Travel DIY: Create Your Own Packing Lists

We talk a lot about packing lists here on the site. It’s in our name! We’ve covered hundreds of destination packing lists and we even have a few you can download for your trips. But what happens when it comes to creating your own packing lists for your own trip? Are you one of those people who prefers it on pen and paper or wants something online that you can keep on your smartphone?

We’ll show you the many ways you can create your own packing list suited for your trip. This will allow you to take our lists to real life!

Hand-written Packing Lists

There are a handful of ways to set up your packing list. The first way is to create the categories like clothes, shoes and toiletries and write it all out on a piece of paper.

Printable Packing Lists

Type up a list or Excel document and print it out before your trip. Make a column for each of your categories and list the specific items underneath it. There’s something satisfying about scratching out things as you go on a real piece of paper. You can also use this as a rough draft for your final copy of your packing list.

The above example took me about 5 minutes to create on Google Sheets. If you’d like to download a printable PDF of the sheet, click here. (Be sure to print in landscape mode.)

Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote Packing Lists

Another great way to create your packing list is using app and web tools. You can create a document and save it on a Dropbox or Google Drive app to reference on your trip. You can also create a packing list using Evernote. This way, you can make both a list and add pictures of your pieces of clothing and other items to place in the same note. If you download the app, you can also access it on the go on your smartphone.

Image-Based Packing Lists

Create image-friendly packing lists using a secret Pinterest board with images of your outfits. This is a little more time intensive, but can be used on multiple trips. Search “packing list” on Pinterest to see what I mean.

Polyvore lets you create collages of thing you can pack, but most of the time you’ll want to use images already on the site.

You can even take pictures of all your outfits or items on your smartphone and keep them in a folder. Then you can flip through them when you’re trying to decide what to wear on the road.

Packing Apps for Your Smartphone

A number of apps have been created to help you bring the right items on your trip:

• Stylebook is an app that helps you create packing lists from what you already have in your closet once you snap pictures of them all.
• Packing Pro has an all-encompassing list of anything you could possibly need for a trip, all sorted into categories like electronics, clothing and more.
• TripList is another app with adaptable packing lists for every trip.

Extra Tips for Your DIY Packing List

Pare Down Your Packing List

Follow up with your packing list before you actually leave and get rid of any items you can live without. Go through each clothing item to make sure you can wear it with multiple outfits. And see if you can cut down your packing list with items like cords that can charge multiple electronics. That way you can make sure you travel with exactly what you need and nothing more.

Double Check As You Go

A good way to find out if you’re missing an item is to double check your packing list while you’re traveling. I’ve done this when I re-pack my bag to make sure I haven’t left behind any items under the bed, in the bathroom or plugged into the wall.

What kind of packing list do you use when you travel?