and try to have one about half way thru (of a 15-16 day trip) that has use of a washer/dryer. Worked this year when we went to NL and BE - our airbnb in Ghent - on days 8-10 of our trip had a washer/dryer we could use, which was great, so I did a few small loads and we were all cleaned up!

I've packed too light on trips and have regretted it."

I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but it really needs to be said.

Whenever I hear someone say they packed too light they really mean that they packed incorrectly for the trip. They guessed wrong.
Maybe they didn't bring long underwear. Maybe they forgot a rain coat. Maybe their capsule wardrobe doesn't work the way it should. Look - I've done it myself. I have picked the wrong clothes for the trip. I can think of two trips where I had to go shopping. I learned from those experiences and am now better at knowing what I need.

But it's really hard to pack too light if you are using a full sized carry on bag. More so if you are also bringing a personal item. That's a lot of space.

The issue with packing is that many of us do not make repeat trips. It's easier to pack if you are going to the same places as before and have experience. So, we lumber on as best we can. Flexible and creative attitude is probably the best thing to pack and weighs nothing. My must have is flushable wipes - I can do without a lot of things - but toilet paper is not one of them!

The issue with packing is that many of us do not make repeat trips.

I like to go to new places too. I've learned over the years that light layers, a raincoat, light long johns, and a puff jacket will get you through almost anything. I've found that the more I travel the less I change things up.

One form of bike touring is "credit card touring" in contrast to loaded touring (tent, sleeping bag, stove etc). Credit card touring is a lot lighter than loaded touring. The same can apply to tourist touring. Tour light but have a credit card to buy items covering the two sigma deviations from the norm.

But it's really hard to pack too light if you are using a full sized carry on bag. More so if you are also bringing a personal item. That's a lot of space.

My hiking boots alone take up 20% of the space in a cabin-sized wheelie bag. They are awesome for 5+ miles on rocky trails, but are not in-town shoes and definitely not airport or airplane shoes. My personal item in largely filled with overflow camera gear and related. (It's work-related for the Spousal Unit. His large carry-on is like 90% camera gear, a toiletry kit, and some spare sleeping clothes) And if we're bringing the tripod, that has to be checked anyways because of the pointy end.

Come let me tell you the gnashing of teeth I've heard over 'I really should have brought the macro lens', which is not something you just find in any nearby shop (and if you somehow do see one, it's more than the cost of a nice plane ticket for the next vacation)

Everyone has different travel needs and wants rather than there being One True and Single Philosophy that everyone should follow

Selkie - I think you're changing the game by introducing extensive technical equipment in the equation. Although I do understand - I've brought all my caving equipment (including helmet and body armor) as well as my sleeping bag in a carry plus personal item. I wore my boots and rain jacket on the plane.

Those trips where I did pack too lightly means I forgot to bring certain things I should have brought.

And isn't it usually the one thing that you had packed and then pulled out at the last moment that makes you wish you hadn't packed "too light" ?

I admit that at times I can have packing OCD. Here's what I have done in the past and I am not kidding:

1) Make a packing list--this is continually evolving. I use Word and have a master list. For each trip I copy/paste into a new document and then start refining.

2) Break the list into categories such as clothes, toiletries, electronics, misc., other items you might want to take for specific trips, etc.

3) Break each of those categories into sub categories: toiletries can be 3-1-1 bag, toiletry kit, backup, etc.

4) Decide how you are going to pack and if into some type of container--packing cubes, sacs, bags--and make a separate list of what goes in each container. Don't forget to include a category for all the loose items that go directly into the bag itself.

5) Measure all of the above to find height, width and depth.

6) Get graph paper and map out how you are going to pack everything into your bag. I use one square of graph paper to equal 1". (Make sure you carefully measure the inside of your bag to know how many squares to block off.)

7) Get a scale and weigh each item. Put the weight of the items next to them in the packing list.

8) Make a separate list of things you need to buy for the trip.

9) Make yet another list of things you need to do and next to each one put the last date to get it accomplished. Put these deadlines into some type of calendar to remind you to do them.

If you do all of the above realize that either a) you have too much time on your hands or b) you have a serious problem. I admit to A and B.

Frank II, your last post made me fall off my chair! I don't weigh items, but I have a countdown list of when things need to be done (including when to buy super-economy train tickets, etc.), a packing list coded for things to buy before departure and things that go in at the last minute (cords, electronics), and a list of things to buy when I arrive.

If only the rest of my life were so organized!

The graph paper Idea made me smile. I imagine this is how engineers determine how to load a naval ship or cruise boat. Perhaps - organizing book stores or museum storage areas.

Frank, I am worried about you.

Take a deep breath and step AWAY from the graph paper....

I've discovered that I'm less likely to forget something important if I largely pack in one big sweep somewhere around T-18 to T-6 right after the last load of possibly useful things comes out of the dryer.

It's also about the time I clean the house because I hate coming back to a dirty or messy house. (Granted this is not a complete thing because the cats stay behind, and I'm not going to ask the cat sitter to vacuum up the inevitable tumbleweeds of fur.)

I make a packing list, a permanent one; between trips the spinner is at least 50% packed. A month before departure date it is 85% packed. The packing list is the only one one paper, anything else is memory work.

When I get home, within a few days at most, I take out the dirty laundry bag, it not immediately upon getting home, replenish the used up supplies, converter and plug, repack the min. number of underclothes, wipe clean the spinner, empty out the things accumulated from the trip (receipts, brochures, print-outs, postcards, other odds and ends, etc). I use 3x5 cards, no graph paper, for planning notes and reminders, held together by binder clip or two. The same applies to the shoulder sack, ie, basically replenish used supplies.

After reading Fred's post - I realized that I recently used a similar method for "packing" for a hurricane. I think many in Florida have various lists now for hurricane preparation. Georgia needs to build more hotels for future mass evacuations. We appreciate you Georgia and all the power-line workers, gas station workers, grocers, and anyone else who knocked themselves out for us. I cannot thank you enough. Florida is bouncing back quickly.

My view exactly!!