Wednesday
Mar102010
I'm always packin'
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 06:01AM
I've shared a few Pack Lists here before because I'm always very organized about packing, and thought you should be too! But today I was introduced to this cool tool: the Universal Packing List.
You enter a bunch of information about when you're traveling, what the weather will likely be, how you're getting to your destination and what you'll do when you get there. Then, whiz! bang! it pops out a packing list for you! I haven't actually used it to pack for a trip yet, so I can't speak for how well it performs, but I think it's a brilliant idea.
I ran a test using the information for my upcoming honeymoon, just to see what it would come up with. Not only does it tell me what to pack, but it even suggests what I should do before leaving (like charging batteries and making sure your pets are taken care of). As for the packing list, it includes suggestions for clothes, documents, equipment, toiletries and gadgets. There are quite a few things that are unnecessary---like a sleeping bag even though I told it I'd be staying in a hotel (or actually a cabin, but that wasn't an option). But it thought to remind me to bring q-tips and fingernail clippers, which, brilliant.
I think I still like my own method of using google docs to organize a pack list, but this is a good place to get inspiration and ideas on what not to forget. I think it'd be really good for people who hate making lists---this website does it all for you! Anybody else ever used this?
(I'm in no way profiting from Univeral Packing List. Just sharing a cool resource.)
You enter a bunch of information about when you're traveling, what the weather will likely be, how you're getting to your destination and what you'll do when you get there. Then, whiz! bang! it pops out a packing list for you! I haven't actually used it to pack for a trip yet, so I can't speak for how well it performs, but I think it's a brilliant idea.
I ran a test using the information for my upcoming honeymoon, just to see what it would come up with. Not only does it tell me what to pack, but it even suggests what I should do before leaving (like charging batteries and making sure your pets are taken care of). As for the packing list, it includes suggestions for clothes, documents, equipment, toiletries and gadgets. There are quite a few things that are unnecessary---like a sleeping bag even though I told it I'd be staying in a hotel (or actually a cabin, but that wasn't an option). But it thought to remind me to bring q-tips and fingernail clippers, which, brilliant.
I think I still like my own method of using google docs to organize a pack list, but this is a good place to get inspiration and ideas on what not to forget. I think it'd be really good for people who hate making lists---this website does it all for you! Anybody else ever used this?
(I'm in no way profiting from Univeral Packing List. Just sharing a cool resource.)
Reader Comments (2)
Hi!
My name is Mats Henricson, and I'm the creator of the Universal Packing List.
I checked in my code, and sleeping bag is only added to your list if you indicated that the trip was an overnighter, and if you checked one of these checkboxes:
camping
trekking
climbing
glacier
Hope that helps!
Mats
Thanks Mats! In fact, I did check trekking because I figured we'd do some hiking, so that makes sense. I think the UPL is great, thanks for creating it!