Don't Leave Home Without It...

Okay, I broke the most fundamental rule of traveling with a camera: don't forget the camera!
Yesterday morning I left for a 3-day trip to Austin to cover Texas high school track and field championships -- the biggest, most important HS meet in the world. While my intention was to take my time, something came up and I decided I needed to see my doctor ASAP. (Turned out to be just a little blood pressure problem.) Though I had prepared most everything, I finished packing and started loading the car. In my rush I went off and left my Sony EX1r video camera sitting in it's bag right next to the door!
This reminded me of a rule that I too often forget -- always use a checklist of the things you want to take. It's easy to make a list of the items you would want to take with an particular camera. I generally travel with either my full-size video camera (the EX1r) or a small consumer camera, a Canon HF M31 and/or my Canon 60D DSLR. For each, I have prepared a checklist of all the possible accessories that  could need including the can't do without items such as batteries/charges, lenses, and recording media. (I probably need to make additional checklists for things like my laptop.)
Fortunately, my main goal on this trip is to photograph the competition, so it's not such a big deal since I have my 60D with everything I need. Still, it makes me mad to know that I left something like my video camera behind. Going over my checklist one last time as I lock the door or get in the car would have avoided this goof.