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Comment by callumprentice | Hacker News Reader

Can't tell you how happy it makes me to discover I'm not the only one who does this. My wife says it drives her nuts but I'm pretty certain she's also delighted by how we never forget anything before or during a trip.

We did something similar for example: left a tray of leftover food in the oven (turned off) just before a trip and came back to a pulsating surprise. I added "Check the oven is off and empty" to the list of things to do "Just before we leave" and it's never happened since.

That said, there are several hundred things on my generic version and it sometimes feels a bit daunting having to start afresh each time we travel but I think so far, it's been worth it.

I keep threatening to do a trip without it and see just how many things we forget, don't do and screw up. MAybe one day... :)

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A 100 item checklist?

I just throw some stuff in a bag and worry less. Never fails. If I forget something it probably was not that important and I can just buy it at the airport / when I land.

This is my approach too. My time in the military got me into the habit of checklists for everything and I carried it over into my personal life for many years after I got out. I never forgot anything, but I was perpetually lugging around a ton of stuff the I never used.

It's been many years since I stopped worrying about it, and I've yet to have even a single instance come up where I forgot something important enough to be a real hassle.

Checklists are great for surgeons and pilots. The cost of missing something in those professions can literally be life or death. If I forget to pack something when I go on vacation, the most it could possibly cost me is money.

> If I forget to pack something when I go on vacation, the most it could possibly cost me is money

I was in an airline check-in queue behind some people who discovered they had left their passports at home. Cue near-coronary and marital strife. A relative had to break into their house and make a mad dash to the airport.

(I'm also a checklist person)

Yes, if I forgot my passport it might be a lot of money that it cost me. Maybe one day I'll forget my passport, but I rather doubt it. The exact same reasons that surgeons resist following an explicit checklist (which are terrible reasons if you're a surgeon) are perfectly fine for me because the stakes are much lower if I mess up, and in the mean time there are concrete benefits to winging it. It's a lot easier for those benefits to add up to be greater than then downside of a mistake when the mistake costs $2000 rather than someone's life.

Having 100 items on the checklist doesn't mean you need to act on all of them. You can go through your normal packing, then take a few minutes to scan through the checklist for anything you may have forgotten. Most items may be irrelevant to that trip. Just skip them.

Does your local airport sell passports and prescription medication?

I just fundamentally don't understand the statement, "If I forget something it probably was not that important". How does one follow from the other?

Man, if I was travelling to a different country and needed a passport AND forgot my passport, then I would agree with you. I guess my life is not so hectic that I don't forget the absolute necessities (you can't fly without that or you can die without that).

If you travel often but only sometimes to other countries the travel part becomes routine and the need for a passport can be forgotten.

I could see that being problematic.

My life is not that hectic and I often travel to other countries, yet I have forgotten my passport once and only once. Part of me thinks that once it happens it's very unlikely to happen again.

I still don't use a checklist for traveling, but I do use a to-do list religiously for...actual things to do. After this thread, I may just add a few more lists.

Passport. Credit Card. All you really need.

That's what I tell myself. If I can travel freely and spend money, don't have anything to worry about.

Oh... you don't have kids ;-)

obviously, that depends on the country. ;)

More seriously, when studying organization and lists in particular, I remember reading:

There are two types of list-makers - those who make them and use them, and those that make them and lose them.

If you're perpetually group #2, you're more likely to try it a few times then ditch the whole process.

I perhaps should have elaborated a bit about the number of items. It is broken up into sections like: * Do well before we leave: e.g. arrange insurance, book seats on flights. * Do just before we leave: e.g. engage window locks, turn off heating, empty dishwasher

Then sections for hand carry, electronics bag, wash bag, suitcase and various subdivisions within each.

I found the best way to manage it is to make one giant list so it might have a kite and a bucket and spade in the "misc items" for example. When we're planning a trip, I copy that list to a new place, edit the title accordingly and remove all the items I'm sure we won't need. Like the aforementioned kite and bucket if it's not a beach trip. Or the car pack with chargers, suction cup for phone navigation etc. if we're not renting a car.

I agree that it'd probably be mostly okay if I went rogue and I can always buy stuff in the airport or at our destination. Notable exceptions being medications, passports, credit cards. I still garner some measure of comfort from knowing we have everything even if getting there can be a little stressful.

> I keep threatening to do a trip without it and see just how many things we forget, don't do and screw up. MAybe one day... :)

I don't have a checklist, and usually I'm fine. So, it's certainly possible :)

Also, I think if you have a list of over 100 items, maybe it's time to simplify it or break it up into sublists. That length itself probably produces more anxiety than saved by the list. It sounds like an over optimization

For background, I create todolists and checklists all the time in my life. Just so far, I haven't felt the need to make one for taking vacations.

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