Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024) • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#81

Post by gensym » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 12:31 AM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #78

shaftway wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been going lighter and lighter and am down to a backpack that I carry (mostly just meds and electronics) and a small suitcase that I could carry-on, but I usually check. But my spouse packs heavier and heavier every year. It's a way to cope with anxiety; you think of everything that can possibly go wrong, and you make sure you have that mitigated with something in your carry-on. And that's why on our last trip w…

> It's a way to cope with anxiety Yep. That's why I tend to overpack, though I've been mostly traveling with a single backpack these days if I'm traveling solo. I'm trying to convince myself that I can afford to buy many things when I arrive somewhere, including paying for laundry. The biggest annoyance is time - if I have to do laundry on a trip, that means either sitting next to a washer and dryer for a few hours,…

I have had success with washing wool or technical garments in the sinks of hotel rooms. I don't actually do that very often but knowing that I can helps with the anxiety of running out of clothing.

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#82

Post by popalchemist » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 1:44 AM UTC

jjulius wrote: post #22

popalchemist wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For people without children, yes; with children, often, the opposite.

That's just relative, no? Surely people with children pack more, but the concept is the same - you pack a lot the first time you travel with them, and then narrow it down the more you travel with them. (Said as a parent)

There's a bell curve. Infancy is the left, age 4+ is the right. The swell is toddler age.

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#83

Post by srean » Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 9:16 AM UTC

normal_person wrote: post #68

srean wrote: post #10

Unless I have to travel to a destination with a drastically different weather or I have to stay longer than ten days, it usually takes me no more than 15 to 20 minutes to get packed. With my undiagnosed ADHD I usually start an hour or two before my airport cab. My problem is not what to pack or that I pack too many things but to actually begin the process of packing.

I used to struggle to even start packing and solved it for me by creating a default packing list in google keep. So I now just need to mindlessly retrieve passport, ticket, cards, 3x socks, 3x shirt, etc. and check them off the list. Only takes 15 minutes now and not a single braincell or any willpower need to be involved. And who doesn't love checking items off a list.

Yup, same here, except now I don't have to look at the list anymore. Have ended memorizing it.