Pre-Packing

What is it about upcoming travels that always put a smile on my face?  I'm obviously a born traveler because just the thought of having to pack and go somewhere exciting, even if it does involve an insanely long airplane trip with a toddler, gets me feeling pretty high.  

Ask my hubby and my mom and they will confirm that I prepare for trips weeks ahead of time.  I'm not like a lot of people who wait until the day before or even a couple of days before the big departure to start packing.  I put a lot of thought into my packing.  

I think about what I will wear, about shoes, accessories and jackets.  I research the weather in the destination.  I consider what activities we might do and how that affects what I will need to take.  I always tend to over-pack, so on each trip now I try to plan things carefully as to not end up with way too much.  But on trips like this when I know there will be nowhere to do laundry for a week, it's hard not to want to take more than necessary.  

And then there's Liliana!  Oh boy.  She's a little bit easier and a little bit harder to pack for.  I can easily take several outfits for each day for her because her clothes are so much smaller.  But I find I mostly over-pack her clothes for sure.  It's hard to know because of the weather being so unpredictable and because she is a toddler that could make a complete mess of herself in any given moment and require another change of clothes.  

I started planning my wardrobe several days ago and just tonight put all Liliana's and my clothes into our suitcase.  Maybe a bit premature as we leave 1 week from tomorrow, but I know my schedule is pretty packed until then and I don't want to be left in a panic the day before.  Now I can relax and have time to think about my options and if I want to add anything to the pile.  

The night before is when I will pack all the toiletries and all of my accessories.  I will try not to take anything out of the suitcase until then so I don't accidentally leave something behind or have something not be clean.  

I know you might be thinking I'm a nutcase for doing an entire blog post on packing, but I don't know what it is, I just get so excited about it and find it so much fun!  I'm sure you will hear about it again within the next week ;)

P.S.  All the pics of the luggage I posted are of my special luggage that I actually own :)  I just LOVE it!!