What is it like in your house a week before a holiday?

catkins

I always seem to be washing and ironing the day before even though every time I vow that I won't be doing that the next time. I can never decide what clothes to take - we mainly go away in this country or France/Belgium/Holland where the weather is unpredictable so I end up taking summer stuff, a jumper or too, clothes for wet weather etc. I hate taking so much stuff even though we are almost always driving so can really take as much as we like.


A friend usually housesits for us so the morning consists of changing the bed, changing the towels, making sure the house is clean and tidy. I find that a bit stressful especially if we want to get away early

BlondeHeadOn

Jagraf wrote: »

Are you someone who is organised and has planned everything. All paperwork, housework, packing up to date?

Or do you rush at the last minute?

I'm pretty last minute, although I do have a friend who takes her washing with her and has to do it when she's there.

^^^ I've done this - I was so busy and left the packing so late that I ended up taking a suitcase full of grubby clothes and a bottle of handwash!


I was going somewhere hot though, so I knew it would take no time for the clothes to dry in the sun...

Anatidaephobia

I don't find packing particularly stressful. Travel documents printed out a few weeks before we leave, passport always in the same place so easy to find, start washing clothes during the week before we leave. I make a complete list of everything to take and tick it off as I pack then make a final list the night before of everything that needs packed or done on the day we leave.

The most stressful thing is the cleaning frenzy a couple days before leaving, trying to get the house ready for someone else to come in as usually have a relative either staying or visiting while we're away.

Ames

Last minute but calm. I have a packing list, neatly sorted into categories and just work through that, usually do a bit the night before and the rest on the morning, depending what time I'm leaving.

The only bits that I do in advance are the trip to the GP for loads of medication, buying solid shampoo from ebay, and printing off any documents.

Although when I went away in May I did it gradually over a few days and it was easier. But then I was camping and had quite a lot of stuff to cram into the car.

Gloomendoom

Mr_Toad wrote: »

Not much different to any other day.

Having never been on a package holiday as such I just pack a bag pick up my passport and wallet and go.

I either drive to the airport and get on the next available plane going somewhere interesting or drive south and get on a ferry then drive.

My experience of turning up at airports and taking the next available plane, even to somewhere decidedly uninteresting or home, is that I end up paying through the nose for the tickets. I don't like that.

Find accommodation when I/we get somewhere nice and enjoy.

We did that once in the US. Only the first night's accommodation was booked. It was actually quite stressful at times and we came close to sleeping in the car on a couple of occasions.

It didn't suit Mrs G at all.

Flybaby

OnlyRoz -LMAO - I have one of those too........... only packs his stuff up at the last minute and I am the one who has to do all the planning, tickets, joint stuff etc.

My favourite is when I am chilled out on the sofa the night before as I have done all my planning and packing so I can be as stress free as possible and the other half then decides to pack and gets in a strop because he can't find something/it isn't washed/charged etc and I am "sitting on my !!!! and not helping him". No honey - that's because lack of planning on your part does not constitute a crisis on mine!


Pollycat - not OCD - you sound awesome and just like me!!! I have even weighed the suncreams before and after, mainly to prove to OH why we need to buy so many suncreams (i.e. he burns like a lobster if he uses 100ml, but is all happy about his lack of burn and lovely tan if he uses 600ml per week) but useful to know how much various skin types need in various conditions to approximate purchase amounts - and in my defence I do use this info at work when I am teaching about skin safety in the sun!

esmy

My Mum always referred to the week before a holiday as 'Holy week' because that's when we wore all out 'holy' clothes, the better items being washed and packed.

I am a convert to handluggage only these days (no kids to pack for) and can do at least a week and still bring things back unworn.

When the kids were small we camped a lot. DD1 packed her own bag when she was about 6 and we drove off leaving it in the middle of the road. Buying childrens undies in the Yorkshire dales proved a challenge....

DKLS

I usually leave the house when the wife is packing, she gets so stressed, thanks to work travel and often having to travel at zero notice I can pack and be driving to the airport in less than a hour.

The two least stressful times we packed was for trips to New York and Thailand, we took empty suitcases. Which were rammed on the return.

DUKE

Although I'm a lot better than I used to be as I'd do a mock pack, re-pack, pack again ... & that was 6 months before I left

I still have lists, & lists of lists .... & lists of what I will wear each day. In fact lists begin as soon as I've booked. Still I take photos of myself wearing the clothes that I shall take on holiday because the camera don't lie.

Talking of cameras, that's all Mr Duke does is pack his camera bag & has to decided on which zooms he's taking.

I've usually got everything done & am losing the will to live still having to wait a week for my holz. However, my nerves are totally destroyed at this point ....

Pollycat - I'm worried about your toiletries exploding in your case & ruining your clothes! I jot down how much is spent everyday too, why, I do not know, such a waste of time, but I can't just spend without caring :eek:

Mr_Toad - I wanna be you. The unknown sounds exciting but the stress of it would kill me, plus the not knowing what it's going to cost.

Jagraf - Does your friend holiday in the UK? I know I do ridiculous things, but that one's puzzling me.

Slinky

Last year we invested in a small case, the ones that will go in the overhead locker on easyJet. Previously we'd always had rucksacks. This new case has been fantastic to help with packing. On the way out we've been able to put changes of clothes in in case our main luggage goes missing, on the way back we cram it full of shoes stuffed with small clothing. It helped immensely this time as our combined luggage on the way out weighed 39.3 kilos of the 40k we'd paid for. We were given 3 lovely bottles of red wine by our hosts which we wanted to bring home so these had to go in the suitcases. Along with some other holiday purchases we thought we'd be well over, but bunging the heavy shoes in the hand luggage, binning a pair which rub every time my feet swell up in the heat, we ended up with 41k of luggage and no charge.


We usually take some plastic clothes hangers (ex Morrisons dry cleaning) with us in our luggage as a lot of the accommodation doesn't have enough. We never bring them back, we just leave them in the wardrobes. This time we were hanging clothes on hangers we'd left behind in 2011.