apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Depending on the distance and length of the trip, usually the week before. Foreign travel, I start gathering imagined necessities earlier, so I don't forget something useful. Visits for a weekend to family, a day or two ahead. A lot depends on what the hassles will be for forgetting something, and making sure the clothes are in wearable condition, for instance... some travel clothes, that pack and wear well, I don't use that often, and might need to be sure buttons are secure and hems are not drooping. And I don't worry about toilet paper in the States, but it was essential in Egypt/Libya.

I hate packing, so I always leave it for the last minute.

I'm still packing for a trip I took last weekend.

i agree with sherry: it depends on the length of the trip and the destination. but generally, i start making a list of things i need way in advance and then pack a day or two days before the trip.

Like a post I made yesterday, regarding unpacking, I pack early, starting once the trip is booked. I have a core amount of clothes and then I have extras so once the trip is booked I pack swimwear. Once I finish a laundry I fill up my drawers and anything extra, T-shirts, underwear, extra pairs of shorts all get packed. I am typically packed three weeks before a trip minus an outfit or two and last minutes bring alongs.

I start planning about a week before - picking up any toiletries I might need doing laundry, etc. But the actual packing usually doesn't happen until the day before.

I'm always up super late packing the night before. It's awful, but it's usually because I don't get around to doing laundry until the last minute which stalls all the packing. But I usually start making a list of things to pack at least a week in advance, so despite my last minute haste I rarely ever forget anything!

I don't understand how people *can* pack more than a day in advance, unless they're traveling to a different climate zone. If I packed earlier than a day in advance, I'd have nothing to wear.

I also make list in advance and pack the day or night before.

i don't own very many clothes, so i tend to pack clothes the day before and set out what i'll wear on the travelling day, then pack last-minute toiletries (toothbrush, deodorant, etc) just before i leave.

I am an early packer, I believe in response to childhood trauma of my mother's night-before-a-trip every-light-blazing-in-the-house packing.

Maybe it's a result of attending three to six different week-long camps every summer as a child, but I am a compulsive checklist packer. I actually have Google docs for different recurring trips, such as going to my mother-in-law's, going on a wilderness-type camping trip, going on a party-type camping trip, conventions, etc. I usually pack by taping the list to the wall in my home office and stacking whatever I will need but don't need immediately underneath it. I pack clothes a day or two before, although I sometimes go whole-hog and plan what I will wear from the weekend (when I do laundry) until the day I depart, so that I don't wear anything that week I want to take on the trip. For toiletries, I put a backpack next to the sink the morning I leave and throw everything I use into it after I have finished with it for the morning (including my flat iron, wrapped in a potholder [obviously not for camping, though]).

When I spell it all out like that, it sounds like I have a problem. I'm really not that anal, promise.

I try to pack a couple of days in advance, but I don't usually go on very long (longer than a week or two) trips. I'll pack basic clothes and necessities right away, then leave my suitcase open and add and subtract things until right before I have to leave. But I try not to be too crazy about it. I've never traveled to a place where I couldn't buy something if I forgot to pack it. And I always remind myself that I have never regreted packing too little.

I usually pack the day of... but I keep an Google Docs spreadsheet with "what to pack" lists for beach, cold weather, international etc ideas... so I can pack at a moments notice, but I'm a little [or a lot] OCD on the preparation side ;)

List in advance, pack the night before/same day, depending on type of trip. Then I do the laundry accordingly, and I too plan not to wear any of the things on the list once they are clean and ready to be packed.

Certain things are always ready to go: my carry on essentials, and the basic toiletries in travel size.

It doesn't normally take me that long to pack so I generally end up doing it the night before. If it's a super long trip then I start buying supplies, etc about a week before unless I'm super anxious, then I start about a month before ;)

I am so glad that there are people out there like me! My boyfriend is constantly making fun of me for packing weeks in advance but it reduces my stress and lets me mentally start vacation a little earlier. :)

I try and pack during the week before. Every time I tell myself I am going to make a list and I don't. Then as I am traveling I rember something that I forgot. Some day I will get it right. I hope.......... >()(()()(*>

For me, it depends on the duration and destination. Usually, I fly by the seat of my pants on trips of a week or less (and packing the night before while tipsy has resulted in rather funny outfit decisions), but on longer international vacations, I really enjoy the meticulous planning, forethought, and artistry of nailing it- having everything i need, looking good, having one tiny well organized good lookin' bag. Ahh vacation! Off to pack now for my flight later!

I type up a full packing list weeks in advance (actually, I already have one typed up for my vacation in October that I will keep adding to). I usually don't actually pack until the night before I'm leaving when I pack everything except what I will need to use the next day before I leave. On my list, I have a column to check off for when I leave and when I come back; I hate the idea of forgetting anything. My sisters laugh at me, but I never leave my stuff behind and I'm prepared for everything.

I usually do a trial packing run a few weeks in advance to make sure I can fit everything I want to bring into my bag(s). Once I've got a schematic figured out, the daily necessities (clothes, toiletries, etc.) come back out of the bag until the day before. Anything I won't need in the meantime (voltage adapter, gifts for hosts, travel umbrella, etc.) stays in the bag.

A day or two before...like to be able to rethink everything I've packed for a minimum of two or three hours to see if I've packed too much or think I will need something.

Make a list - pack a day in advance - double check the list up to the minute

It seems I am the only person to start packing an hour before I leave for my trip- but then I do pack light. A friend was gobsmacked to see me leave for a weeks camping with only a carry on case and a handbag. Admittedly I did not have a tent- that was being provided by the friends I was joining, but I did have a sleeping bag in there. So many people seem to have such complicated lives!

I thought I packed at the last minute but according to these answers, I must be an early packer.

A few hours before my flight...

i write a list the day before, and pack the night before ( if its an early trip) or the morning of the trip.
i cross everything off, then when its time to repack to go back home ( UGH) i re-cross everything to make sure i didnt leave anything behind.

hi...i'm a nerd.

closing the italics!