(of the Cape, that is!)
How do you get ready for a trip?
This is how we got ready for our trip to Provincetown:
1. We rented the condo,
2. We picked out all the restaurants at which we want to eat while we’re there, including favorites and a couple we’ve never tried, and made dinner reservations for every night we’ll be there (8 nights.)
3. I created two lists in our reminder app, “Ptown” and “Ptown Groceries” which I shared with Jeffrey. We made a list of all the things we needed to bring, and a list of staple items we will want to pick up at the grocery store once we’re there (e.g. coffee creamer, fruit, eggs, and dog food.)
4. Starting Monday, we began putting things on the dining room table that we wanted to bring with us.
5. Yesterday, we packed all of our bags, checking off items on our list as we packed them, and a couple of bins with items we want to bring, then loaded the car.
6. Last night and today, I cleaned the house so we’d have a nice space to come home to after the drive home. We also placed Post-its around the house to remind us to bring things we had to keep out, like meds, that we couldn’t actually pack until last minute when we were ready to go. We also left one tote bag on the dining room table for all these last-minute items.
7. After breakfast this morning, I washed up all the dishes and put them away. I also did the few items of clothing in our laundry basket so we’d have no dirty laundry to come home to. Then I gathered up all the garbage and put it out.
8. Finally, I ran out at lunch (because I’m working from home) and gassed up Mogo (my Subaru Forrester) for the trip.
After all of this, I just had to finish up my workday, and now we’re waiting for Jeffrey to get home from work so we can leave. The only thing we need to do before walking out is grab some refrigerated items we’re bringing from the fridge and put it in the car.
Despite all this prep work we usually do, it usually is more hectic and chaotic than it was this time around. Everything went so smoothly that we were convinced we forgot something. we triple checked our list and walked through everything in our head and could not think of a single thing. Perhaps, after all these years and all these trips we’ve prepped and packed for, we finally have it down to a science.
Here’s hoping the rest of the trip goes so smoothly.
Are you a planner and prepare for away trips or do you just wing it?
Idle Eyes and a Dormy 
Wow. That’s impressive organization and preparation.
I make lists of things I need to take and start packing a day or two ahead of time. When going to visit our daughter, specifically, there are things I want to take to her. I’ve been known to collect stuff in a big box months in advance. I see or remember something I want to take to her, or she’ll mention wanting something (like a favorite book from childhood or the like) so I put it in the “take to the daughter” box.
Hope y’all have a fantastic vacation!
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Have you ever been to the cape? I think you’d love it!
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I spent a day in the Orleans area once, visiting a friend. Have never been all the way to Provincetown. I know I’d feel a sense of peace in the gay Mecca that is P’town, similar to how I feel when I attend Pride events.
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Wishing you, all, a wonderful, relaxing vacation!!
Is Harvey going with? It all sounds great. Hugs
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Yup, the little guy is along for the trip (yay!)
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I approve of your organized planning! Have a safe trip and a wonderful holiday!
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I think I gasted a flabber reading about your preparation. If your job in soul-destroying bureaucracy doesn’t work out, maybe you could go into logistics for the military?
When going on a trip sometimes I remember to pack water, and sometimes I don’t. When I am lucky I leave within an hour of my intended departure time. Then later I come home to a disaster area. Clearly I am wholly unqualified to be a traveller.
Again, I hope you have fun and stay safe. Don’t do anything I would do!
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Pro tip re: water: I keep a small case of water bottles in the back of my car at all times.
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That’s a great idea. I should do that!
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I think more people are like you than like me when it comes to trip prep.
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I think the last time I went to Las Vegas (2001) was the last trip I took. The only thing I planned was taking the clothes I’d wear and the toiletries I’d need.
That last trip was fun. I stayed at the Luxor in a minisuite, and I brought an empty duffel bag in my wheeled suitcase. I’m sure everyone in the lobby loved how the duffel bag’s contents clinked together as I checked out of the hotel for the drive home.
HINT: At the time, Luxor had an on site microbrewery. I bought four six packs of beers, all of them different flavors.
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We almost always come home with more than we left with.
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I put things out that I want to take with me, too. I know people who pack at the last minute, and I never understand how they take everything they need. they don’t. Have fun.
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Agree. I’d forget half of things if i didn’t make a list or put it out ahead of time. It’s a bummer to forget things you want/need.
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Packing is well planned. We each pack ourselves and have our own lists we update for each trip. SG scans his list. I check off as I pack. Separate lists for packing, wearing, and carrying. Definitely not as organized as you, though. But I leave the laundry and housecleaning to the housekeeper (who cat-sits), which makes things much easier. After that, however, we like to wing it. Deciding in advance where we’ll want to eat on any given night is not something we do (we’re not capable of it).
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You kind of have to make reservations in Ptown, because they fill up fast and you may not be able to get in to some restaurants on any given night. We wanted to be sure we could get into all of our favorites with our friends, so we didn’t take chances. If it was just Jeffrey and me, we wouldn’t have booked ahead of time and just decided as we went along.
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I can pack for a couple of weeks away, in 20 minutes. I do laundry the day before, and make sure I have a couple of charged camera batteries. I generally make the travel plans. Starting with airline tickets, hotel reservations, restaurant reservations only if there is something special that we know we want to do.
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Have a gloriously joyful trip!!!
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How exciting! By now you are probably winding home from a lovely holiday.
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