Your customized packing list – an indispensable tool!

Are you soon off on your holiday/vacation?  How long does it take you to pack?  Do you find that you pack far too many clothes and end up not wearing even half of them but then still forget something?  Do you have a packing list?  If not, I’d highly recommend creating one and using it each time you pack. It saves time in addition to the agonizing stress over what you’ll wear once there.

My first packing list was developed while I lived in the UK because I was travelling Europe and further afield to countries such as South Africa, Korea and China – on my own so no storing any extras in my husband’s bag. Some months it was as much as every week and often I had to pack at the very last minute.  I found that by using my trusty list, I could pack a weeks’ worth of clothes, accessories and toiletries in about 15 minutes.  I kept extra travel sized toiletry and makeup bags ready to go at a moments’ notice. (I still pretty much do this.) I could also get all of this into what would now be considered a “fairly small” carry-on compared to what I’ve seen onboard on recent flights.  One of my ambitious achievements was to pack for a 5-day business event in Europe ending with a black tie dinner and I still managed to get everything, including my evening dress and shoes, into my “carry-on sized” bag.  And of course, this included my universal plugs and phone charger!

Now that I’m “retired” and travel for pleasure, I still have a packing list – it has just evolved into a list of more casual clothes plus it includes other items such as insect repellent and sun screen. My top priority is to co-ordinate my clothes and plan so that I can fit everything that I will need, not what I think I’ll possibly want, when at my destination.  I’ve used my own customized travel list for over twenty years.  By now it’s probably imprinted in my memory but I have it on my computer and print it out and check off the items as I pack them.  This leaves nothing to chance.

My list does vary according to my trips.  If I’m going somewhere tropical, I don’t take my turtlenecks and vice versa, I don’t take a bathing suit to cold climates unless I know there’s an indoor pool. As an example, on our trip to Japan last autumn; I knew that we were going to be at high altitudes a couple of days so I did take two turtle necks along with lighter clothes.  It pays to research the weather before you pack.

I have to warn you that you need to check what the airline regulations are if you are going to use your bag as a carry on.  They are very strict these days with liquids and other articles that you can take onboard.  My advice would be to check the restrictions on-line before packing.  If you are going to an International destination for a long period of time where you can’t get certain items, it will be necessary for you to pack your day-to-day necessities so you’ll have to check your luggage.  Packing your bag will be so much easier if you prepare a customized packing list in advance.

Quick word of advice – don’t throw last minute things into your carry-on bag.  When I was getting ready to leave Madrid, I absent mindedly threw my cork screw into my makeup bag which I was taking onboard. Big mistake – it was confiscated at airport security!

Need help putting together a packing list? I’m sure that there are hundreds, if not thousands of lists on the Internet.  I’m happy to send you my list, just ask! But think about what you use and wear most often on your trips and customize your own!

Do you have packing tips that we could benefit from?  Let us know!

Half-way to 2012 Goals + Honest-to-Goodness Politeness and Awareness

We are now past the half-way mark to 2013.  Scary, isn’t it?  I just want to ask how many of you have turned some of your goals into reality.  Now that we are half-way through the year, it’s a perfect time to think about the goals that you set at the beginning of 2012.  Have you achieved at least some of them and do you have plans in place to complete the others by December 31^st?

Since I have that off my chest, there is another topic that I’d like to now address. That is manners and etiquette in public places.  Summer is in full swing so people are eating out more often, going to parks and other public places, one of which might be a public pool.  I’d like to ask everyone to remember (and remind all of their relatives and friends) that they are not the only ones who are trying to enjoy these public spaces so it would be nice for them to keep their voices to a regular pitch, rather than trying to out-yell each other; keep the blasting loud music under control and also keep control of their overstimulated kids! It’s simple really -- just try to remember that there are several others who are trying to enjoy those same outdoor spaces that they are appreciating.

I can attest having endured most of the above this past week and weekend.  Firstly, I go to our pool first thing when it opens so that I can exercise.  Fortunately, most days, I get to avoid other residents who have kids or visiting grandkids and who descend later in the day. But due to some appointments this past week, I’ve had to go later in the day so I’ve had to experience kids who think that it’s their right to do whatever they want in and out of the pool while their parents don’t pay any attention to them. They think the life guard is there to not only be a real pain to them when he tells them to get off the ropes and not play in the swimming lane but to be a babysitter for their unwatched children. I overheard a parent saying what a pain the life guard was being so they were leaving.  HELLO, I’m all on the side of the lifeguard – he’s there to enforce the rules and it’s not just for their own safety but it ensures the relaxation of other residents. Sounds simple to me, lifeguards shouldn’t be there to discipline children and parents should be watching their children and keeping them polite and respectful of others in and around the pool. Am I really so old and out of touch that these two simple rules have gone out of the window?

My husband and I went out to a local and popular bar/restaurant for lunch on Saturday to celebrate my getting my permanent implants soon (no definite date yet but I’m living in anticipation). There was a group of 6 sitting next to us and two of the guys were talking so loud that my husband and I couldn’t hear each other so we weren’t able to carry on a conversation. One of the reasons that we go out for a meal or a happy hour is that we can talk without TV, phones or other techie interruptions.  I’m pretty sure that’s one of the main reasons that some of the rest of us go out as well. When that group of six left, the noise in the bar, quieted down to almost nothing, while still being nearly full of people.  It had been just those two guys who were drowning out almost everyone else in the bar. I can only imagine how difficult it was for the servers to try to make sure that they got an order correct with the loud “usually only a one-way conversation” from this table.

I don’t know what the answer is to getting people to consider others who are closely located next to them and therefore consider noise levels and the taking over of all the spaces at the pool for just one or two objects.  If you have an answer to these questions – PLEASE let me know

So, it’s mid-way through 2012 and I’d like to know how you are doing on your goals.  I’d also like feedback on what you think of people who are not being respectful of others at restaurants or pools, or anywhere else that you’ve recently been where others have been loud, disrespectable or just down right annoying. How do we get these people to realize that they aren't the only ones within that small confined space?