> I confess to not usually using a checklist when I travel because most times are a bit different.
Don't you find that most trips have a ton of stuff in common though? Pajamas, contact case/solution, loofah, spare phone battery, ear plugs, phone charger & battery charger, reusable water bottle, etc. always go with me on every trip.
IMO the stuff that always goes is the stuff that I tend to forget, exactly because there's nothing unique about this trip that would make me remember it. If I'm going to the beach I know I need my swimsuit and beach shirts because I can walk through my activities and think about what I need for each one. But I'm likely to forget pajamas because I'm not thinking about "go to bed every night" as an activity to plan for.
A lot of the things you describe (or my versions thereof) are in one of the kits I always bring and the others are elsewhere in the container I rifle through when packing. Sure, I could have a checklist (and probably should) but forgetting the basic stuff isn't something I have a regular problem with. I do travel every few weeks so I have the routine pretty well down.
Apart from the pajamas, you could easily just buy extras of those things and keep them together for travelling. It's so much easier just to grab a set and check afterwards what needs to be replaced or refilled.
Don't you find that most trips have a ton of stuff in common though? Pajamas, contact case/solution, loofah, spare phone battery, ear plugs, phone charger & battery charger, reusable water bottle, etc. always go with me on every trip.
IMO the stuff that always goes is the stuff that I tend to forget, exactly because there's nothing unique about this trip that would make me remember it. If I'm going to the beach I know I need my swimsuit and beach shirts because I can walk through my activities and think about what I need for each one. But I'm likely to forget pajamas because I'm not thinking about "go to bed every night" as an activity to plan for.