Organizing for a Vacation – Lists Make it Easy
Reading time – 5 minutes
I love to travel. I hope you will find some of these personal practices I use will help to make your travel easier.
In my previous post Organizing for a Vacation – Packing I commented that there is more to packing for a vacation than getting your clothes into the suitcase. Let’s talk about packing:
- documents,
- electronics,
- the household and
- lists
In addition to clothing, you need to pack your documents. Take photos or scans of important documents. This will provide you with a secondary copy of passports, insurance documents and ticket information in case you lose any paperwork. Email them to yourself so you can find the information quickly.
- If travelling internationally, check passport requirements ( expiry date), immunization records and apply for visas if necessary. Always have 2 pieces of government issued photo ID.
- Research any health and safety considerations for your destination. Is the water safe to drink?
- Check if there are any required or recommended vaccinations.
- Purchase travel and medical insurance to protect against unforeseen circumstances such as medical emergencies or trip cancellations. Does the credit card you use to pay for the trip have insurance?
- Familiarize yourself with the local currency and exchange rates. Carry a mix of cash and cards for convenience.
- Have copies of any lease agreements for cottages, air BnB
- Have a copy of your car rental and hotel reservations.
- Have a copy of flight information
There are great apps to use to keep all this information organized on your phone. Paper copies work well too.
Wallet
I was travelling with my 92 year old dad. We were at the beach when I realized he had brought his wallet with every piece of information and credit cards with him.
- Empty your wallet, take what is only necessary for the trip.
- Photocopy the cards you are taking with contact numbers for replacement. If you lose your wallet, you can easily cancel your cards.
- I have a plastic folder. I keep my passport, insurance documents and reservation information in it so it is easy to find.
- Always spend your foreign change before leaving the country by buying chocolate, snacks for the trip or donating it to a church. Don’t bring it back.
Keep Cables and Wires Tidy
Secure cables and wires individually with cable ties and pack them in an easy-to-spot pouch so you can find them quickly in your bag. Anything can be used to hold your cords, from baggies to specialized cases.
Put your laptop and smartphone charger in your hand luggage for safekeeping. If you are storing it in your suitcase, have a packing cube, pocket in the suitcase or a bag that can hold all your small items so they don’t get lost in your clothing.
Don’t forget adapters for foreign countries for your electronic devices if needed
Back up all your devices before you leave on vacation. If something gets stolen, it will be easy to restore your data.
Look into communication options at your destination, such as local SIM cards, e-SIM cards or international roaming plans.
Familiarize yourself with basic local phrases or consider using Google translate to help with language barriers.
Lists
I like making lists, so I only need to think and concentrate on what to pack, what needs to be done around the house and things I need to bring for my work, once. After the list is made I can pack and prepare for my trip quickly.
Personal Items
Let’s put all this packing together in a list. Making a packing list makes it simple and easy to pack each time you travel. Make a packing checklist ensures you don’t forget any essential items.
Once you determine clothing combinations that pack well and hand wash easily, put them on your list. I have 3 clothing packing lists, regular travel, cycling vacations and skiing trips.
Put on the list electronics, chargers, adaptors, earbuds, and headphones you like to travel with. Do you need any batteries?
Make a To Do section on your list.
- Back up electronic items before you take them on your trip or leave them at home so if they get lost or stolen there is no problem to restore your information.
- Obtain travel information. It may be books or ebooks from the library or a list of computer sites to visit.
- Remove unnecessary items from a purse/backpack and leave them at home
- Have a list or picture of medications you are taking
Make specialized lists for different types of trips, summer vs winter. Driving vs flying or athletic vs sightseeing.
An example of a packing list – the one I use.
Household
Before you leave you may need to prepare your home. Make a list of tasks that need to be done so everyone can help.
1. Checklist of Things to do Ahead of Time for a Trip
- Collect garbage, compost and recycling from inside the home.
- Water plants
- Arrange for lawn mowing or snow shovelling
- Turn up /down the thermostat
- Empty fridge
- Print/upload boarding passes
- Email family about the trip, where you are going and how you can be contacted
- Put the computer away – I don’t leave it on my desk
- Forward e-mails you need for the trip to yourself so they appear on your device
- Update electronic calendars or photocopy your agenda so you can reference dates while you are away.
- Arrange for someone to check on your home while you are away. Some insurance policies state this as a condition.
2.Check List for “closing up” the House
This list is very explicit so others can read it and help.
- Empty garbage from the garbage can in the kitchen into a garbage bag in the garage
- Empty compost from the kitchen into the green bin in the garage.
- Wash your dishes by hand so there are no dirty dishes in the dishwasher or sink
- Make sure the dishwasher has stopped running. Open the door of the dishwasher to let the dishes dry. Unload it if you have time.
- Flush toilets and turn the water off at the main valve. The valve is … explain the location in your home
- Turn the thermostat …….. instructions for your home
- Lock the doors into the house …. add extra information about deadbolts or garage doors in your home.
