Universal Packing List

Ever had that nagging feeling that you forgot to pack something for a very important trip? You’d go through that slip of paper where you’ve hurriedly scribbled your list of stuff to pack, check your bag a couple of times, sit down and think for a while what it is that you could have possibly forgotten to pack… and still not remember what it was. So you’re left with no choice but rush to the airport with that gnawing feeling in your heart getting worse by the minute. As the plane takes off (or lands at your destination), BOOM! That’s when you finally remember. You forgot to pack your contact lens cleaning solution. Or your universal plug adaptor. Or the charger for your mobile phone.

Sounds familiar? Well, fret no more because help is at hand. Introducing The Universal Packing List…

First, you enter the dates of your trip, then enter the maximum and minimum temperatures of your destination.

Not sure of the weather forecast for your destination? No problem. Just click on ‘Find out!’ and you’ll find yourself at WorldClimate.com, which will give you the average monthly temperature both in Celsius and Farenheit.

Then, you click on your gender, pick out the type of place you’ll be staying in, and, if you’re travelling with kids, click on the age range of the child(ren) who will be travelling with you.

Take note that you’re not limited to just one option. For instance, if you’ll be staying in both a hotel and a hostel, click on ‘Hotel’ first. Then, while pressing the ‘Ctrl’ key, click on ‘Hostel’. And you’ll find that you have both options chosen.

You can apply the same trick for the ‘With kids’ part. Say, you’ll be travelling with a newborn and a 4-year old, just click on ‘Babies’, then while pressing the ‘Ctrl’ key, click on ‘Kids’.

Now it’s time to click on other additional information (click as many as you want, whenever applicable):-

Finally, click on the type of transportation(s) that you’ll be using, leave the options for comments/anecdotes if you only want a straightforward packing list, then click on the size of bag that you’ll be taking along. The options range from ‘Extremely Small’ to ‘Normal’ to ‘I’ve Hired Sherpas’! :D

Oh, yeah. You also have the option of having the list emailed to you. Totally optional, of course.

What’s awesome about The Universal Packing List is that it doesn’t just generate a list of the stuff that you need to pack. It will also list down suggested things to take care of before your trip (Check the expiration date of your passport, Wash the dishes, Make a lunch, etc), and even give you a list of some suggested vaccinations (Yellow Fever, Cholera, Typhoid, etc). The packing list itself would list items by categories, e.g. clothes, documents, electrical stuff.

As I mentioned, if you don’t click on the Comments/Anecdotes options, you’ll get a straightforward list of things to pack, e.g. Passport. If you click on ‘Comments’, you’ll get Passport and the comment: “Some countries requires (sic) that your passport has at least 6 months validity left“. Then if you click on ‘Anecdotes’, you’ll get: “On some continents you’ll need lots of pages in your passport. I have 4 pages of fancy stamps in my old passport just from road checkpoints in Central African Republic!”

The Universal Packing List is easy to use, loads quickly (unless you use the map-based version, which will slow you down a bit if your internet connection is not good) and — the best part of all — it’s free. But you can always show your support for the owner of the site by donating something through PayPal. This is not a paid post, by the way. And I don’t know anything about the owner of the site. I’m just sharing this information with you because I’ve found the site to be very useful.Try it the next time you travel!