Hi guys! So I know it's been ages since I've updated... but in my defense I've been a busy girl! I just recently came back from a school trip to Greece, and since then I've been trying to catch up on all the things I missed, so bare with me! Since I missed so much due to my travelling, I thought I would make a blog set of my travelling musts. I'm only 17, but I have been to 4 continents and on three school trips, which is what I'm assuming most of my readers are travelling with! Without further ado, here are my absolute MUSTS for PACKING! *Please note these are packing tips for vacations, i.e. travelling with school or family!*
1. Not over packing is important, but not under packing is equally as important. If you're going away for a week or more, NO ONE is going to give you street cred for packing all your things in a back pack or carry-on bag (mini suitcase), you'll just end up ill-prepared. Don't do that. It doesn't make you cool, it makes you stupid. Sorry.
2. When it comes to clothes, pack things that you will not only look good in but feel comfortable in! Travelling is one of the only times that I always feel like I've got a good outfit planned every single day, because I've spent weeks thinking over what would be my best options. You need to think what is not only cutest, but most practical, what trousers can you wear with every single one of your shirts? Would you be comfortable wearing walking around a lot in them or sitting in them for long hours? Yes? BRING THOSE ONES. Also! Mix and match it up in there, don't just bring three pairs of jeans and rotate through, it might be warmer so maybe you should bring a dress or a skirt, which you could still wear with leggings underneath if it's cold! Speaking of leggings:
3.Leggings are the ultimate airplane bottoms for three reasons:
1) You can move around and make weird poses to get comfortable and not flash anyone like you would in a skirt or dress.
2) They are not in any way constricting like jeans which is a godsend on long rides.
3) They're not too warm but not too cold, you can always find a way to get comfortable in them.
4. I don't think I even need to say it because it's so ridiculously obvious but: only pack clothes that you can wear more than once. If you're feeling overpacked, weed things out by going through each day and making sure you only have enough clothes that if you wore them only once you wouldn't have anything to wear the last 1/3 of your trip, then take away the rest of the clothes that you want to wear the least, and mix and match what your bringing to make up the last 1/3 of the days. Easy as pie.
5. ROLL YOUR CLOTHES! If you have a crazy momma like I do who is always trying to make you pack everything in the smallest possible suitcase, then roll your clothes to make sure you have enough room for everything else. Tip: if there's no wrinkles in the clothes while you roll them, there won't be any when you unpack them, sometimes I roll skirts and dresses for this reason alone (no creases).
6. Toiletries: Buy empty shampoo and conditioner bottles that way you can reuse them. My family keeps the little bottles you get from hotels, but because the shampoo and conditioner in them is pretty crappy I usually empty them and put things like body wash and creams in them instead. Make sure you bring a nail clipper and file, band-aids and safety. You never, ever know.
7. Dirty laundry: OK so here's the deal, after having gone on many trips with only one random bag as a dirty laundry (until I finally got a cloth reusable one) I have discovered some very helpful things:
- get a cloth, reusable bag with a drawstring; the plastic ones hold in moisture so if you have gross, sweaty things they get extra stinky, a cloth one lets them breath and also it's better for the environment! Wahey!
- only put clothes in there that are n o t underwear; this way if you decide they're not actually too dirty and really want to wear it again, at least it hasn't been sat in a bag with your dirty underwear. To fix this problem I started putting my underwear into a toiletry bag that has the clean ones on one side and the dirty on the other, it's waaaaay more convenient.
8. Underwear: pack at least three extra sets of underwear and socks, these are things you never want to run out of.
9. Carry-on: If you're travelling on a plane at all, make sure you put an extra set of clothes in your carry on, even if it's just socks and underwear and a tank top. Many times I've had people lose their luggage and be stuck with no other clothes for a day or more while they wait for their luggage to finally arrive. That being said, make sure you pack everything important in your carry-on, money, itinerary, camera, chargers (and converters), everything.
And guys, please, please, please make a check list. Make sure everything you need is on that check list, double check everything you need is on that check list, ask someone else if everything you need is on your list, and then triple check that everything on that check list is packed.
Most importantly though, remember that things go wrong and things get forgotten, it happens. It's taken me at least 5 times before I actually managed to travel and not forget anything. If/when it happens, don't let it ruin your trip, if it's something really big that you forgot, tell someone, they WILL help you, if there's one thing I learned on school trips, it's that everyone's in the same boat and is much more willing to help and be kind than they are at school. Don't let forgetting something ruin your trip, it's not worth it! (And you shouldn't forget anything because you triple checked your list, right?
Hope this helps!
Lots of love, xx
