Packing 101 - Day 3

It's hump day for packing! Day 3!

If you're catching up with us, we started packing two days ago and we're using an Adult Packing List and a Baby Packing List. If you need them, you can find them in this post to download.

As in all the days for packing, Day 3 isn't hard. Well... I take that back. It could potentially be hard depending on your emotional relationship with your laundry basket.

My relationship with the laundry basket is fairly good. Most days, he's not too overwhelmed with clothes and we get along quite nicely. I keep our relationship in check by trying to do a load of laundry every day.

Yep, laundry. every. day.

Can you believe him? He left me the sweetest Valentine.

I know that might sound like a prison sentence to some but doing one load of laundry every day keeps me from doing a marathon day of 5 or 6 loads, ball and chained to the washing machine. One load is much less daunting to me than 6.

So! Today would be the day that I do a normal load of laundry and start planning the outfits I'm going to take with me on my trip. I say "normal" because today's load is no different than the loads I do everyday. Tomorrow, however, I will make sure to do a "forgotten" load of laundry in which I'll wash any pieces of my planned outfits that are missing or still dirty.

After the normal load of laundry is done. I start by packing clothing that I know I won't be using over the next 2 days. For example, I can go ahead and pack a pair of pajamas and any exercise clothes. This is also the perfect time to pack weather-related items if you are traveling to an opposite weather climate. When we traveled from PA to Orlando last month, I had almost all of my outfits completely packed by Day 3 because the weather down there required very different clothing than the weather up here. Bathing suit was packed, flip-flops were packed, etc. These items can go directly into your suitcase and be crossed off the list.

We were just a wee bit excited to go to Florida.

I will also decide what I to wear for each day of my trip. This allows me to see what I'm missing. Maybe the shirt I have on today I'd like to wear later on my trip. Now I know that the shirt I'm wearing now needs to go in the "forgotten" load of laundry tomorrow. Any outfits that are complete can go directly into my suitcase. Any outfits that have missing items are left out of my suitcase until I complete them tomorrow. The same goes for Abilene.

Completed Outfits IN!

Uncompleted Outfits OUT!

And there you have it! Done with Day 3! This day probably takes the longest amount of time depending on how quickly you can think through what you will need to wear while you're on your trip. And (ahem!) how many loads of laundry you have to do.

All that being said, you're definitely well on your way to being finished packing by Day 5! Good for you!