Getting ready for a weekend trip shouldn’t feel harder than the trip itself.
But it’s easy for that to happen.
You’re trying to finish laundry. Someone can’t find what they want to bring. You’re looking for toiletries. You realize you’re out of something. The car needs gas. Bags are half packed. There’s stuff all over the house.
Then departure morning arrives and you’re still getting ready.
That’s the part I try to avoid.
Over time, I’ve developed a pretty simple system for getting my family ready for a weekend trip.
It isn’t complicated.
Most of it comes down to one idea:
Do as much as possible before departure day.
Because departure morning shouldn’t be preparation time.
It should be departure time.
Start a Couple Days Before You Leave
I don’t wait until the night before a trip to start thinking about packing.
A couple days ahead, I start making a list.
That list gives me a place to put everything I’m thinking about instead of trying to remember it all later.
It also gives me time to discover what we don’t have.
Maybe somebody needs something from the store.
Maybe something needs to be washed.
Maybe there’s something we haven’t used in a while that I need to find.
I’d rather discover that two days before we leave than two hours before we leave.
Get the Laundry Done Early
This is a big one for me.
Before I really start packing, I want the laundry done and the clothes we’re taking available.
Otherwise, you end up planning around things that are still sitting in the hamper or washing machine.
Get the laundry out of the way.
Now everybody’s clothes are available, and you can actually pack.
It’s one less moving part.
Go to the Store Before Packing Day
If we’re missing something for the trip, I want to know about it early.
That’s another reason I make the list a couple days ahead.
It gives me time to go to the store and get whatever we need.
Then when it’s time to finish packing, everything is already there.
I’m not trying to finish a suitcase while also making a last-minute run to the store.
Keep Some Things Permanently Packed
One thing that makes our trips easier is that I keep most of our regular travel toiletries packed and ready.
I don’t want to rebuild the toiletry bag from scratch every time we go somewhere.
If there are things you use on almost every trip and you can keep a separate travel version packed, do it.
When you get home, refill or replace what needs it and put the bag away.
Next trip?
One less thing to think about.
Pack Each Person Separately
When I’m packing the family, I pack everyone separately.
That keeps things organized.
I’m not trying to remember whether one giant pile of clothing contains everything everybody needs.
Each person’s things have a place.
I usually start doing this a couple days before we leave and finish the night before the trip.
Again, the goal isn’t to get everything done in one marathon packing session.
It’s to spread the work out so the last few hours aren’t chaotic.
Finish the Night Before
By the night before we leave, I want the real preparation basically finished.
Bags packed.
Anything we need for the trip ready.
Anything that can’t be packed until morning identified and organized.
At that point, I don’t want to be wondering:
What haven’t I thought of yet?
I want to know what’s left.
There’s a big difference between having three known things to put in the car tomorrow morning and having an entire trip left to prepare for.
Clean Out the Car Before the Trip
This is another job I don’t save for departure morning.
I clean out the vehicle ahead of time.
You’re about to put luggage and everything else you’re bringing into it.
Starting with an already cluttered vehicle makes that harder than it needs to be.
Get the old water bottles, wrappers, sports gear and whatever else has accumulated in there out of the way.
Now you have a clean space to load.
Get Gas Before Departure Day
Same principle.
If I know we’re leaving for a trip, I’ll fill the vehicle ahead of time.
I don’t want the first stop of our vacation to be the gas station five minutes from our house.
Could I get gas that morning?
Of course.
But why leave another job for the morning when I can eliminate it beforehand?
Every little job you finish early is one less thing standing between your family and the road.
Clean the House Before You Leave
This one might sound strange in an article about packing, but it’s an important part of my system.
I like to clean the house before we leave.
You’re already going to come home with work to do.
The vehicle needs to be unloaded.
Suitcases need to be unpacked.
You’re going to have laundry from the trip.
The last thing I want is to walk through the door and also discover the mess we left behind.
Coming home to a clean house feels different.
You can unload.
Unpack.
Start the laundry.
Put everything away.
And you’re basically done.
You’re not returning from a trip to another giant to-do list.
To me, preparing for a trip includes preparing for coming home from the trip.
Set Yourself Up for an Easy Departure
That’s actually the goal.
I don’t want departure morning to be exciting.
I don’t want everybody running around the house.
I don’t want to be searching for something.
I don’t want to discover that we need to go to the store.
I don’t want to be cleaning out the car.
I don’t want to need gas.
I want departure morning to be boring.
Load the car.
Get everybody in.
Leave.
That’s a successful departure morning.
Some Things Have to Wait Until Morning
Obviously, you can’t pack absolutely everything the night before.
There may be refrigerated food, medications, chargers or other things you’re still using.
That’s fine.
The goal isn’t to somehow make morning disappear.
The goal is to make the morning list short and known.
If five things have to go into the vehicle in the morning, know what those five things are.
Set yourself up so you aren’t relying on memory while everyone is trying to get out the door.
Don’t Try to Remember Everything
This is exactly why I use a list.
There’s too much going on before a family trip to expect yourself to remember every little thing.
And forgetting something isn’t always a disaster.
Most things can be replaced.
But I’d still rather not spend vacation time and money buying something we already own because it’s sitting on the kitchen counter at home.
Write it down.
Check it off.
Move on.
Simple systems beat trying to keep everything in your head.
Coming Home Is Part of the System
The system isn’t finished when we pull out of the driveway.
When we get home, I want to reset things.
Unpack.
Start the trip laundry.
Put the travel gear away.
Refill the toiletries that stay packed.
That last part matters.
If I used the last of something on this trip and put an empty container back into the toiletry bag, I’ve just created a problem for Future Me.
Reset it now.
Then the next time we’re going somewhere, part of the work is already done.
You Don’t Need a Perfect Packing System
You can make packing incredibly complicated.
There are packing cubes, elaborate lists, travel organizers and all kinds of systems available.
Some of those things may be useful.
But the biggest improvement for me isn’t a particular product.
It’s starting earlier.
A little work two days before.
A little more the night before.
Almost nothing left for departure morning.
That’s the system.
Use the Weekend Trip Command List
I’ve turned this process into a simple Weekend Trip Command List that you can use before your own trips.
It breaks the preparation into five parts:
2–3 Days Before
Night Before
Load the Car
Before You Leave
Coming Home
Instead of trying to remember the entire trip at once, you can work through the right jobs at the right time.
[Download the Free Weekend Trip Command List]
The Goal Isn’t Better Packing. It’s an Easier Departure.
You can have the most beautifully packed suitcase in the world and still have a miserable departure morning.
That’s not what I’m trying to optimize.
I’m trying to make leaving easier.
Do the laundry ahead of time.
Get what you need from the store.
Pack over a couple of days.
Keep reusable travel items ready.
Clean the vehicle.
Fill the gas tank.
Reset the house.
Know exactly what’s left for morning.
Then when departure day arrives:
Load the car and go.
Because the best thing you can do for departure morning is finish most of the work before it gets there.
Departure morning shouldn’t be preparation time.
It should be departure time.
