As those of you who have been reading my blog know, I love checklists. Sometimes my lists even have their own lists! Even though we have not traveled anywhere in a while, one of my most helpful checklists is my travel packing checklist.
I have used it for longer vacations as well as just weekend Shabbos trips. It was particularly helpful when my boys were in the hospital as babies and we stayed at a hotel every weekend for Shabbos.
It seems as if we always forget something and especially if you are going for only Shabbos or have a tight budget, you can’t just go out and buy what you forgot. Hence, we created the travel packing checklist.
Here is a copy of mine. Feel free to adapt it to suit your needs and to match where you keep things in your home. I have organized mine by room, so that I can just go from room to room gathering things. I tend to gather everything on my bed and then pack when I have everything together.
Recommendations for creating your own list:
– Try to think of anything you might need while gone.
– Be sure to include items for cooking if you will have access to a kitchen or if you will need to prepare your own meals.
– Bring along things to do for each member of the family (even adults): books, toys, games, favorite stuffed animals, etc.
– Bring a small zipper pouch to store receipts from the trip (I always find this helpful to have everything in one place and then I can enter them all in the computer when I get home).
– Take along a folder of research and reference materials you have gathered before the trip (like lists of kosher restaurants and shuls in the area).
– Be sure to pack a pad of paper and pen!
Happy traveling!
Surviving on a tight budget 
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