Lists! And lists of lists! Preparation for travel has truly begun!

As we slowly edge closer to my big adventure in July the excitement is really starting to kick in.  I am getting to be a bit like a cat on a hot tin roof – flicking from one list to another.  Oh yes I have lists, and lists of lists – from essential things we have to take, like passports and insurance documents – through to the smallest of items like lip balm and a hair bobble.  From a packing list, right down to the smaller items of clothing – through to a shopping list for things like seasickness tablets.

I have never gone anywhere away from home in my adult life without making a list first.  I have never been one to take the attitude of “chuck it all in a case and hope I have everything”, neither have I been one to pack absolutely everything including the kitchen sink.  Everything I take away with me is always planned.  It’s just the way I am.  I am glad I have been like this over the years because it is all the more important nowadays because I can be so forgetful.  A forgetfulness akin to a fog that washes over my brain.  A fog that is caused by the pain and symptoms from CRPS and Fibromyalgia.  If I don’t add it to the list when I think about it, the likelihood is that it will be left behind.

I began “pottering” on my lists back in December, when something would pop into my head and I just added it to the list I had created on my phone.  Then a few weeks ago I got serious!  With laptop on lap and the packing list that was sent through by Jubilee Sailing Trust I mapped out our “proper” list for packing and a “proper” list for shopping.  It is so much easier these days with apps on your phone that you can sync with accounts on the web so you can bring a list together with ease.  I remember not too long ago having to do it all by hand, either onto good old Word, then hoping there was enough ink in the printer to print it out (we always seem to run out at the most inopportune times), or by scrawling the list on a piece of paper, often writing and rewriting until it was in the order I wanted, and included all that I needed.  So list creation for this trip has really been a doddle, for example –

In bed, idea pops into head, add it to list on phone – no light turned on to write it down with pen and paper, so no disturbing the other half, and no leaving it to the next morning and risking forgetfulness either!

Working on the computer, phone in handbag, idea pops into head, add it to list on laptop – no energy or time wasted in getting up to find the phone, or a paper list and pen, and again no forgetfulness as long as you remember to sync your phone afterwards – but then that is automatic now I have set it up right.

Out shopping, idea pops into head, add it to list on phone – no rummaging for a pen that you lent to someone and never got back, no scratching around for a slip of paper only to lose it the moment you have written on it, and no going off for a coffee and forgetting what that most essential thing was that you so desperately thought you needed.

The electronic age is just pure list makers bliss!

So yes, modern technology for me has really helped with organising myself for this trip.  I always had it in my head that I would not leave any shopping or packing to the last minute (I am a last minute packer usually, go away for a week and pack for three people and a dog three hours before getting on a ferry!)  I wanted to be well prepared for this trip so that I could enjoy the excitement more in those final few days before departure without worrying about:

What do I need?

Is it packed?

Have I got it?

Do I really need it?

Oh – there you go – another thing just popped into my head and I just added it to my list on the laptop – camera this time – wouldn’t want to go forgetting that, I am sure there will be some fabulous photographic opportunities.  I certainly would be inclined to forget it if I hadn’t just added it to the list!

So, I would say my lists are 99.9% complete – next task is to bring it altogether to pack.  I plan to be packed a good week before we go apart from maybe one or two small, slip in the bag just before you walk out the door, items.

Are you a meticulous list maker or a chuck it in the case and hope for the best kind of person?