At RevGalBlogPals, it’s my week to host the Friday Five!

We are 90% done with the pack-em-up-and-move-em-out week here are our hacienda. One daughter is moving to her first apartment, the other daughter to her dorm for her freshman year of college. Not gonna lie, it was an adventure these last few days!

As a part of the process, we let our daughters manage their own packing (with our input and support.) Part of that educational experience (for all of us) was letting them figure out how to create their own organization, make choices, and consolidate what they were packing. And also pack carefully enough so that they could still get everything in the car — and in the dorm/apartment!

It made me realize that there are some elements to packing and moving that are learned, and some that are innate. So let’s talk “packing or pack rat?” for this week’s Friday Five.

1. Are you a sorter or a pack rat? What I mean by that is, do you select what you are taking with you (on a trip, a new assignment, a vacation), or do you pack with abandon (overweight suitcases be damned!)

I start out a sorter, because I’ve learned by experience that I simply can NOT take it all. In all honesty, I’m a pack rat at heart. I don’t have a Mary Poppins bag, much as I’d love one.

2. Who first helped you learn how to pack? Or did you just come into it by osmosis or natural gifting  (and need)?

I had to learn (and listen to) instructions from family members and friends who did. My dad, my brother and one of my sisters had “that gift” and I learned a lot by letting them help me, once I realized how badly I needed help. I’m much better now than I used to be. On a recent trip, I had a roll-on bag and a computer bag — and that was IT! Victory! 🙂

3. What’s your favorite kind of suitcase? Duffle? Soft-side? Wheels?

I am personally a fan of my “expanding zipper” wheelie suitcases. Saved my bacon on many a return trip home!)

4. Do you have that “packing gene” — or do you pack and cram what you need into every available space?

I’m WAY WAY better than I used to be… but no, it doesn’t come naturally to me. It helped a lot when I was a Girl Scout counselor and had to pack for backpacking trips. That meant that we had to watch weight AND volume.

5. What’s one thing you’ve learned in traveling, packing or storing your belongings that you think everyone should know?