Hi! Hope you’re all having a great weekend! I started working on this post yesterday, and I ran out of time so I decided to finish it and post it on a Saturday instead of cutting it short just to get it posted on Friday. So with that said.. let’s finish our Saturday with a Friday Five haha!
My husband and I are taking a condensed trip to Europe next week! I wanted to do a detailed travel post with five different packing categories and tips on how to pack smart. I am the queen of overpacking and throwing everything I think I will need, but always end up packing a bunch of things I don’t use and wishing I had packed something I didn’t. I have done a bit of research, mostly on Pinterest (you can see my Packing Tips pin board here) and have gotten some great tips from you all on Instagram (thank you!) so I will be sharing my favorites here.
1. Packing Outfits
My biggest weakness traveling is packing clothes. I always throw in my favorite clothes but never really paid attention to what I added until I weighed the suitcase realizing I had way too many things in there, but could not figure out what to take out. Knowing that I have to pack two weeks worth of clothes in fairly 40 lbs I knew I had to pack smart. I laid out all of my favorites, and put them together to create outfits. Most everything that did not match with more than one thing I put to the side to add if there was any room left. The weather is nice and warm during the day but chilly at night, so I packed this green cargo jacket (similar HERE) & this grey cardigan because they both go with almost every outfit and can easily be thrown over a ‘summer’ outfit while still looking cute. I also packed a few dresses (THIS one pictured is my fave!) because they are lightweight and are just one item to create an outfit whereas a top, cami, and pants are more items adding to weight and still only create one outfit. Plus, I love dresses to travel around a city in because they are comfortable and cute. Sidenote on the tops and pants comment…. they are multiple items adding to weight but they can be mixed & matched so just make sure you create outfits but have a backup plan if something gets dirty. For example don’t pack say six tops and two pants to mix and match… If you get one pant dirty the first of your days you’re stuck with only one more.
The second part of outfit packing is the shoes. I wish I could pack all my shoes and wear different ones with different outfits but they are way too heavy. My trick is to pack neutral shoes because they will go with everything you pack! I packed my favorite Jeffery Campbell wedges because they can be dressed up or down & are comfy. They will go with everything including the dress I am wearing to the wedding I wrote about in THIS post and whatever more dressed up outfit I put together if we go out or anything. I am also taking a pair of booties (not sure which ones yet but love THESE in the pics above), THESE sandals (& two or three in case one breaks and I mean a girl’s gotta have options!), closed toe flats (love THESE striped ones above for $18 that I styled in THIS post), and sneakers (definitely packing THESE beauties that are currently one sale).
2. Making The Most Of Your Space Wrinkle-Free
You have probably heard people say pack light and don’t pack things that wrinkle easily. I have to steam most of the clothes I buy on the regular and we all know by know that my suitcases take up every ounce the airport allows so those two tips are hard for me to follow. A few packing tips I tried that work to make the most of your space and keep clothes looking fresh is laying clothes on top of each other and folding them together as if they were one piece or rolling them (I do this by folding an individual piece normally and then rolling it). If you are careful when you fold/roll to make sure there are no wrinkles there won’t be any when you unpack at your destination. I have tried both of these tactics and it works while saving a lot of space. One thing though is make sure that you use the buckle inside the suitcase and tighten it so your clothes can’t move around in transit. THIS post on Pinterest is great and has tons of packing hacks to help save space. It also gives you pictures of what I was talking about with folding above.
Another way I get rid of wrinkles is unpacking as soon as I get to my destination. Most of the small wrinkles that developed will usually disappear if you hang them overnight. Also, it can make it easier to get dressed because you see everything you brought with you. Two things that I will try this trip that I have never tried before is packing my delicate clothes in a dry cleaners bag (someone gave me this tip on IG and they go into more detail in the post above & it sounds genius!). Also I bought this wrinkle-free spray. Most of the reviews sounded like it worked miracles so I am curious to try it. Anyone else try it? I will definitly let you all know how it goes!
3. All About The Bags
If you follow me on Instagram I posted a photo of a few suitcases that I had trouble picking between. My husband and I have taken tons of trips within the last about three years we’ve been married and have been through maybe four suitcases so I thought it was time to invest in a good one. I ended up going with the Delsey Chatelet 28″ Spinner in champagne after reading some reviews and hearing from you all that have & love it! I remember seeing this luggage a long time ago and closed the tab as fast as I opened it after seeing the price tag. It is on MAJOR sale right now & has ten year warranty! I still cannot believe the deal I got for the features included in this luggage. I love that it has a TSA safe lock code (makes me feel at ease traveling through different countries). One thing it does not have is outside pockets but it does have very deep spaces on the top and bottom sections with many different compartments, buckles, zippers, and bags so really you have twice the space a luggage with outside pockets has. This also comes in brown (and black at THIS site), but I loved the white and after hearing from people that it is easy to clean off, I was sold.
Since this trip is lengthy, I will also be taking a carry on luggage with me in case our luggages get lost with an outfit or two and some necessities just in case. I also have been using my Celine luggage tote the past few trips. It is basically a huge hole with handles that fits everything I need, but still the perfect size to fit under my feet on the plane. I definitely recommend taking a big bag to travel with. I am also taking my Chloe drew bag ($25 dupe HERE, insanely similar!) because it is the perfect size to walk around town in and is neutral so it goes with all of my outfits.
I also have a ton of little pouches and bags to keep different items and products separated and organized. One of my favorites is THIS wash & wear pouch! It is so useful to keep my clean/dirty undergarments separated and is on sale!
4. ELECTRONICS
The biggest nightmare here is bringing your expensive electronics, including hair tools, just to plug them in and have them burn out! (It has happened to me and was totally bummed)! Now, I am absolutely no expert in this category but hopefully this will guide you. Make sure you get universal travel power converters like THIS one depending where you are traveling. Also, make sure they are ones that do not limit the amount of time you use it and enough to have for multiple plugins if needed for convenience. As far as hair tools, make sure they are also universal. I bought this T3 straightener that I actually used to curl my hair in these photos that specifically says “world voltage” and “multi voltage.” I also saw ones that allow you to change the voltage with a switch before you plug it in.
I also love traveling with this Sony camera because it is small and still takes amazing quality pictures and videos. I have done quite a bit of research before I bought it and was surprised how much I loved it. To get an idea of the quality of pictures with this camera I used it for several of my posts including THIS post and THIS post.
5. TRAVEL SIZE EVERYTHING
Almost everything I use or can get away for this trip comes in travel size! I loaded up on travel size items because so much of travel weight can come from all your liquids. From experience I can’t travel size my hairspray or dry shampoo (haha!) but I found everything else including this It’s a 10 Miracle Leave in Conditioner with Keratin in travel size so I was super excited about it. I also bought this new beauty bag because of its function. It has multiple pockets, pouches and zippers to keep everything neat and organized. I especially love the two clear pouches with velcro at the back because it keeps all the liquids in one pouch were they to pop open and they are removable in case I don’t need to take the whole bag with me for any reason.
I hope this post was somewhat helpful & again, thank you all for sharing your travel tips & luggage choices/reviews on my Instagram! I would love to hear if you have tried any of these tips or have ones I didn’t mention in the comments section! XO!
OUTFIT DETAILS:
TOP: Goodnight Macaroon | PANTS: ViciDolls (feel like leggings) (similar that are more jean-like here) | WATCH: Michael Kors | LIPS: Revlon
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