Originally Posted by
evergrn
For my recent week-long leisure trip from US to Asia, it took me over 3 hours to pack, 1.5 hours to unpack. Packing time doesn't even include all the time spent on trip preparations (mail holds, trip alerts to banks, reconfirming all my bookings, etc). I mostly only pack my own stuff. For family vacations, wife packs hers and most of our kids' stuff, so obviously it takes her even longer and this is the part of vacation she dreads.
An hour for me to pack my personal stuff + kid's medications + special diet items, 30 minutes to pack the kid's personal stuff, and that's for a 14 day trip. If it takes you 3 hours to pack for a week long trip, you're way overthinking the process. Presumably you've researched the destination, have some idea of what you'll be doing and know what clothing would be appropriate. Somebody on FT once wrote "It doesn't matter what you wear when you're traveling because you'll never see most of those people again" and while I'm not that extreme in perspective, for leisure travel I focus on packing what's comfortable and practical rather than the most stylish things I own.
Also, how on earth does it take 90 minutes to unpack? Unzip suitcase, lift everything out. Dirty stuff gets dumped in the hamper, clean stuff gets put away. 15 minutes max.
Originally Posted by
evergrn
I've made a standard list of stuff to pack, which I use for every trip. That helps. But then I still waste too much trying to figure out which suitcases to take, how to pack, etc. Sometimes I wish we had all the same travel essentials packed away in the suitcases at all times so that we don't have to pack/unpack each time. Does any of you do it that way? I only have 1 electric toothbrush, 1 shaver, 1 pair of glasses, etc, etc... kids outgrow their clothes fast, Epipen expires... it seems infeasible for me to keep a set of stuff stored away that are only meant to be used for travel.
We each have a basic toiletries bag of travel sized items and when we get home we top it up ready for the next trip. Add the unique items, like the electric toothbrush or medications, at the last minute. Keeping more than that packed in advance is overkill.
Suitcases: make a rule in advance, stick to it. For me, 5 days or less, rollaboard, 6+ it's 1 26 inch spinner. Don't own too many suitcases so you don't have to stress about choosing which to take.
p.s. once kids reach 12 or so, they can be taught to pack for themselves