We are about to take a big trip. I am sure you will hear much more about it in the next month and a half but it’s part of the reason I have been so bad at posting on a regular basis. I have been trying to get everything done I need to get done before we leave on May 20 when we will fly off to Edinburgh to start an almost month-long trip through the British Isles and a cruise to Iceland. Today I got into my favorite pre-travel app on my iPad.

We all have all kinds of apps for our iPhones and iPads that we love to use for travel, (I have more than 30 on my iPhone) but I have one I have been using pretty steadily for more than 10 years and I truly love it. Every time I use it religiously it works. If I forget to use it religiously, I forget things (like on our last cruise). My favorite pre-travel app is called Packing Pro.

Packing Pro is a super app that does more than remind of you what to take, but reminds you of all the things you need to take care of before you leave. Here’s a screen shot of the app with my favorite category open for our upcoming Scotland/England/Ireland/Iceland trip. As you can see it starts way before your trip with things like “Book cruise” and “Buy airline tickets.” When you are done with them, you can check them off. But the ones I love are the ones you don’t think about that often, like “Turn off the water to the washing machine” or “E-mail your neighbors (in our case Jayesh and Lisa).”

Another thing I love about the app is that when we are going to take a new trip, I can just clone a previous trip and start over. You just go in and change your quantities and categories based on the climate and duration. For instance on our Panama Canal Cruise on Infinity, I took a lot of shorts. On this upcoming trip, probably no shorts at all other than ones to workout and walk in.

They also give you some great categories to work with and you can add more if you like. The screen shot below are the ones that I use on a regular basis.

So if you are looking for a great app to get you ready to travel whether it be a cruise, a land trip or just a short business excursion, Packing Pro is a great choice. When I went to get the link above I found that it was for sale today only for 99¢. That’s a great bargain because I am sure I paid at least $5.00 for it. And you can get it for your iPad, your iPhone and sync them as well as with your partner’s devices as well. And as Mr. Powell notes below, you can check with the app when you get back.

When you get back from a trip, make a note of what you didn’t wear. This will avoid packing it unnecessarily next time. —Robert Powell