As you all know, Corey and I are on a cruise this week (!!!), but I thought I’d toss up a quick post today about how we typically prepare for a vacation. We’ve learned many times before that I’m a bit anal when it comes to planning, and I like to keep things organized, so I have a bit of a system when it comes to preparing for vacation. I managed to streamline it even more than usual this year, so I figure a few tips and tricks might be helpful.

- I laid out each outfit (and tried it on!) before putting it in my bag.

In the past when I’ve packed, I usually just grab a bunch of stuff that I like to wear and toss it in a bag. But then, each day of the vacation I have to figure out what I want to wear, what I want to pair it with, and make sure everything goes together. Not this time – before we left I took a little bit of extra time to try on every outfit (and actually put outfits together) so I knew ahead of time which pieces I would wear together, right down to the shoes and accessories.

I think this will be especially helpful for my dinner outfits, as I usually just grab a bunch of dresses (way more than I actually needed) and decided on everything as I was getting dressed. But now, I already have 7 pre-prepared outfits (with accessories!) so it will be so much easier to get ready for dinner! As I was packing the clothing into my suitcase, I also tried to keep each outfit together so that it was easier to grab when it’s time to get dressed.

- I made a list (and checked it twice a million times).

What? You don’t change four times a day when you’re on vacation?

I’m always incredibly paranoid that I’m going to forget something when I’m going on vacation, so Corey and I sat down to plan out each and every thing that we thought we might forget in a list on his iPad, and I also created a two-page list of my own. We started about a week out from the cruise and continued to add to it as we thought of things throughout the week, and then before we started loading things in the car we made sure to check to see that we had each and every thing on the list with us. Hopefully this ensures that we’ll make it through the vacation without realizing we forgot something vital!

- I edited.

I’m a chronic overpacker. Seriously, y’all – I’m bad. I always want to prepare for every possible situation, and I’m always worried that I won’t have something that I want or need, so I pack way more than I could ever possibly need. But you know what? I’m on a freaking vacation. Does it really matter if I don’t bring that perfect tank top to wear while I’m lounging on the Lido deck? No, it totally doesn’t. So as I was packing, I asked myself if it would really upset me to leave each item at home, and if the answer was no, it didn’t come. This made for a much lighter suitcase (and a much happier husband!) and hopefully won’t affect my vacation in any way.

What are your best packing tips?

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