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June 16, 2016

My Dad’s Very Organized Packing

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My Dads Very Organized Packing -v

Hopefully you’ve heard me tell you that I don’t believe you should have organized surfaces and messy drawers. I don’t like that it seems to indicate that we organize for what people see, because that isn’t why we organize. We organize to make our lives flow easier, and certainly things flow easier when we can find what we’re looking for in an organized drawer.

As I was prepping for the Summer Organizing Challenge recently, it occurred to me how much these opinions are influenced by my Dad. You’ve heard me talk a lot about my mom over the years and how she kept my childhood home immaculate, but I’ve never really mentioned that although my father didn’t do the household cleaning, he definitely didn’t add to the mess. He is a very organized person by nature. He loves containers and bags as much as I do. He was there when I bought my first Franklin Covey planner years ago. In my whole life, I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed my Dad’s car dirty or messy. He uses the gas station window scrubber every time he fills up with gas. He knows where everything is and can tell you: “go to my third drawer down, on the left side”. My whole home was pretty organized growing up – not in a neurotic-alphabetized-movies kind of way, but in a “everything had a place that made sense” kind of way. My Dad’s personal spaces are always super organized. He approaches everything in strategic, efficient, best-practices kind of way – even if it is just scrambling some eggs.

So, it is not surprising that his packing is VERY ORGANIZED. He is my only rival for an organized suitcase I’ve ever witnessed first hand. When I was at my parent’s house last month, he was about to leave for a business trip and I saw his system.

He has a clipboard with personalized packing printables he made for himself that he keeps multiple copies of on hand because he travels internationally very regularly and the packing is pretty intense (and he can’t run to an American store for a replacement).

People, my dad has his packing list on a clipboard!

And … HE MADE PRINTABLES FOR HIMSELF! (That’s my favorite part!)

And he has Packing Cubes to keep different parts of his packing separated and neat.

I loved it.

My Dads Very Organized Packing

{FYI – See MY Packing List HERE, or My Packing List for Kids HERE, or My Packing List for the Hospital to Have a Baby HERE}

Hey Dad –

Here is the last picture I took of my luggage packing (from fall 2014). I just thought you’d want to see it wasn’t a mess. 🙂

My luggage has two sides that fold together – side 1:

My Packing - side 1

side 2 (I use these Pro Packing Cubes >>):

My Packing - Side 2

Thanks, Dad, for letting me take a picture and share it on the blog. You really are awesome and just the right dad for me.

From my home to yours,
Mary

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Comments

  1. Dawn says

    June 17, 2016 at 11:49 am

    I love this! I have an excel sheet with tabs for different packing lists…weekend, camping, tropical, work, etc. Not as detailed as this one, but I put mine on a clipboard too. Love your dad!!

    Reply
    • Mary says

      June 17, 2016 at 6:49 pm

      There’s more of us!! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Eleanor says

    June 17, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    That’s lovely Mary- you are your father’s daughter! You reminded me of my own lovely Dad who had been in the Royal Marines for 25 years before he got married and always did all the family packing (and brass polishing, and shoe polishing, and spectacular Sunday dinners). He swore by rolling everything up tight. It was an art form!

    Reply
    • Mary says

      June 17, 2016 at 6:51 pm

      Oh wow – that is wonderful! Thank you for sharing. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Kerry Harrison says

    June 19, 2016 at 8:08 am

    What a sweet tribute to your dad on Father’s Day weekend! I have a binder with all the household goings on. Recipes, garden journal, birthday invite list, kids eat free restaurant list, etc…and a section for packing. I have day trip packing list, swimming PL, travel, etc. still takes me a long time to pack our family, but the lists takes the stress of “what am I forgetting?” completely away! Instead of a clipboard, the lists are in clear plastic page protectors and I use wipes markers to check off. 🙂

    Reply
    • Mary says

      June 19, 2016 at 4:32 pm

      Your binder sounds awesome! I love it! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Suzy Taylor Oakley says

    June 21, 2016 at 5:54 pm

    My dad taught me to roll my clothes, too, Eleanor! I spent 7 weeks in Guatemala one summer, and I had lots of room in my big suitcase to bring home souvenirs.

    Reply
    • Mary says

      June 27, 2016 at 12:59 am

      Oh yes, rolling is a must!

      Reply

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Welcome! You are in the right place if you want to get organized! I love helping my clients and readers create functionally beautiful homes. Our homes should be sanctuaries – a place to Read More…

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