So packing procrastination. Is it just me?

[stayathomegardener]

Going on holiday a week today and I know that without fail I will leave packing to the last minute.
I don't know what it is, I want to be organised, it's almost as if I don't start I can't forget anything which defies logic.
I will also literally take on any amount of unnecessary tasks to avoid it.
Which is great for my todo list but counterproductive.

Is it just me?

Here's an example from our most recent week at PIL's. I love my lists

Cottage Packing

-Earplugs
-Pills
-Charger
-Earphones
-Toiletries
-Naples cream
-Glasses
-Hair stuff
-Pyjamas
-Green hoodie
-Denim shirt
-Clothes
-Socks & undies
-Pallmall
-magazines
-books
-birks
-flip flops
-Running shoes
-bathing suit
-Cover
-Hair towel
-hand sanitizer
-Listerine strips
-laptop & charger
-slippers
-Artwork printout
-Sunscreen
-Aloe Vera
-AfterBite
-D's bank card

Water for car
snacks for car

Girls:
Bathing suits
Goggles
Phones
Chargers
Earphones
Teddy
Games - board games?
Cards
Books
Money
Tops
Bottoms
PJs
Hoodie
Hat
Toiletries
Underwear
Slippers
Shoes / sandals
Carry on for car

Fridge
Food garbage
Recycling
Rubbish
Dishwasher
close windows
lock doors
air conditioning

Impressive Hearts!
That will be my template list.
I think this trip is even harder to pack for as we are starting in Milan and then staying rurally so I need to cover dressing up and down, shopping and hiking (possibly interchangeable attire) pool and relaxing.
I appreciate all advice and am feeling mentally inspired even if this hasn't translated into anything physical yet.

Why thank you

I find the mental prep of making The List the most stressful so once that is out of the way it becomes quite easy, just an exercise in execution! I also decided in advance which bags or suitcases are being used for which bits before I even put anything in one bag.

I don't bother with a list for all the crap in my handbag because that never changes (phone, keys, purse etc)

I used to be a last minute packer, but I have reformed. I always make a list about a week before and then start actually putting stuff in my suitcase a few days before departure. I find that I take less this way; when I was a last minute packer, I always took too much because I hadn't thought through what I was going to wear. What I really hate is unpacking.

Just wanted to say you're not alone.

I used to start packing weeks before, throwing everything in the case and then doing a final pack the night before (because there's all that stuff you can't pack until the last minute). I am also an overpacker, though getting better after years of travel. I have found that having a good hard look at the stuff I've packed and not worn has taught me a lot about stuff I think I'll need and never do.

I have a sort of a master list on my laptop. I adjust it now and again. I usually do a 'yes' pile and a 'maybe' pile on the bed next to my case, then try to narrow it down.

OP was your home life secure? I have a theory about having had a lot of early upheaval, my parents shared custody etc. It has made me ultrasensitive about the transition of leaving one place and staying in another. I'm also agoraphobic (yay me).

Like you, packing for a number of events/climates/activities is my bete noir. I'm leaving at the end of the week to stay in Dorset for two weeks and going to a festival in the middle of the two weeks. To make sure I get the festival packing right I will overpack for Dorset, I know myself. And like you I'm dreading it and doing everything that will allow me to put it off.

"OP was your home life secure? I have a theory about having had a lot of early upheaval, my parents shared custody etc. It has made me ultrasensitive about the transition of leaving one place and staying in another."

Interesting. I hate packing and my parents separated when I was young, so I did a lot of travelling between them.

Having said that, DH's parents are still together but he's a last-minute packer too - in his case it's just procrastination!

Didn't bother me so much before but now we have a baby to pack for too, I find last minute packing far too stressful, so I'm trying to reform my ways!

The thing I really hate is being the Designated Family Packer. I am in charge of everything (apart from DH own personal clothes and toiletries) so I'm stressed about the whole thing and he just goes and throws some boxers and T shirts into a bag.

Oh god me too!
This year was the first time EVER that I packed before the night before and that was only because I was going on holiday for a week, then having night/day/night at home, then going on holiday for another week!
I HAD to pre plan properly
Week 1 required formal evening and practical day (cruise and miles and miles of walking excursions)
Week 2 more chilled
Was actually so relaxing being organised

Bet it won't happen again lol!

Time will tell - driving holiday in 3 weeks and meh. All I've pre planned so far is UNO haha

YANBU. I hate it and it makes me wonder why I booked in the first place.

I've travelled for work for years and won't do it any more.

Everything is washed and ironed a week before you go??? How many clothes do you have??? We needed 9 sets of clothes this summer (no washing for a week) and i was scraping the back of the wardrobe to do it.
Packing the day before we leave, earliest, to allow for everything to be washed in this house. Just done 8 weeks in the UK in suitcases. When leaving somewhere it was a pack an hour before we leave job.

