This Friday will mark four weeks until we fly to New York and so I thought it was time to start thinking about what I'm going to pack. But, rather than just making a list, I drew one, an illustrated packing list. They started when I first went off to uni (just over 8 years ago!) and I've been drawing them ever since – mostly when packing for holidays. I've found that by drawing what I'm going to take I pack more efficiently, planning outfits etc. Perhaps that sounds a little OCD-esque but space is precious in a suitcase. For example, when I went to Greece a couple of years ago I didn't draw out my list and ended up taking hardly any clothes (luckily we had access to a washing machine otherwise I would have been pretty screwed). I figured that others may do the same thing (some people just work better from images rather than words) although I'd never really thought about it, so when this little gem appeared on Pinterest a while ago it made me smile.
It's by painter Adolf Konrad and depicts his packing list from a trip taken in Dec 1973. Incidentally the list appears in a rather excellent looking book called Lists, To-dos, Illustrated Inventories, Collective Thoughts and Other Artists' Enumerations... Upon deciding to write this post I had a root around to see if I could find any of my past illustrated packing lists and found three: my 2008 trip to Spain which required much planning - 5 days camping at Benicassim festival followed by two nights in Barcelona; my trip to Albania; and lastly the list I made (but never completed - hence why some of my stuff is still at my parents nearly 3 years later) when I first moved in with Mitch. They're quite fun to look back on.
This is what my New York one looks like at the moment but it's just a preliminary list as I need to see how heavy it'll be (and some of it still needs to be purchased)!
Do you plan your packing? I'd love to know if there's any more illustrated list makers out there...
