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Minimizing Surprises
You spend months or years dreaming of a trip, then months planning out the details. Now it's finally time and you are on your way. But wait...what did you forget? It could be something important that you left behind or something dangerous you forgot to do. Either way, you want to avoid the anxiety of worrying about it while you travel. The solution for us is to use good checklists.
Our Packing Checklist
Most of our trips with our Casita are reasonably long, anywhere from two weeks to two months. We usually start getting ready a few weeks in advance. About a week before we head out, I print out our packing checklist and set it on the kitchen counter. It is divided into sections that I'm responsible for, and others that are up to Fay. It includes almost 100 items. Not all of them are needed for each trip, but it always gives us the peace of mind that we're not forgetting something we'll need. Fay and I check items off as we get them ready and loaded into the trailer or truck. Things that we decided against for the specific trip get an X instead of a checkmark. When we are ready to leave, a quick scan assures us that we haven't missed anything.
8 thoughts on “How We Minimize Travel Surprises with Good Checklists”
Because we have a 13′ boler that we have added storage areas to, I also have a list of everything that ‘lives’ in the boler and exactly where it is. That way hubby has to stop asking me where stuff is, use the list and go find it! We also have packing lists and to do lists. Yours are comprehensive and great. I never thought of posting ours. Thank you.
What a great idea about documenting where things are in the trailer Vivian! I’ve had a lot of people ask about a list of things to get started. This combined with the checklists would make a nice “getting started” package.
What a great list! Wishing I had created a master list for our camper, but we’ve been in the process of trying to find out what works for us. Our first big trip is upcoming and I feel I’ll have a good handle on what is needed versus what is not needed by the end of this trip.
Thanks for sharing!
“I feel I’ll have a good handle on what is needed versus what is not needed by the end of this trip” Rest assured, you will be discovering things you don’t need and things you wished you had with you for a long time Paula!
Hi Denny, thank you for a very good list. I have a small question about what you carry in the cab. It may be listed under tools but I’m not sure. I have not only my tire pressure gauge, but I also have a laser gun to determine if my hubs are getting overheated. I checked them every time I stop for gas. Do you have one also?
I sure do Alice! I’ve written about it a couple of times in other articles. It sure beats getting my hands all dirty!
I also carry my atlas (I wrote about that here: https://tinytowable.com/gps-when-traveling/) in the cab, and of course plenty of snacks!
– Denny
Denny.
Nice blog…One thing my wife and I use is Google “Keep” lists. It is free and electronic so it is available both on the phone & computer. You can create check boxes to mark items as completed. It is also shareable between us so either of us can add or check off items when one of us packed it or completed.
The best thing is when we prepare for our next trip, you can reset all the check boxes and start over.
Not only do we use this for planning, I also have one for set-up, tear-down, long-term storage, modifications, maintenance, etc.
Helps “Keep” us old guys on our game by not forgetting things.
Thanks again.
Your suggestion sounds great Tom. It would be really nice to be able to update checklists whenever/whereever, when I think of something to be added. Thanks for sharing! – Denny