What Things to Pack for a Trip & What Mistakes to Avoid!

This past week was definitely full of adventure – new experiences, new places and new people.  And, on top of all of that, I discovered that I made several serious packing mistakes! So, I’m going to share 5 Tips to avoid my packing mistakes so you’ll know what things to pack for a trip next time you head out!

On Friday morning, just a few days after Hurricane Irma blew through our state, I was on a plane headed to Portland, Oregon.  I had never been to Portland, so I was very excited to be going.  I was going to meet with a group of bloggers who are all taking a blogging course together.  This conference was to encourage and help all of us on our blogging journeys.  It was a lot of fun to meet in person a lot of fellow bloggers that I had met online.

Thankfully my packing mistakes didn’t ruin the rest of my weekend, but they definitely were felt throughout the weekend!

 

 

Avoid These 5 Packing Mistakes

I’ve compiled a list of the 5 big mistakes I made and this helps you know what things to pack for a trip for your next adventure!  So, here we go…

1. 1.  Wait until the last minute to pack

      Typically I pack my bags to go on a trip several days ahead of time.  This gives me time to double check everything!  This trip, because of extenuating circumstances (Hurricane Irma) I didn’t have the luxury of packing ahead of time.  The week prior to the hurricane was incredibly busy and stressful trying to get ready for the hurricane. Here’s a link to that post.  The bottom line is because I wound up waiting until the last minute to pack, I made a series of unfortunate packing mistakes.  Even being a veteran packer…I still screwed it all up!

1. Didn’t make a list

   This might just be the biggest of all my mistakes!  I am a huge fan of lists!!  But, because of all the distractions prior to this trip, it didn’t even occur to me to make a list?!  I never would have thought it possible that I wouldn’t think to make a list.  But, there ya go!  And, because I didn’t make a list, I forgot my hairbrush (yikes), my moisturizer (ugh), and I over packed my clothes!  Lesson learned!!  I hope anyway…

2. Forgot Water

   If you’ve ever flown, you probably know one of the most important things to pack for a trip is water!  Especially for a long flight.  Well, along with all those other things, I forgot to bring a water bottle with me for this flight.  And, not only did I forget to bring a water bottle, but I didn’t have time to stop and buy one at the airport (you’ll hear about that next).  So, while I was able to get a couple of small cups of water from the flight attendant on my flight, it wasn’t nearly what I would have drunk if I had brought my own bottle!  As a result, I started my weekend feeling dehydrated!

3. Didn’t check flight information before heading out

   Flying 101: check your flight information the day before flying!!  A serious rookie mistake that almost cost me my flight!  Apparently, between the time I booked my flight and the time I flew, the airlines changed their schedule.  This isn’t unusual for airlines to make changes, but it was unusual for me to not notice the changes.  Even when I checked in online the day before flying, I didn’t notice the change?!  Thankfully, on the way to the airport, I did notice that my flight time changed to an hour earlier!!

   Somehow, I got through that airport amazingly fast that morning!  And thankfully, I didn’t have to check any luggage, so I went straight to security, to the tram that takes you across the airport to the gates, and all the way down to the gate.  I had 15 minutes to spare when I stepped onto the plane.  So, because of that mistake (not checking my timing), I didn’t have any water or coffee or breakfast that morning.  But, because we had left early ~ I did actually make my flight.

4. No pillow for the long flight

   I felt this mistake on the way home (my red-eye flight) rather than the flight out.  One of my favorite things to pack for a trip, especially a long trip, is my blow-up pillow. When I don’t need it, it folds up very small and fits in my carry-on.  And, when I do need it, I can control how much I blow it up.  For some reason, the microfiber pillows always seem just a little too big and awkward for me.  So, I really love my blow up pillow and was really missing it on my flight home.

What Things to Pack for a Trip!

So, now you know the sad tale of my Series of Unfortunate Packing Mistakes!  I hope that by posting this you can learn from and avoid these mistakes!  To aid in this, I have created a Packing List (which I promise I’ll be using next time) to help know what things to pack for a trip next time we go.  If you’d like to download this FREE Packing List, just click here!

A Few of My Favorite Things…

These are some of the products I mentioned in this article!  They are all products I use and love!

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