Super Organised MNetters: tell me about your holiday prep

[Begonne]

Peri menopause has hit hard and I just couldn’t seem to think straight this year. I left everything to the last minute and it was so stressful.

So I want to make some notes and checklists for next year. What kinds of things do you do, and when, to get ready for a family holiday.

I left shopping for the holiday too late, forgot to check dates, had to go to several pharmacists the day before leaving to fill a prescription and got very little sleep trying to pack and clean house the night before we left. Total chaos.

I used to do this on automatic pilot.

How big / complicated is the family? And how much can you outsource by getting other family members involved?

We tend not to do holidays that need huge amounts of planning (there’ll be no hiking through the Amazon here!) but I’m a fan of batching tasks together to get the most reward for least effort - so when I sit down to book the holiday, I also book the travel insurance, parking / transfers, pet sitter or whatever. That’s also the moment to check passports etc are valid. Then it all kind of feels like one big job done, instead of 5 separate things to keep forgetting to do.

3 weeks before travel, I check anything it would be annoying to try and get at short notice I.e. have the DC outgrown swimsuits/wetsuits, does the tent have all the tent pegs etc. That’s usually enough time to order replacements without stress.

In my online Tesco order a week before travel, I’ll add calpol, plasters etc to make sure we have them to take away. (If we’re self-catering in the UK I’ll just book the grocery delivery straight to the holiday home.)

Other than that, I pack the day before and get DC to pack their own - from a list, to avoid the whole “4 games, a torch but no socks” scenario!

@12roundsofwhitelowfatspread thats very helpful, thank you.

I have a word doc for the activity holidays I go on, which to be fair do require a lot of kit packing. The sections are:

Two months out (eg pay balance, sort insurance, decide what clothes and equipment I need to buy)

One month out (check in online for flight, buy toiletries, sort someone to feed the pet, book hairdresser appointment etc)

One week out (do laundry, pack, double check paperwork and flight times, book airport taxi etc)

On the day (turn off lights, set curtains, empty bins, lock case etc)

Cabin bag to pack list

Suitcase to pack list

I put reminders in my diary at each milestone to remind me to start on that list.

The packing pages are on separate sheets so I can print them out and cross things off.

When I get back every year I update the list with anything I wish I had or hadn't packed or done.

@Nowtworthlookingat Putting reminders on the calendar is a great idea.

There are some really good packing and task apps like Packr and Pack which are so useful