Sit down with a pen and sheet of paper. Begin by writing, across the page in one line, each day you will be gone. Under each day, write the basic necessities you will need per day, such as underwear, pants and a shirt. Tally up how many of each item you will need.
Jot down where you are going and what you will be doing, side by side on another line of the page further down. Under each line, write down everything you will need for each activity or place you will visit. For instance, if you plan on going to the mountains, you might not want to forget your hiking boots, tent and water bottle. If going on a beach vacation, you will want to remember to take your swimsuit, plenty of sun screen and your flip flops.
List every product you use daily, including toiletries and medications. Also, consider things you might need on your trip that you don’t normally need, such as sea or air sickness pills, and upset stomach medication if traveling overseas.
Use a second sheet of paper to re-list everything you came up with, using different categories to make your packing easier. For instance, “clothing” might be a category, under which you might list how many pairs of pants, shirts and socks you need to pack.
Put a check mark to the left of each item as you pack it so that you know what is left to pack.
