magnetic_pole | Poll: Unpacking after a trip

magnetic_pole

I'm back from a trip and curious about the flist's unpacking habits.

Poll #9104 Unpacking

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 44

View Respondents

How long does it take you to unpack after a trip?

View Answers

I don't do anything else until I'm unpacked
5 (11.4%)

A few hours; not long
19 (43.2%)

A day or two; when I get a chance
14 (31.8%)

A week or so; no hurry
10 (22.7%)

My suitcase is still out from the last trip...
9 (20.5%)

And, if you care to comment: do you consider any of these options unreasonable for fellow occupants in your home (i.e., what can you live with)? You'll see in the poll what my position is (and infer what the point of contention is in the magnetic_pole household), but we welcome all types here! Just so long as we don't ever need to share living space. *smile*

Crossposts: http://magnetic-pole.livejournal.com/169624.html

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

busaikko

And we arrived home from the last trip in August! \o/ (In my defense, the stuff in it was just underwear, personal crap, etc. The suitcase was handy!) *shifty look*

From:

magnetic_pole

That's exactly what the better half says! (And to be fair to her, it's actually neater with the suitcase than without it.) *smooch* M.

From:

busaikko

Suitcase: An extra drawer for when you need one!

From:

magnetic_pole

The better half read this one over my shoulder and now wants to use it herself. :) M.

From:

kelly_chambliss

There's a reason I collect OCD icons. . .

I do nothing else until the unpacking is done. My partner is a lot less rigid -- she doesn't usually unpack until she needs whatever it is that's in the backpack (she and the Young Man pack really light: one backpack and small computer case between the two of them, unless we're going overseas. Then they each take a backpack /g/). I wouldn't feel comfortable if my partner wanted me to leave my stuff unpacked for days, so I don't try to make her unpack before she's ready. (But deep down inside, I don't understand how one could relax knowing that the unpacking remains to be done. . . I'm getting tense just thinking about it!)

From:

magnetic_pole

I thought you'd be a woman after my own heart on this issue, K!

In this house we've solved the problem by giving the better half her own room (we've been lucky, having so much space right now) and never, ever commenting about anything that goes on in it. (Which I manage by closing the door and never looking at it.)

I'm *extremely* impressed by the light packing! But you were the one who showed us that vacuum-packed shirt, weren't you? I should have suspected your family packed in a more sophisticated way than the rest of us. M.

From:

caecelia

I used to be quite strict about unpacking things immediately; these days I travel so often (every weekend) that it often doesn't seem worth it. Sometimes I like to let things linger; it can be a pleasant reminder that one isn't always stuck where one is, a helpful reminder that one can be mobile.

As for your question - I could live with anything, probably, except for items from the suitcase remaining flung out all over the floor and the suitcase for more than a day. My better half used to leave out his things in such a manner, and I inevitably always tripped over something or grew irritated with the chaos.

:-)

From:

magnetic_pole

Every weekend! You must have it down to a science.

I would comment on your comment on what you can live with, except the "items from the suitcase flung out all over the floor" traumatized me so much I couldn't read on. :) M.

From:

semielliptical

I always take care of my clothes right away (if mr. semi traveled too, he will start the laundry asap after we get home) but occasionally I let other things sit in the suitcase for a few days. I took a long trip during the semester break and due to jet lag I just couldn't manage to deal with all of the random items in my bag for almost a week. Mr. semi always unpacks immediately, but sometimes lets his (empty) suitcase sit out for a few days...I can't really complain about that minimal amount of clutter.

From:

magnetic_pole

The better half was was just asking about you the other day, Semi. Glad to see you again!

I also had jet lag earlier this month, and *everything* took longer for a while. I think I was even talking slowly.

Mr. semi always unpacks immediately, but sometimes lets his (empty) suitcase sit out for a few days.
But, but...so close to being completely done! *smile* Funny how we all have our own way of doing these things. M.

From:

venturous

that's funny - when I am traveling and get to a hotel, I unpack everything and set up my new home right away. when I get home, I just throw stuff and get on with life. lol

From:

magnetic_pole

That's exactly what the better half will do! It's funny, she adores putting things away in hotel rooms. If only I could trick her into thinking the opposite. :) M.

From:

florahart

The actual answer is: until I need the suitcase for something.

Thing that happens with some regularity in my house: my older child, who has the great misfortune of being slightly obsessive about certain kinds of tidiness and living with a mother and a brother who tend toward slobbitude, will get fed up by the fact my suitcase is still, for instance, in the shared space between the bedrooms (upstairs, not like in the living room) and just zip it up and put it away. Now, since I am bad at remembering things exist unless I can see them (I mean, not like, "my mother" but like "my black pants" or "the socks with the blue toe stripe"), mostly I will only notice that it seems weird I only have two pairs of pants. Then, next time I need the suitcase, I get it down and there are SURPRISES! I haz PANTS! And then I'm like Dude, why did you put this up with STUFF in it? and he says, Mom, it had been sitting there since MARCH and it was MAY.

I suspect you and I would make each other somewhat cranky if we were forced to share suitcase and living space. Heh.

From:

magnetic_pole

Hee! Luckily, the internet is suitcase-free, all the time. Good individual journal styles make for good neighbors, and all that.

I've gotten to like your two young ones, F. Older sounds very sensible here (I can imagine the eye-rolling...) M.

