Travelling and packing check list

As you may have gathered from my previous post on the cat kit, the PTC household has just returned from a weekend away. Now I am sure I am not alone, but every time we travel I forget things. I spend far longer than I should packing, stick post-it notes around the house in the middle of the night, and I still manage to forget things. And really, seriously, I travel so much, how can I forget things so easily?

To reduce the probability of this happening I have created a PTC household packing check list. I have categorised items by person (or kitty cat). This means that should Mr PTC travel by himself (or heaven forbid I get to go continent hopping for a conference), we can ignore all the other categories and just focus on the individual that is relevant. Items that are irrelevant can be crossed off when the planning stage takes place, and there is space at the bottom for additional items (such as jam jars for my Mum next time we visit the parents!). I've even included space for a date, so that multiple up-coming trips can be dealt with in the same period.

As I know each trip requires different things I've included a cover-all for most situations. So for Mr PTC he has 'suit and tie'. Now he doesn't need a suit everytime we go away, but hopefully the times he does he will remember it, and a shirt and tie that match! Similarly cufflinks and a dress for me (I'm not really an every-day dress person). If it isn't needed, it gets scrubbed out. I try to plan each day of a trip, unless it is just a few days 'away'. So for a conference I know I will need smart-casual for N-days, with formal attire on the day I present and for the formal dinner. When we visit my parents I like to take one dress in case we go out somewhere fancy, but the rest of the time I make sure I have my walking boots and some old jeans I don't mind ruining because I tend to go walking (and pretty much everytime end up on my arse in the mud) with my Dad.

The sheet is saved as a PDF on my computer, and is printed many times, stored in our home management binder and used as required. I've even got a handy checklist of 'things to do when we go away' otherwise known as the 'exit check list' because three words fitted better than seven!

The checklist

So there is my travel check list. It has been used once so far, and was very useful. With more work-trips coming up I reckon it will become invaluable. Fingers crossed!

I'm linking up to....

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Not just a housewife

Thanks for stopping by,

Rose

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