If you need help planning a vacation book a virtual chat with me. julie@mindoverclutter.ca
Julie Stobbe is the 2024-2025 winner of the Harold Taylor Award for outstanding contributions to the organizing industry and Professional Organizers in Canada. As a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach, she brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. She guides, mentors and supports you to be accountable for your time, to complete projects and to reach your goals. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
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Thank you Julie:
Great suggestions and your list is so valuable.
I totally agree that packing for a vacation is a lot more than just packing clothes. I found that as a small business owner, I have even more to do than what you listed here. I am going on vacation in a few days, and each time I set up a list of things I need to do and bring with me for my business. Since I have clients remotely, I keep their files with me just in case. Small portable 1 GB drives work great for these files. My clients are usually pretty understanding and don’t need me when I am away, but I sometimes need to refer to something. Small business owners can not entirely disconnect from their businesses. Thanks for sharing such a thorough packing list and tasks.
I agree there is a separate list for business owners. I take a copy of my agenda month calendar and can carry it with me. I also make sure to update my google calendar before I leave. Some times there are business cards and brochures to take a long. I always make sure my laptop is backup.
You’ve shared some great advice here that I never would have thought of. Too late for this year’s trip, but I’ll keep these tips in mind for next time!
With my clients I work with them to make a list and then revise it when they return when it is fresh in their mind.
I love your tip about donating unspent foreign currency to a church. Too often people bring home the currency thinking they will exchange it when they get home, adding one more thing to a lengthy ‘do upon returning home’ list. Your other lists and ideas are also good. It’s important to think through all the small things before leaving and have a list simplifies it for everyone in the family.
You are right. The list allows everyone in the family to help get ready for the vacation and doesn’t put all the work on one person. In Canada most banks and currency exchange places will not take coins. People are left with a “coin collection” that grows to big to be special. At my airport there is a place you can drop coins and they go to charity. I take a lot of my clients coins to the airport for them.
Reading this feels like justification for why I always feel a bit stressed before vacation! That list of what you need to do before your leaving your house – it truly is a lot!
So smart to have printed versions of reservations and confirmations. Sadly, travel plans often go awry, and having that printout can sometimes save the day. My husband is very good about doing this whenever we travel. Wifi can go down, so having it in print is helpful.
The key to getting this done is really to start on as much of it as you can way before you are ready to go. I even try and plan my dinner reservations and buy tickets for activities well in advance. Seems like many venues fill up and/or are sold out if you wait until you arrive to try to do these things.
I just to printout the reservations I needed when I got them in my email long before the trip and sometimes they got missed place and I printed them twice. Now I put all the email confirmations in a folder and before the trip i print what I need. Planning meals reservations and excursions in advance can take a lot of stress out of the holiday. If feel like I need an additional list of things to do 1 month before leaving.
Like you, I love my lists! And when I’m about to travel, that list is what helps keep me focused, less stressed, and excited.
I also use electronic lists (Word docs), which I save and use as a template for the next trip. They vary depending on where I’m going. The list could be for a conference, like the upcoming ICD conference in Atlanta, or for a beach vacation like the one I took this summer.
While many of my travel documents are digital, I also always keep a printed copy in my plastic trip folder. I use stick-on tabs to easily identify the papers or sections. For example, my current trip folder (for the conference) has tabs that include Hotel, Ground & Parking, Flight Info, Conference Info, Schedule, Packing List, and Receipts.
The lists are great for pre-thinking and imagining what you’ll need to have a great trip.
I like your system. I put my printouts in the order I will need them in my plastic folder. After I am done with them I put them in my suitcase for shredding when I get home.
Great advice. I always manage to come home with foreign currency. I have a lot of Canadian coinage, which isn’t a problem as it’s often accepted at par in Buffalo (where I’m from). But I ended up coming back with about 25 British pounds when I was in the UK in 2019 because I ran out of cash the day before, but then didn’t have much reason to use it the day I left. (Sadly, I managed to use up all my Euros, which would have come in handy for my upcoming trip to Portugal and Spain).
Your systems are very much like mine; I back up every digital document (with a copy in Dropbox and Evernote) even though I always have a print copy with me. I actually stopped mid-read to do my USPS mail hold for my upcoming trip! 😉 I’ve never turned off the water (anywhere, ever) but otherwise, I hew pretty closely to this list. Thanks for all the good reminders.
Lists make traveling so easy and enjoyable. I can get ready quickly ( when needed) and leave the house without wonder if I remembered to do …… It makes my trip much more relaxing. Keeping currency like Euros that are used in many countries is not a problem. Countries that don’t use the Euro, donate the coins.
I think most people are familiar with packing lists (whether they make and use them or not). But the other lists you mentioned are equally as important. I haven’t been anywhere lately, but I love traveling and couldn’t do it without lists!
Any list that eases the anxiety of travel and last minute frustration of getting out of the house on time is a good list.