Guide
Pack as a group
Split the list in two before anyone packs: a shared list for what the group needs once, such as a speaker, sunscreen, a first-aid kit and a travel adapter, and a personal list for everything else. Put one name on every shared item, so nobody brings three and nobody brings none. Check the forecast the week before.
Group trips go wrong at packing in two ways: everyone brings the same thing, or nobody brings it. The fix is to split the list in two before anyone packs, and to give every shared item a name.
Split the list in two
Some things the party needs once: a speaker, sunscreen, a first-aid kit, the adapter for the sockets. Everything else each person needs for themselves. Keep those as two lists, one shared and one personal, so nobody has to read the other’s socks to find out who brings the charger.
The shared list, by kind of trip
For a city weekend: a travel adapter, a spare charging cable, a small first-aid kit, painkillers. For a cabin or a ski week: basic food for the first evening, a board game, ski wax, washing-up liquid. For a beach week: sunscreen, after-sun, a speaker, snorkel gear if you swim.
Give each item to one person; that is the whole trick.
| Trip | Shared list, one name on each item |
|---|---|
| City weekend | A travel adapter, a spare charging cable, a small first-aid kit, painkillers |
| Cabin or ski week | Food for the first evening, a board game, ski wax, washing-up liquid |
| Beach week | Sunscreen, after-sun, a speaker, snorkel gear if you swim |
The personal list
Passport or ID, the European Health Insurance Card when you travel in Europe, the travel insurance details, a bank card and a little cash, phone and charger, medicines you take, and clothes for the weather you will actually get. Keep this list private; it is nobody else’s business.
| Item | Note |
|---|---|
| Passport or ID | The European Health Insurance Card too when you travel in Europe |
| Travel insurance details | Where everyone can find them |
| A bank card and a little cash | For places that do not take cards |
| Phone and charger | A spare cable can go on the shared list |
| Medicines you take | Kept on your private list |
| Clothes for the forecast | Check it the week before |
Pack for the plan, not only the place
Look at the days before you pack. A hiking day needs shoes, a booked dinner needs one nicer outfit, a boat trip needs something warm. In Awayfolk an outfit can be linked to the activity it is for, so the plan and the bag agree.
Note what still has to be bought
Mark what you have to buy before you leave, and how many. The shopping trip the evening before then has a list instead of a guess.
Check the weather the week before
A packing list written a month ahead guesses. In the last days before departure, Awayfolk shows the forecast on each trip day and warns when an outdoor plan meets a wet day, which is the right moment to add the rain jacket.
Decide which bag
Carry-on or checked, one bag each or a shared one: put the bag next to each item, so the liquids end up in the right one at security.
Updated 3 November 2026
Image credits
- People swimming in turquoise water off Tulum: Sebastian Mantel · CC0
- Rabelo boats on the Douro below Porto’s Ribeira: Jakub Hałun · CC BY 4.0
- Red and white houses of Reine in Lofoten under jagged peaks at sunset: Ximonic (Simo Räsänen) · CC BY-SA 4.0
- A timber cabin among pine trees beside Frøylandsvatnet in Sandnes: Jules Verne Times Two · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Christmas lights along Nyhavn at the blue hour: John D. from Pasadena, USA · CC BY 2.0
- Manarola lit up at dusk above the sea: kuhnmi · CC BY 2.0
- Small boats and sunbathers below the sea stacks at Tonnara di Scopello, Sicily: Michal Osmenda · CC BY-SA 2.0
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