The practice of packing in a rush

I've always had a system for packing that ensures I don't forget anything I need no matter how long or short the trip. I make a list of all the essentials and then cross each item off as it goes into the bag.

Part of what has changed is that I am a lot more judicious in what I bring with me. I remember the first trip I took far from home, to Ireland, I had a back pack and two huge rolling bags. I couldn't control my luggage on my own so I think the hospitality of the Irish for helping me lug those things around. It's easy to remember what you need when you just take it all with you. Now I pack just what I can handle on my own. But the other thing is that the last few times I've needed to pack a bag, this system has gone out the window because I am in a rush.

Yesterday is a perfect example. I had to catch a 6:45 a.m. flight out of San Jose with Indianapolis as a final destination. Now I'd spent months thinking about what I needed to bring and how to pack a bridesmaids dress without turning it into a wrinkled mess.

My ideal plan was to pack it in a garment bag and bring it as carry on. But then last weekend when I went to buy a garment bag, the cheapest one I could find was $100. It didn't seem worth it for something I would probably only use once in my life. Instead, I decided I should borrow a garment bag. The problem is the people I know don't travel - or they don't travel with nice clothes. My mom asked a co-worker who said she might have something, but then the co-worker forgot to bring it in for two days.

So the garment bag arrived at my house yesterday afternoon. I unfortunately, did not arrive home until a few hours later. Wednesday is the day the paper goes to press and as the person designing it, I need to stay until it is done or I would have just taken off an hour or two early to get a jump on packing. The paper was done about half an hour before deadline, but I needed to leave notes for a student intern who would be helping while I was out and then I had promised to pick up dinner at the farmers market in Hollister.

By the time I was pulling off the freeway into town, it was almost 7 p.m. And then I suddenly realized I forgot my wall charger for my cell phone at work. My office is a half hour drive, one way. And my phone, as a mytouch, lasts barely a day without being charged. With a flight leaving at 4 a.m., I didn't have time to go to my office so I decided to go to the nearest T-mobile store and just by another charger. $35 later, I was set.

By the time I got home, ate dinner and took a shower, it was almost 9 p.m. before I started packing. I used the technique of rolling all my clothes to fit more in the suitcase. Actually, a few days ago a friend sent me a link to a slideshow from the New York Times of an airline flight attendant packing a carry-on bag for a trip. The airline I flew, Delta, charges for checked bags so I was hoping to avoid it. Plus, I am kind of a control freak and the idea of leaving my bag in someone else's hands and hoping it gets to my final destination really makes me nervous.

So everything was in the garment bag and ready to go when I went downstairs to print out my boarding pass. I figured I should double check the measurements for carry on. And then I realized the garment bag is way bigger than the allotted space per passenger.

In the end, I decided to use my trusty carry on, which has pockets for my shoes, a little case for toiletries and seems to hold just enough clothes for a few days. Based on the slideshow advice, I put the bridesmaids dress in the bottom of the suitcase, piled in my heavy items to lighter items and then folded the dress over all the stuff in the middle. I definitely had plenty of space in my suitcase.

By the time I finished packing it was nearly 10 p.m. and I was just hoping I hadn't forgotten anything. The last time I packed in a rush, I forgot tweezers, a razor and shaving gel. Other family members forgot toothpaste and deodorant so I wasn't alone in forgetting things. But luckily it was at my cousin's wedding in San Jose where half my family was staying so I was able to swap the necessary items with other immediate family members for the things they had forgotten.

So far this trip, the dress came out a little wrinkled but nothing an iron couldn't fix. And as for forgetting things, I think I've got everything I need. The only problem is I may have inadvertently mixed my neutrogena face wash in with some conditioner and vice versa. See, I had my shampoo, conditioner and face wash in little travel size containers from the last time I traveled to Indianapolis for the bridal shower/bachelorette party. So I just left them in the bathroom for this second trip. But last night I decided to fill them up a bit more. All three items contain white liquids and the only way to tell them apart is that the shampoo has a little more sheen to it, and the conditioner and shampoo are scented while the sensitive skin face wash is unscented.

When I took a shower tonight, I couldn't tell the conditioner and face wash apart - the consistency of both seemed off, leading me to the theory that I filled the conditioner bottle with face wash and the face wash with conditioner. If that is the only issue I discover over the next three days, that won't be too bad.