I pack the day of and I rock at packing.

Packing cubes; mmmm. Overpack away, you can fit everything in.

Imagine the day: From getting up to teeth brushed to PJs. Visualize your packing needs.

All you actually need is; tickets, passports, money. It's very freeing. Literally everything else can be bought almost everywhere else. The only things I have ever had an issue with are bras in Asia and tampons in Africa. Other than that, you can buy it there if I forget.

I don't want to spend time and money abroad finding forgotten items that I have at home. Hence a comprehensive packing list and simplified holiday wardrobe.

I have 3 beach dresses, 3 bikinis, a pair of shorts, pair of light 3/4 length trousers, a couple of vests, the same dresses and little cardigans I wear if going out at home, flip flops and walking sandals. Travel in jeans, hoodie and converse, add underwear, toiletries and a hamman towel, and that's me sorted.

MrsTP - DH and I have a little saying when we are leaving the house, we say it every time.

"Tickets, money and passports, everything else we can buy."

And these days you mostly don't even need any tickets

Hearts, I am also the Designated Family Packer, I think that's what stresses me out. I am expected to be Responsible At All Times. My list helped me not to stress too much last night. And I did get all the stuff like calpol, paracetamol, plasters etc out last night ready.

Packing will commence this morning. I will remain calm. We will glide out of the door tomorrow morning, with suitcases packed and ready. I definitely won't still be remembering things to pack whilst DH is trying to load the car up.

AnotherEmma for me it is deffo the reason behind all my anxiety around leaving the house. For others it could be dozens of other things (just plain procrastination, or the fact that working out a capsule version of your daily needs isn't easy).

It's always good for me to be reminded that some of my neuroses are really common and not my own special snowflake recipe.

And these days you mostly don't even need any tickets Or money; I have PayPal! And ApplePay. Doesn't work in the 'Third World hellholes' (according to my Dad) that I like to travel in. But airports have many essential things. And I managed to buy superglue with mime in China so it's all possible.

DH wants to pack early and is incredibly annoying, repacking all the stuff and worrying that I won't get it done. I have had to remind him 1000 times that I have lived in several countries, travelled around the world for months on end, packed my rucksack more times than he's had hot dinners. He just thinks he's better at it.

I still haven't done the packing as have been out all day. Think it'll be a late one tonight...

whilst DH is trying to load the car up

FIL does this when we are leaving theirs. Drives me batty. There will always be one or two last-minute things to put in the bags, and I find out the bags are already in the boot of the car. Why???

Interesting. I was a lifelong packing procrastinator and also a child of divorce. My shift in attitude came from a casual remark by DH a few years ago. He is a skilled packer and always starts early. He said that planning and packing extends the holiday experience for him and heightens the anticipation. Simple concept but it really helped shift my thinking.

Heart I don't know why they do it!

He also hovers around trying to rush me and then I get stressed and panic even more. If we agree that'll we'll leave at 10.30am, he'll be following me around from about 9am asking if I'm nearly ready. NO! I'M NOT. I'LL BE READY AT 10.30AM, AS AGREED! Then he'll be standing by the door with his shoes on from around 10am while I run round like a mad woman trying to sort the kids, check the windows, make sure everyone's been for a wee etc. I have told him that doing this drives me mad and he insists he doesn't do it. But he does. I love him really though. Tomorrow I have a list of things for him to do to keep him out of my way. I will be a picture of serenity.

SenecaFalls your dh sounds like mine. It has helped me a lot to be married to someone who usually sees things from the sunny side.

In the reverse way my mum is not a planner (she thinks of it as being spontaneous), but I remember being a teenager and trying to get dressed in a mad rush to go to the theatre (my mum's last-minute idea) and thinking how much more fun it would have been if we'd planned it. I would have had more fun planning an outfit, having time to get ready etc.

I agree that a simple glimpse of a different perspective can really change your outlook. I associate packing with anxiety, but if you change your rules it can get easier. I know tell myself things like: I don't have to get it exactly right; if I experiment with taking less than I think I need I will learn something; if I know the core list of what I absolutely must have I can stop worrying about the rest etc.

I'm always done the morning of the day before.

Seneca in agreement with your DH. Half the fun is the planning. I have two things that really help. Pick a color palette and maintain a sunny holiday drawer or two. Makes it so much easier if choosing clothes and accessories that all mix and match color wise, whatever the season. My holiday drawers house all of the swim and beach clothes so very easy to review and replace as needed.

Now I want to go somewhere nice. Work does not count.

Oh my God Millie are you married to my FIL??

DH used to be like that until I trained it out of him.