The secret system that takes the stress out of trip packing!
My lovely bride and I love lists. When doing the laundry I have to pull all the sticky-note lists out of her pockets before I toss her pants into the washer. I tell her that I love “Honey-do Lists” because then I know exactly what to do to make her happy.
When we guide multi-day trips, we live by our lists. Forgetting one tiny thing could mean the difference between an exhilarating experience or a miserable one.
And research shows that writing things down increased the odds of achieving that goal.
1. Produce a reproducible list
It doesn’t make sense to keep making the same list over and over again for similar trips. We have a canoe camping list, a setting up river camp list, a car camping list, and so on. Keep these lists saved on your computer so that you can print them quickly and get on to moving forward with the trip.
2. Organize your list by category
I put all the sleeping stuff, (bags, pads, tents) in one area of my list, paddling (boat, paddles, drybags) in another, and so on. Because I often store these items together but sometimes in a different part of the basement, it saves me from running all over the place in tracking down these items.
3. Use a Staging Area
Packing for us becomes a multiple-step process. You have to find the gear (sometimes an organizational challenge for me!), then put it someplace for a bit, then pack it, then put it in the vehicle. Unless you have a system for managing the process, you leave room for setting the stove on the couch windowsill to grab your jacket and forget it there.
To counteract my forgetfulness tendencies, I use this system.
I dedicate an area of the house as “THE STAGING AREA!” Nobody messes with the staging area. I take my handy-dandy list and gather gear. (My friend who worked at LL Bean called this “picking.”) I grab the various sundries from storage home and deliver them to THE STAGING AREA.
Packing Process
Once I have herded all the necessary gear into THE STAGING AREA, I begin thrusting them into containers. Clothing and sleeping bags get stuffed into compression sacks. I break eggs into Nalgene bottles, spices into ziplock bags, and lumpy or breakable gear into my wanigan. As I do so, I place a checkmark next to the item on the list.
Loading Process
Once I’ve packed everything, (or at least each “section”) I begin the loading process. For example, if I’ve stuffed the sleeping bag, pads, camp pillows and tent into a drybag, I seal it then take it out to the vehicle. When I return from delivering that load, I cross those items off on the list.
I repeat the process for each section of gear or supplies.
The double-check system (Aaron Rodgers would approve), allows you to funnel gear from storage to the vehicle while tracking it to make sure that it arrives at put-in.
The Parking Lot
I use a “virtual” and “real” parking lot in my list process. Inevitably, in the bivouacking stage of getting stuff to THE STAGING AREA, I realize that I need something that either didn’t make it to the list or that I need to buy. I write these items in the left-hand margin of the list. Then on my way out of town, I get them. Once they arrive in the vehicle, I cross them off the list.
At the real parking lot at put-in, I load all the gear into the canoe. Then I sweep the vehicle looking for items that might be hiding. I pretend that I am a customs officer looking for contraband. I check the glove box, in the door compartments, and under the seats. So many times some little item has decided that the water looks too cold and decides to hide. The final process prevents its escape.
The System that Works
Like anything, the best system is the one that you actually use! If it works for you, then it works! If you find inefficiencies in your system, though, strive to streamline it so that these trips become the stress relief you need rather than additional work that increases your work.
I would love to hear about your system to see if there are ideas that I can steal! Post your best tips in the comments below!