How to build a packing list you'll actually use

A packing list you don't look at is not a packing list — it's a piece of paper. The lists that work are the ones that live where you pack, are short, and get checked twice.

One list per trip type

A beach list and a business list are different documents. Keep one list per type of trip — the packing list page has one for beach, business, camping, winter and international — and reuse it.

Check it twice

Tick the list once as you pack, and once more as you zip the bag. The second pass is what catches the small thing you dropped. Keep the list with your documents.

Keep it short

A list with a hundred items is noise. You need the essentials and the few easy-to-forget items. Add your own daily essentials to the base list, and leave the rest out.

Print the list for your trip on the packing list page.