Packing Checklists

How many of you have taken a trip somewhere, gotten to your hotel room, and only then discovered that you did NOT pack ANY socks? I've personally had a 4 day trip where I forgot undies. Sometimes, a hotel is near a store where forgotten items can be picked up, but this isn't always the case. Cellphone charging cord, toothbrush, etc... all important things that can easily be forgotten especially if packing last minute.

For an airline pilot or flight attendant, packing and unpacking is a way of life. We do these things on a very regular basis. When pilots are flying an aircraft, checklists are exceedingly important. While we do a lot of the same things over and over and over, things can still be missed, especially when its a long list of items. It's great to have a quick reference to double check.

The similarities of flying and packing got me to thinking. And, from that, "the packing checklist" idea was born! It took a few iterations, but I finally have a pretty good packing checklist that I use whenever packing for a trip. It does sound a bit silly, but its nothing something used as a, "how to." Its simply a double check reference. And, I can report, instances of forgotten items has all but vanished.

My packing checklist is printed on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper, folded in half lengthwise. It's likely not a coincidence that this resembles many aircraft checklists. Alas, here's my list:

-Undies
-Undershirts
-White socks
-Dress socks
-T shirts
-Shorts
-Jeans
-Running shoes
-Running shorts
-Running shirt
-Jacket
-Spare uniform shirt
-Deodorant
-Toothbrush
-Toothpaste
-Nail clippers
-Razor
-Pen
-Watch
-Singles(for tips)
-Certificates and ID badge
-Medical
-Wallet
-Passport
-Cellphone
-Cell charging cord
-Vitamins
-Laptop
-Laptop charging cord
-Food/Snacks

Typically, I will pack my rollaboard for a trip as usual and then grab the checklist and account for each item. It takes perhaps 20-30 seconds. A very good investment when it avoids 4 days of having 1 pair of undies.