We have been on numerous scuba diving trips in the last two years, so packing for our trip to Kona is routine. Not much thought involved with this type of trip.
Print a packing list. Pull down the “dive gear” box and lay out dive gear. Pull down the “travel” box, dig through it and lay out various items (necksafes, wallets). This accomplishes 75% of the packing already.
A note about necksafes. Murray and I still use necksafes, even flying to the US or the Caribbean. Why? My necksafe contains passport, back up credit card, dive cert cards and extra cash. If for nothing else, we always, ALWAYS, know where our passports are, they are attached to our bodies. We hear stories about people misplacing their passports, and hopefully this won’t happen to us (now that I have said it) as they are attached to our person, except when we need to show them to the authorities.
The secondary reason to use a necksafe is if the airplane has to be evacuated in an emergency, all purses etc must be left on the plane. Because our passports, cash and credit cards are attached to us, they will go with us. We will not be without identification or money. Now, we hope that this never never never happens, but if it does, we are prepared.
Clothing is the next item on the packing list. Easy – daytime/flying and nighttime clothes. For me, shorts, 2 tops, sarong, dive rash guard, skirt, 1 bra, 3 undies, 3 swimsuits (my luxury items) , flip flops, deck shoes, 1 pair of socks, pants for airplane, fuzzy for airplane. More than half of these items will be worn on the airplane, so the quantity in the suitcase is minimal. Done.
It takes Murray and I less than 2 hours to pack our carry on bags, with mostly dive gear, and gather the odds and ends that we hadn’t accumulated yet. What is left are the last minute items like credit cards, sunglasses, licenses and iPads. Ready to go to Kona. No rush. No panic.