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| Title: | How To Prepare For Your Trip When You Have No Time |
| Author: | Joyce Jackson |
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Sometimes I run short on time before I head out on a trip. The
demands of work, friends and family can eat up necessary
planning time. As a travel veteran I know if I don’t plan and
prepare the chances of having a great trip are really reduced.
If it’s a vacation I start to worry about ruining it with a bad
start. I I’ll forget to pack something I need. This means I’ll
have to buy it the road or go without. Leaving home unprepared
adds stress and wastes my time and money. We’ve all been there
and it’s not fun.
I discovered a number of years a go a little trick on how to
prepare for any trip with very little time. I still use it off
and on today. I called it “Snippets” travel prep. Basically, you
prepare a little each day over about a week. You lay your stuff
out in “Snippets” of time –a few seconds here and there each day
– and by the time you leave you’re ready!
It goes like this:
• Pick a place in the house to use. It can be a closet shelf or
floor, bedroom corner, under a table or dining room table. Just
pick a convenient spot about 5' x 5'. Call it your “Spot.”
• Each day as you’re running around the house pick up something
for packing and place it in your spot. It could be 5 pair of
underwear you just pulled from the dryer. Instead of putting
them away in a drawer place it in your spot. This is a
“Snippet.” of time you just spent preparing for your trip.
• The next day you could drop 3 t-shirts on the pile in the
spot. Later that night as you change clothes from work take you
sandals and put them on the spot. There’s two more snippets of
time you just spent preparing to travel.
Over the course of a week you can get most of what you need onto
your spot pile. It feels better mentally since you do not have
to schedule large blocks of time to prepare.
If you scan the pile several times a day as you walk by it your
mind will subconsciously note what you need to add. This means
it will also take inventory of what is missing. It’s amazing
what you will remember to add to the spot. And, you can do it
when you walk by next time.
Take inventory of your pile a day before you pack it. Add
missing items and place it all into your bag.
The result?
In seconds or “Snippets” each day you will prepare adequately
for your trip. For extended or long periods of travel or trips
to areas of weather extremes you may need to “Snippet” over a
two week period. But, this will still work if you get jammed for
time.
The “Snippet” prep method even works if you are the “Preparation
Police” for a family summer vacation. Everything is the same,
just more of it with a few minor adjustments.
Do this:
• Pick a place in the house no one goes in but you. It can be a
closet, closet shelf, office floor under your desk, bedroom
corner, a table or behind a chair. It just needs to be anywhere
no one walks.
• Expand your area of grabbing. You may have to do a two or
three stop load for your pile by going from bedroom to bedroom.
It could be 5 pair of underwear for son #1 out of a drawer. It
could be 5 pair of socks for daughter #2 from a dryer. It could
be 3 t-shirts for yourself or a pair of sandals for the
procrastinating spouse. It does not matter what it is but grab
something every time you run by a bedroom for any reason.
• Divide into several piles. Basically, each person traveling
has a piles within your spot. Divide your spot up into several
piles based upon how many people are traveling: 3 people, 3
piles; 4 people, 4 piles, etc. When you grab something for
someone place it in their pile and go on your way. Next time
around, do the same thing for someone else. Over a few days each
person will have a nice accumulated pile of items for the trip.
• Take inventory. When you have a few minutes every 3-5 days
take a mental inventory of the piles. Then just add missing
items on successive days.
The result?
In seconds a day over about a week you can have everyone nicely
prepared for the trip. From here there are two ways you can
handle the actual packing since you are the “Preparation Police.”
Method 1 This is the “I got it ready you wear it” Method.
Everyone, no matter how unhappy they are with what with what
they have in their bag, has to use it. Whatever it is they wear
it because you had to pack for them. Yes, you can imagine the
results. The benefit of this is that you rarely will have to
prepare for anyone again unless they are very young children!
Method 2 Let everyone "edit" their pile. Twenty four hours
before departure each family member outside of young children
gets a chance to edit their pile. Then, they pack their own bag.
They either do it or they don’t. If they don’t, this Method
quickly becomes Method 1. Either way, you are off the hook.
Finally, depending on how much you want to be the “Preparation
Police” you can pack a few "essentials" in your own bag for
those items everyone seems to leave behind: sunscreen,
toothpaste, swimsuit, underwear, sunglasses.
In the end your family will spend less time trying to find
forgotten items at your destination. And if you have traveled
before, you know that this can add up to a lot of saved time and
money on the road.
There is nothing better than good travel planning and
preparation to guarantee a great trip everytime. But, for those
few trips that catch you short of time, use “Snippets” Its a
great a stopgap measure.
About the author:
Joyce Jackson is a 30 year travel veteran offering travel
packing tips on her website for new or inexperienced travelers.
http://travelpackingtips.cashhosters.com
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