Thanks to Heidi for inspiring today’s post. She’s a friend of ours on Kauai who is spending her vacation on the mainland. Heidi just posted the list of things she forgot to bring on her Facebook profile. She’s spending today shopping.
I’m thinking most of us have been in a similar situation. I know I have.
There was the time I left my cell phone in a friend’s car who took me to the airport. I called and called but she never answered my phone. I finally got her on email and she sent the darn thing FedEx.
On another trip my laptop power cord didn’t make it into my luggage. I had to send someone to my house to retrieve it and once again call FedEx.
I’ve also left my USB charger in the rental car plugged in for the next person to use.
That’s my short list. After years of traveling I’ve forgotten more things than I can now remember. I won’t even get into the time I left my wallet, with all my trip cash, ID and credit cards in the back seat of cab. But that dates back to before TSA.
Now it’s your turn. If you have any stories about things left at home on your Hawaii vacation, please share them with us. We’d like to hear.
Heidi suggests I ask if anyone has tips on how not to leave important items behind. That’s a good topic too.
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I have two generic packing lists on my computer that I modify for each pending trip. One is for a long-weekend, and one is for a one week or longer trip. And I have learned to divide them up more specifically, according to if I intend to pack the item in my luggage, my carry-on or my purse. Then I also created a generic To-Do list, important things to do/finish before my trip, which i also modify for each trip. I print them out, and keep them in a travel folder. I intensely use them the 24-hours before I need to leave, and I carry them with me stapled with the rest of my important travel pages. I have used this list when my main bag was lost on arrival, for my airline description etc. I have considered, not done, a photo of the bag that I pack. A written description will do for now.
For packing, I couldn’t live without the app, PackingPro. It offers suggested items for specific types of trips (or you can start from scratch, your preference), can group items by type (electronics, outer clothing, carry-on) and even includes “before trip” checklists (forward e-mail, pet care, etc.).
For “leaving” stuff in the hotel room issues, I have an odd solution, but it works for us. I store an item I use every day (could be a manual toothbrush, hairbrush, eyeglasses) on top of or abutting my multi-item charger. This way, when I use it that last morning and I’m heading to check out of the hotel, it’s a very visual reminder not to forget that darn charger. This comes after leaving a MacBook charger in Waikiki and heading off for the Big Island. And it was a Friday so I had to wait for the hotel to ship it to me until Monday. Grrr….
I don’t have a list. I am a visual person so I do a check list pat-down. I start by pointing at my feet and move up the bod thinking of everything I need to stay clothed and whether it’s in the suitcase already. On the morning of. Everything I touch as I get ready gets considered for adding it or a smaller version of it to the suitcase. Where I run astray is chargers and items that I don’t use everyday. It’s quick however and I don’t have to waste time looking for the list I just lost as well. 😉 The real problems arise from the 14 year old who doesn’t complete her own check-list pat-down. I think I’ll have her start buying whatever she has forgotten that way she’ll be more motivated. Happy travels everybody.
I have left something ultra-important home, but it wasn’t a trip to Hawaii though… although I hope we don’t forget anything important on our upcoming trip to Kauai in August. This was a cruise out of Los Angeles. We are a family of four living in Salt Lake City. We flew out to LA to visit my parents for couple of days before embarking onto the cruise. I didn’t realize we didn’t have our passports until 10:45pm the night before embarking. Exhaustive search on the web did not answer our question as to whether we can board the ship. So a call to the State Department has answered our questions…the answer was “sorry mam, all of you will need your passports.” Fortunately we live in Salt Lake City and the flight from the LA area was not long, so we decided at 2:00am to buy a ticket for me to fly back to SLC from Ontario (earliest flight out of the Los Angeles vicinity)a t 6:10am. I arrived in SLC at 8:55am, taxied home, asked the taxi to wait while I grabbed the passport from my house, back to SLC airport and caught another flight from SLC to Long Beach airport to meet hubby and two kids. We were at the port checking-in at about 1:30pm. I wondered if FedEx would have worked…..when I only have a few hours to spare. It was really STRESSFUL and boy, did I appreciate the cruise more than ever.
Ditto everything that soozie suggested. OneBag.com is also a terrific site with an excellent packing list and suggestions for travelers, including worldwide!
When I return from my trips I add/delete and make suggestions on my list for next time (as life’s needs evolve over time!).
Hi fellow Hawaii lovers, i just returned from beautiful Maui with my hubby and kids and am happy to report i left nothing behind at home or in Hawaii. I rarely leave anything behind and the secret of my packing success is simple i make a packing list for me and my family. Microsoft makes it easy on those who don’t want to spend the time creating a list. They have a travel packlist template you can download and modify to suit your needs. Once complete you can reuse again and again. A big mahalo to beat of Hawaii for all the helpful travel tips and notices on Hawaii deals. Aloha
I left my wife, best vacation I ever had…
I, too, use a list, and start packing as soon as I can (up to a week ahead of time), putting things in or on the luggage as I come across them and/or wash them. I make sure I check off the list the night before, and whatever has to be charged overnight is charged ON TOP OF my suitcase so it can’t be left behind.
Once I leave home, however, I refuse to worry about anything but electronics or my purse. Everything else is replaceable. And oh darn, if I forget a shirt at home, I guess that just means I will have to buy a new one on vacation. Hello, souvenir!
Rob, for several years now I’ve been in the habit of making a list of EVERYTHING I need to pack for a significant trip. I start the list several days, maybe even a week, before the trip. And I don’t try to think of everything to put on the list all at once. I start with those obvious things that readily come to mind (X sets of underwear, Y pairs of socks, etc). Then over the coming days as I think of other items I add them to the list. When it’s finally time to pack I usually have a pretty exhaustive list to go by. And I do go by the list, checking off each item as they are either packed or at least added to the pile in the middle of the bed waiting to be packed.
Maybe I’ll go ahead and start my list REAL early for our trip to the Big Island and Kauai coming up in about seven months!
It will have been five years since the last trip to Hawaii and that’s way too long.
Aloha
Check list is a must.. Tape it to the inside of your carry-on so it is handy when you pack the last things.
After many crises when traveling, we have developed a two-page checklist, which incorporates all of the essentials to pack (which we notice are usually the things that one needs all the time and therefore cannot be set aside for packing early), and the chores necessary for closing up the house. We have perfected it over the years, so now rarely have new items to add, but it is useful every single time we leave. My last trick is to leave my phone and kindle charging the night before, but sitting on top of my carry-on along with my open, empty glasses case — impossible to leave behind!