How Packing Early Saves Time and Stress

After a long week at work, it’s finally the weekend. You sit on the couch, but as soon as you blink, the weekend is over, bringing your trip that much closer. And the most crucial to-do blares in your head like a siren: You still need to pack!

That’s my nightmare scenario: being so bogged down and brain-fogged that I can’t think about packing. Or worse, arriving at my destination and realizing I left important items behind, things I cannot get at my destination.

I recommend packing early if you’re like me and suffer from brain fog after an extremely strenuous work week. Three to two weeks early. You will find suggestions to pack a week before or even a little less than a few days before leaving for the trip. Just thinking about it stresses me out! When you start putting things aside two to three weeks earlier, packing won’t become an overwhelming task after a long day of work.

So, skip the worry and stress. Follow along to learn the five easy steps I took to pack early for my trip to Iceland.

Four Months Out – Create Packing List

I’m an Excel fiend. I use it for everything, in and outside of work. It has helped save my sanity on more than one occasion. In this case, it supported me when prepping for my first solo international trip to Iceland (a two-week-long one)! Here’s how I created my packing list:

(Note: I know the picture above shows almost all green that indicates that everything is checked off and packed, but this was taken after I began packing. I didn’t start packing until a little after I initially created this list.)

Three Months Out – Start Setting Everything Aside

It’s helpful to have everything set up in one room, so I turned my guest room into my packing room. It made it easier to see the quantities and start pre-packing, meaning planning out how to pack everything into the suitcase. (If you don’t have a separate room, designate an area/location in your home where everyone can gather their items.)

Example questions I asked myself:

1. Will a packing cube be useful, or can I roll things up to save space?

2. What kind of clothing do I need? Multi-use clothing?

3. What kind of weather should I anticipate?

4. Travel bottles or containers? Labels?

5. How do I pack my miscellaneous items Tetris-style?

Three Weeks Out – Packing [Almost] Everything

This title says it all. Once I figured out how to pack everything, I used my Monos compressible packing cubes for my clothing.

Anyone who is looking to travel to Iceland, I packed multiple leggings, waterproof pants, shirts, and undergarments. Considering the weather and locations I would be traveling to, I packed the essentials before everything else. This will leave enough room for any last-minute items I’m thinking about packing.

One Week Out – Making Sure You Have Everything

If you’re paranoid like me, you’ll want to double, triple, and quadruple check that everything is in order. I mean, even drafting this post before my trip, I was ruminating if I had forgotten to add something to my suitcase.

What I did leave out to be packed were my carry-on items. Since my carry-on was my camera bag and, more recently, it acted as my concert photography bag, I placed everything next to it to remind me to pack it. After shooting my last show on May 25, that was when it became my official carry-on which brings me to the next item on this post.

Two to One Day Before – Packing the Carry-On & Personal Item

I left the electronics for last. Because you never know if there will be random outages or inaccessible outlets, charging your electronics the night before departure is always a good idea. I recommend charging them where your designated packing area is to remind you to put them in your carry-on and personal item.

Once charged, I put everything in the carry-on with a change of clothes. The personal item was packed with my Kindle, travel wallet, noise-canceling headphones, and toiletry kit.

Then I was good to go! Once I got to Iceland, no alarms went off. I had everything I needed for this trip. I enjoyed my time without any further worries, and you will too!