The Complete Packing List for Any Trip, with a Free Checklist
Whether it's a weekend away, two weeks on a beach or a work trip, packing goes the same way: the same handful of essentials every time, plus a few extras that depend on where you're going and what you'll do there. This guide gives you both as checklists you can tick off on this page, then shows how to pack it all so you take less and forget nothing.
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The short version
- Count by nights. Underwear and socks: one a night, plus one. Tops: one a night. Beyond a week, plan to do laundry rather than pack more.
- Start with the essentials, then add the extras for your trip: going abroad, flying, heat, cold, driving, self-catering, camping, work, babies or pets.
- Keep the things you can't replace with you: documents, medication, keys, valuables and anything with a lithium battery go in your carry-on.
- Leave space for coming home, and check the room before you leave.
Tick items as you pack. Your ticks are kept in this browser, on this device only.
Before you start: three questions
Every good packing list starts with three questions. The answers decide almost everything else.
- How many nights? Clothes scale with nights, not days. A simple rule works for most people: underwear and socks, one a night plus one spare; tops, one a night; pants or trousers, two or three whatever the length of the trip. For anything over a week, pack for a week and plan a wash, whether that's a laundromat, a washing machine in a rental or a sink and a travel clothesline.
- What will the weather be? Look at the forecast a few days before you go, and the typical weather for the month before that. Hot and cold change the list more than anything else: shorts, sandals, sunscreen and a sun hat for one, thermals, a warm hat, scarf and gloves for the other. If it could be both, layers do more than one heavy coat.
- What will you do? Go through your plans day by day. A smart dinner means smart shoes; a hike means proper footwear; a pool means swimsuits; a theme park means comfortable shoes, a power bank and a bag that zips shut. Anything you won't do, don't pack for.
The essentials: every trip
These are the lists that apply to almost every trip. Skim each one and skip what you won't need.
Documents and money
Clothing
Footwear
Toiletries
Health and medication
Electronics
Bags and accessories
Extras for your trip
Add whichever of these fit. A family beach trip abroad by plane might take four of them; a weekend at a friend's, none.
Going abroad
Rules on passports and visas change, and they depend on your nationality as well as your destination. Check the official advice for where you're going, including how long your passport must still be valid, well before you travel.
Flying
Beach, pool and hot weather
Cold weather and winter
Driving and road trips
Some countries require particular kit in the car, such as a warning triangle or high-visibility vests. Check the rules for each country you'll drive through, and for a rental car, what the company provides.
Self-catering
Camping
Business trips
Babies and toddlers
Pets
What goes in your carry-on
Pack your carry-on as if your checked bag might not arrive with you, because occasionally it won't. Keep with you:
- Documents, money and keys, including your house keys.
- Medication, enough for a few days, in its original packaging, with the prescription for anything prescribed. Some medicines that are ordinary at home are restricted elsewhere, so check before you travel with them.
- Electronics and anything with a lithium battery. Power banks and spare lithium batteries must go in your carry-on, never in checked bags. Some airlines also restrict using or charging power banks on board, so check yours.
- Valuables: jewelry, cameras and anything you couldn't bear to lose.
- A change of clothes and your toothbrush, so a delayed bag doesn't ruin the first day.
- Something for the journey: snacks, water (fill the bottle after security), headphones, and things to keep children busy.
Liquids: the rules depend on the airport. Many still limit liquids in your carry-on to containers of 100 ml or less, all fitting in one small clear bag, while some airports with newer scanners have relaxed this. Check both your departure airport and the one you'll fly home from, and if in doubt, pack to the stricter rule.
Size and weight: each airline sets its own limits for cabin bags and checked bags, and they vary even between fares on the same airline. Check your booking, and weigh your bags at home.
How to pack: tips that save space and stress
- Lay it all out first. Put everything you plan to take on the bed, then put back anything you're packing "just in case". If you'd be able to buy it there, you probably don't need it.
- Mix and match. Choose clothes in colors that go together, so every top works with every pair of pants and fewer clothes make more outfits.
- Roll soft things, fold structured ones. T-shirts, underwear and sportswear roll tightly; shirts and jackets crease less folded.
- Use packing cubes, one per person or one per kind of thing. Unpacking becomes moving cubes into a drawer, and nobody digs through the whole case for socks.
- Wear your bulkiest things to travel: boots, a coat, a sweater. They take the most space in a bag.
- Fill the gaps. Socks go inside shoes; chargers and cables in a small pouch so they don't tangle.
- Seal anything that can leak in its own bag, and put a little tape over the lids of toiletries in checked bags.
- Share the risk when traveling together. Put a change of clothes for each person in someone else's bag, so if one bag goes astray, nobody is left with nothing.
- Label inside and out. A luggage tag on the outside and your name and phone number inside, in case the tag comes off. A luggage tracker tells you where the bag actually is.
- Take a photo of your packed bag and its contents. It helps if you ever have to describe or claim for a lost bag.
- Leave space for coming home. Souvenirs, shopping and dirty laundry take more space than they did on the way out. A foldable tote bag is a good standby.
- Start the list early. A week before is enough to spot what you need to buy, from sunscreen to a travel adapter, without a last-minute rush.
Leaving home, and leaving to come home
Two short checks catch most of what gets forgotten.
Before you lock the door
Before you check out
Keep a packing list for every trip
Neatrip has packing lists built in, free. It starts you with ready-made lists like the ones above, which you can change to suit you, and counts things like socks one a night for the length of your trip. Tell it whether to expect hot or cold weather and it adds only what fits, and it suggests extra lists when your trip includes flights, driving or going abroad. There's a list shared with everyone on the trip and a private list for each person, so you can pack into named bags and see what's in which. Tick everything once as you pack, and again on the way home, so nothing gets left behind. Anything you need to buy goes on a shopping list, and your flights, hotel and plans are in the same app.
Rules on liquids, batteries, baggage, passports and driving abroad change. This guide gives general advice; check your airline, airports and the official advice for your destination before you travel. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at support@neatrip.app.