From:

jazzypom

If it's a short trip, the worn clothing is unpacked and washed. But if the trip is longer, and say overseas (granted, I haven't been further than the continent in a decade), I'll unpack the stuff needed (we take our own toiletries for instance), or the stuff that's about to go off (for instance, if we bought cheeses or snacks from our travels), but the clothes will take longer. We don't really use suitcases as much as backpacks, though. But yeah, they do get unpacked within the week. This is due to us not having much clothing on the go(we don't have much clothing, but what we have, we love, especially me. I can't buy shoddily made stuff). So the stuff is always used.

From:

magnetic_pole

Aha! Good point. (Here, too: for instance, any trip over ten days is followed by immediate EMERGENCY UNDERWEAR WASH!) I think that might be one of the points of contention between me and the better half--the better half's mother sews her clothing, so she always has so much she's glad for it to disappear into a suitcase for a while. M.

From:

tetleythesecond

I get out the shoes and books and the stuff that needs washing soon after I've arrived and had a cup of tea and changed and things. The rest depends on how knackered and fed up I am with this whole travelling business (as sometimes happens when I arrive home tired from a working week out of town); I just may deposit the suitcase out of sight for a day so nobody stumbles over it and the dog doesn't make a bed in it -- or I put everything away within the next few hours.

My partner is similar, but I think I could live with variety, provided that there's a negotiated understanding of the treatment of shared spaces. Mentally arriving at home after a trip is something everyone does differently (even I'm different, depending on how the trip went). Some need to unpack, check the answering machine, switch off the email responder and have a shower before they can even sit down comfortably, others feel stressed doing anything before they've sat down and relaxed for a while, or even gone back to a normal daily routine.

From:

magnetic_pole

Aw! I can see how a suitcase might make a very nice bed for a dog!

Clearly, there were not nearly enough options on this poll for all the contingent situations! M.

From:

celandineb

Generally I unpack the same day; if I get home really late at night, it might be the next day. OTOH, actually getting the suitcase back in the attic might take rather longer. My SO tends to take longer than I do, though he's gotten much better over the years.

From:

magnetic_pole

My SO tends to take longer than I do, though he's gotten much better over the years.

So there's hope, after all! :) M.

From:

celandineb

There's always hope!

From:

liseuse

I unpack the stuff I need unpacked - toiletries and things, apart from the stuff I have travel!duplicates of, and then I sort of leave everything else in the suitcase until I need it, or I'm doing some washing. I loathe unpacking.

From:

magnetic_pole

I loathe unpacking.

I think that's something both the quick and the slow unpackers have in common! M.

From:

donata

It depends what time of day I come back. When I come back late-ish in the evening, I won't unpack until the next day, or even the day after this. But if I come back at a reasonable hour, I'll unpack straightaway.

Also, my unpacking technique consists of putting everything in the laundry basket, regardless whether it needs washing or not (especially after a long trip). It saves time.

From:

magnetic_pole

Also, my unpacking technique consists of putting everything in the laundry basket, regardless whether it needs washing or not

There's something about the inside of our suitcases (which have carried some sandy and dirty clothing, at times, that makes me happy to do just this! M.

From:

glass_icarus

So I clicked the first 3 choices because my unpacking rate varies between DO IT ALL NOW NOW NOW and a couple of days, depending on:

a) whether there is food/tea in the luggage
b) whether there are gifts in the luggage
c) whether the luggage contains dirty or clean laundry
d) how tired I am!

On the other hand, I pack quite well, so moving shenanigans aside, I've never had to unpack more than two suitcases at any given time.

From:

magnetic_pole

Clearly, I didn't appreciate just how complex this unpacking business could be! I'm not sure there are enough ticky boxes to help describe how we do this... M.

From:

out_there

To be honest, left to my own devices, I'd probably fluff around and get to it sometime after a week. But I live with mum, who insists that bags are unpacked, and washing is put on within 24 hours of returning home. So, yeah. Compromise in action.

From:

magnetic_pole

So, yeah. Compromise in action.

Nothing says "family" like compromise (in both the good and bad senses). *wry smile* M.

From:

secretsolitaire

Oh, man, I am terrible about unpacking. I tend to do it in bits and pieces, grabbing whatever I need most desperately while leaving the backpack/suitcase lying on the floor in the dining room (which is where I usually drop it upon my return from wherever). Sometimes the bag will make it upstairs to the bedroom and then sit there for a while. The surefire way to get me to unpack is to have another trip that requires that particular bag, or to have company come over, necessitating a cleaning frenzy. Otherwise it could seriously sit there for weeks. *hides*

From:

secretsolitaire

But: photos get downloaded off the camera and sorted within a day. ;-)

From:

magnetic_pole

Ah, that's more like it! M.

From:

magnetic_pole

REALLY? You, S? I never would have guessed! M.

From:

secretsolitaire

Sad but true: I am a total slob, SO is not much better, and the house is generally a disaster, LOL. But important stuff like fic and photos gets taken care of. ;-)

*makes Shutterfly photo book for latest trip instead of cleaning up the leaning tower of unsorted mail on the kitchen counter*

From:

magnetic_pole

*smile* You never know the flist as well as you think you do!

Happy b-day, S. M.

From:

arcanetrivia

Not my business how long it takes other occupants to unpack... except for my husband, we all have our own rooms. Usually husband and I both wind up unpacking the day or two after returning from somewhere, although it depends what time of day or night we arrive home, and how much room there is in the laundry basket..