Last Minute Flurry

When prepping for a trip, I try to be oh-so-organized. I spend a lot of time dotting that "i" and crossing that "t" in preparation for a trip and there is a really good reason for that. In our travels, we've left key items behind.

To-Do list, microfilm

First time we left anything behind was on our wedding night. I locked myself out of the house I was sharing with a friend and we forgot to check out of our hotel. We remembered these things at the same time, DH returning to the hotel to check us out and me calling my roommate at work to borrow her keys.

The second key time was when traveling with our not such good traveler kids. We were on our way to a motel near Kings Island, Ohio when our youngest, aged 4 said, "I hope you didn't forget our clothes." We had. Fortunately, it being summer all they needed were sun suits, underwear and toothbrushes. Their bathing suits and flip flops were packed and they were wearing their shoes! I had locked their suitcases in their closet because they were unpacking clothes and repacking toys.

Another time, not long after I purchased a portable printer for trips, DH and I were headed on a research trip and I left the printer behind. Not a horrible thing, but it had my printed to do list in the same bag. I promptly emailed it to myself and printed at the research location. In that instance not everything was set out in the same place.

The real kicker was when we were headed to Buffalo for a cousin's wedding, and got almost to the Michigan-Ohio Border (actually mile marker 9) and turned around to retrieve our dress clothes for the wedding. While I might have been able to find dress and shoes, and him a sport coat, pants, shirt, tie & shoes, time would not have allowed that. We had placed our garment bag in the laundry room closet with intentions to pick it up on the way out.  Oops.

So now I spend some time making those lists, making sure everything is packed and that all is set out in the same spot the night before. The To-Do list is the longest process. First I go over it and see if there is anything else I need. Then I try to make it as consistent as possible. This year, I've decided in my single day at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, that I would concentrate on Vermont vital records. I had a few on my list, but wanting to make the most of my time there, I added the film reel number to the list so that I wasn't jumping back and forth. These films occupy items 27 to 72 on my list. The list I had whittled down to 7 pages is now 10 pages long. I can't wait to get there.

[Okay, I cheat. This blog was written BEFORE our trip to Fort Wayne and other northern destinations. We didn't leave anything behind.]

Copyright 2010, ACK for Gene Notes