"Do you make a "Before I leave" list?" Topic

I've been busily focused on prep for Little Wars, and while yesterday was a day I should have been doing stuff to prep for it, I needed a bit of a break, and my wife and I had "real life errands" and such to run.
I had to get a haircut, she needed stuff from the stores, we needed to hit Aldi, I needed to hit Lowes, etc.
So we did that and by the time we got home it was almost 9 pm.
I was simply too tired to deal with any of it that night.

But, while I've been getting things ready, I also notice lots of "little things I need to do on the side BEFORE I leave", (one of them being a "replace the batteries in one of my blink cameras before I leave", etc.).

So to make sure I am doing it, I had to make a list to ensure they were done and not "Forgotten".

Currently the list is:
* Water for CPAP
* Batteries for the security camera replaced.
* New wax guards for the hearing aids.
* Check oil and fluids for vehicle.
* Check to make sure insurance card and registration cards are up to date, (this IS Illinois, that I am traveling to).
* Spare glasses in luggage.
* Medications, (To include Tylenol, Benadryl, inhaler, and my Blood sugar kit)
* Charging block and cable for phone.

Does anyone else here have to make a list like this to make sure things are done or packed BEFORE you leave?

If so, is there anything right now I am currently missing?

Thanks in advance!

Very complete list

The thing I used to forget was the phone charger – which is why I have three of them

I have made such lists. Everyone who showed up to run a game with no dice has a list.

Of course. Mine actually has a bit more redundancy--glasses in luggage, "trip bag" and pocket of jacket, for instance, and multiple charging cords for smart phone and kindle. A week's meds for a three-day trip, and replacement filter for the CPAP.

"Missing" might be too strong a word, but the trip bag contains printed-out confirmation of reservation, my deck of 3x5 cards with addresses and phone numbers and a real paper road map if I'm driving. GPS has run me in a circle before now.

I agree with Andrew--well, no actually I don't. Plenty of people who keep forgetting things and act surprised every time. But the GM list and the flea market table list are different from Murphy's trip list

I have lengthy lists of game supplies whenever I GM. Shorter lists for personal effects. I always take my own tape measure, ruler, dice, superglue and hand gel regardless of whether I'm playing or GMing.

Murphy;
Working in Logistics in both the civilian kind and the Army kind, I live and die by checklists and spreadsheets.

Especially the "before you get in the car to leave" kind…

Every. Day. Before. Work.

Eric

It might be illuminating to examine how people's list compare to what they were 20/30/40 years ago. FWIW, mine used to be cash, credit card, Durex and a couple of packs of Marlboro.

Yes, I do. It is too easy to forget things, especially if you feel like you are in a rush.

In Frank Waters' book, "The Yogi of Cockroach Court", the main hero had a "List of Ten Things to Forget"!

One credit or debit card then I can handle the situation for items forgotten*. So my world spins on two items which are placed together every night. Car keys and wallet. Cannot go anywhere without the keys and the wallet gets me home. If I have to take something…I place the car keys on it.

*Ps. Add any required medical requirements for those that need.

Yes.

I have various pre prepared lists for various types of activity, which get edited as required for specifics. I also have a travel 'go' bag with stuff like spare glasses, charging cables, battery pack, eye shields, ear plugs etc which I just chuck in whatever travel bag I'm using.

Main thing for a games convention? Take a pen and paper. Surprisingly useful. Take a spare pen too, as someone is bound to "borrow" it.

Being one who is afflicted with ADHD, (with a CRS chaser) it's been pretty much a mandatory item whenever I leave the house. Not just for travel and conventions but for everything.
CRS = Can't Remember Sh..

Maybe you should call it a "Things to pack list". "Before I Leave" gives quite a different connotation.

Yep almost always use a list. Mostly its the game specific items vs just travel.

I always make packing lists.

I also forget one thing on every trip. It's like a predictable law of the universe – no matter how exhaustive my packing lists and preparations, there's going to be one thing that got left behind. The trick is to make sure it isn't anything important.

"One credit or debit card then I can handle the situation for items forgotten."

I once had the card company freeze the card my first night in a new town. A mistake and fixed in the morning, but the rule now is two cards, and more actual cash than is currently fashionable--often enough to pay for gas all the way to friends and family. (I've also had gas station card readers fail.)

But there is and can be no certainty. Preparation does not guarantee success: it only reduces the incidence of failure.

I've created a go bag of chargers and cables that is only used while travelling, no looking for that cable I left behind, or buying an outrageously expensive one at the airport

I have been making job lists since I was in my thirties, if you work in biotech/Pharma it's almost unavoidable. Tip, always make job 1 – Complete job list, then you get a quick win to get you on a roll.