I was originally going to title this post ‘Packing’, but it’s not really packing yet, it’s ‘Gathering.’
We are less than a month away from our trip. My lists are crazy. I truly believe I need to start getting things together NOW and not wait until the week before we leave to start packing and getting things together.
I thought I would start putting everything on my ‘Belgium’ shelf (which I blogged about a while ago), but it quickly became too small, so I did some rearranging, and basically cleared the shelf completely.
But within a couple of weeks, the shelf looked like this:
Yikes. And because I am me, I couldn’t just leave it like that. That would be a travesty!
I gathered some empty bins and baskets that I had on hand and put them to work.
I took everything off the shelf and dumped it on the bed.
I sorted everything. I made piles: toiletries, carry on items, husband's items, things I'm not sure I'm bringing yet, and things that will go in my luggage. And then I put everything into the appropriate places. Toiletries went into the bathroom bags, carry on items went into my two carry ons:
Everything else went into bins that I will pack when the trip gets closer.
I also have a bin just for empty bottles that I will fill pretty soon.
As I add items, I put a checkmark next to them on my master packing list within my Europe notepad. That way I know I have it on the shelf already. Obsessive? Maybe. But it helps my anxiety about packing and not waiting until the last minute.
As I continue to gather, I can just toss the items into the appropriate bin. I’m hoping this will save some time when I actually pack!
I am also starting to get my clothes ready. I only need a couple more things from Old Navy, and one more pair of shoes. And then my clothes will be ready. But other than my jeans and a couple of skirts, I am starting to wash everything and hang it on the way left side of the closet. I won’t wear anything before the trip. Some people might think this is nuts too, but again….it helps me. Do you know how incredibly fast these next 4 weeks are going to go?
So that’s my process. I will continue to add to my shelf while getting other stuff around the house done before we leave. We will be incredibly busy until then and I don’t want to get burned out before we leave. Being organized helps keep me sane!
