Okay. Let me totally geek out on you here. Christine shared about Packing Pro a few years ago and I dutifully purchased it. I wasn't super impressed and deleted it from my phone. Fast forward to trip planning, list making fervor: one overnight, a week at my dad's, and 10 days in Florida that can't come soon enough.

Add that to a new commitment to regular travel and I decided to give it another go. The way I see it, having small kids is a lot of work any way you slice it. You may as well do that work somewhere interesting and see the world...or at least the country. :)

Since Christine already shared the basics of what and how, as well as last year's updates, I thought I would share my favorite three features of Packing Pro.

3 Favorite Features of Packing Pro Travel app

Suitcase Detail

packing-pro-suitcase-detail

Now that airlines charge you for luggage, I now have to track pieces we've paid for. As an example, for my upcoming Florida trip, my Evernote planning doc looked like this:

  • 2 checked
  • 2 carry-ons
  • 4 personal bags (4 backpacks)

Below, it also included a description of what went into each bag. From our disposable income days, we have suitcases for every type of travel. I can change the icons and suitcase names to reflect the different types!

I haven't added the garment bags or the backpack-through-third-world-country bags, but I have the ones we use regularly and even color coded them by actual color of the suitcase.

Cloning Categories

photo (7)

Since you cannot save items to more than one person, I cloned the whole kid list and modified it for my son's needs on the trip. He doesn't need dresses and he is already out of onesies and other baby stuff. In fact, other than diapers and wipes, he's done with all the typical baby gear.

If/when we have another, it would be nice to add all items to a packing list quickly, even if its just a day trip to my dad's.

Cloning Lists

photo (8)

While closely related to the first, this is better by 100. We go to Great Wolf Lodge twice a year, once for each daughter's birthday. I create a list of what we took, adding what we needed and didn't bring and removed what was overkill.

After three trips, we mostly have it. To plan our next trip, I create a new list and copy every item from our last trip. Ditto for every trip to my dad's!

You could totally make use of this easy feature for speaking engagements or business conferences. Or the annual homeschool conference. Just sayin'. :)

Anyway, I'm loving the Packing Pro app for iPhone. If you travel a lot or are sick of forgetting things because you create a new list each time, consider adding Packing Pro to your plans. You can even email this list to Evernote in 1, 2, or 3 columns. And it can be color coded by bag/suitcase. Go ahead, geek out; I won't judge! ;)

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Copyright 2014 Jen Steed