Travelling Musts: Packing

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

Book Review: 'It' by Alexa Chung

*Lets just take a moment to remember that I am not a book critic and have no cedentials that would make me a credible literary critic.* However, I am a 17 year old girl, who is very interested in art and beauty and fashion, and therefore would consider myself a member of the target audience of the book, and thus I would find this review a valid resource if you're looking for a general response to the book!

All in all, 'It' is a nice thing to pick up and read, you don't have to read it all at once and you don't have to remember where it was that you left off in order to keep reading; it's a very easy read. But you'll get a lot out of it if you read it; surprisingly a lot more than just style tips and fashionista talk. I 10/10 would recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in fashion, style, beauty, but also anyone interested in art and/or media. Actually, I'd probably recommend this book to anyone, it's just a good book, and it's easy to read. Everyone can get something out of it.

'It' by Alexa Chung (which you can get HERE) is genius for so many reasons. It has everything the reader could possibly want, there are the 'beauty tips' and advice on how to find your own style that, I'm assuming, most people went to it for. But there is also a subtle hint of something more personal, she doesn't just talk about all the fashion shows she's been to and all the things she's learned from modelling and television. She focuses on things that are, arguably, much closer to home, things that she learned on her own about style. There is a whole section where she does what I think most of us have done, as she looks back to all the people in the media that were style inspirations to her, whether they be characters or models, etc. They are the people who, even if she doesn't have the same style taste, inspire her and make us appreciate that you don't have to dress like a woman in order to come off as feminine. 

That being said, there are so many underlying tones in this book that promote individuality, that promote finding who you are and what you like and making your own style of it. Of course there are things that will never be stylish but the point is to find the style that suits you best, and most importantly that you feel most comfortable in. Chung is amazing at emphasising that she does not, and will never, compromise comfort for beauty. This is something that I've always been told is something you have to do in order to be stylish, yet here we have Alexa Chung, fashionista extraordinaire, telling us that she would much rather be out in flats than in heels, because she would rather be able to actually dance while she's out. What? That's a thing?? We can do that? 

One of the best things about this book is that Alexa is proving us all wrong, she's showing us that you can still be considered one of the most fashionable people out there without compromising comfort! She tells us that femininity has absolutely nothing to do with how many flower print sundresses you wear but rather all in how you carry yourself: sensational! 

The funny thing is, that when you go to purchase this book you already have in your mind what she's going to tell you, you think that like most fashion icons she'll tell you all about latest trends and classic pieces (which she does) but the thing is when she finally does do these things, it's a lot different than we expected. Instead of telling us how to keep up with the latest trends, Alexa teaches us how to establish our own timeless sense of style. She does this by introducing us to the people who influenced her own personal style, by outlining what it is that makes someone fashionable or iconic, and emphasising that it has very little to do with latest trends and much more to do with how you carry yourself. That is to say, if you wear something you feel comfortable and you actually like, you're going to look a lot more stylish than if you were to wear all the latest trends but feel uncomfortable. Rule number one of style: If you feel uncomfortable, you look uncomfortable. 

Another quite surprising thing I found in this book is just how much like us, Alexa is. This is exceptionally evident when she takes us through her process of picking out what to wear that day. What we expect is some extravagant thought process that includes all these different style icons and fashion rules and trends, etc. but what she says instead is actually quite powerful. Instead of thinking, what will make me look good and basing what you're going to wear on that, she says to picture what you're going to be doing throughout the day in said outfit, and picture how you want to look doing it. Try and find said outfit, make sure it's clean and then wear it. Huzzah! Alexa has cracked the code to true style! It's not the latest trends and highest fashion designers, because there will be days where you can't do what it is you're supposed to do, whether it be climbing to the top floor of your building to get to class or take the metro to class despite the despicably cold weather, in these clothes. True style is owning what you're wearing. Not in a literal way like, 'I bought this- I own it' sense, but in a, 'I'm rocking this outfit' way, hence why it's so important to be comfortable in what you're wearing- it's hard to rock heels that make you feel like you've broken both ankles, and it's hard to rock a dress that's meant to be worn with heels, barefoot. If you take these things into consideration when you pick an outfit, you're on your way to becoming a mini fashionista! Yay!

Personal side note: I love Alexa Chung. The part of this book that surprised me the most was when she discussed the articles of clothing she cannot live without. Most of them were things that we all have (and if you don't I'm seriously recommending that you invest in them), like a navy knit sweater that you can wear with literally anything, jean hot pants that can make anything look cool, etc. However,  when she discussed having saved up a long time for her Burberry coat, that hit close to home. This is a very personal response from me because I, as an individual, die for Burberry. I love it. I'm saving up for my own coat and I have been for quite some time. So to read that this is something that Alexa did herself.. let's just say I was surprised. This is someone who you expect to say that she's got multiple Burberry coats and then go over which goes best with different outfits and occasions, so to read instead that she loves her Burberry coat which she saved up for? I was shocked. In a good way. Here's a lovely picture of the lovely Alexa Chung being all lovely and model-ly.

Now if you haven't read 'It' and want to, stop reading now! If you haven't read it, don't really want to but are still curious about it read on.

Here are the important things I learned from 'It':

• If you're wearing something that maybe is a little more casual than you'd like, classy your look up with red lipstick. There's something about red lipstick that makes you look like effortlessly classy.
•  No matter how big of a fashion icon you are, there are always certain articles of clothing that are like best friends to you; you'll never want to part with them
• You should have one good leather jacket.
• It's important to know how to do a good cat-eyeliner look. They make everyone look cool.
• You can find inspiration anywhere, and you should look for it everywhere.
• Inspiration is personal. Different people find inspiration in different places, different people like different things; don't ignore it. If you think something looks cool, study it and figure out what about it you love, it's important to know what you like. 'Don't feel stupid if you don't like what everyone else pretends to love.' That's an Emma Watson quote but I think it works
• Momma Chung is a smart lady. Especially when it comes to heart break.
• Everyone should go to a festival once in their life.
• It's important to find your own personal sense of style, it'll vary depending on what inspires you/what you think looks cool/what you LIKE, but if you really own it, you'll rock it
• You don't need to have all the latest designers and trends to have good style, you just have to have a taste for fashion and creativity.
• Fashion and style are an art. Treat them as such.
• Exfoliate your lips, it sounds gross but it really makes a difference
• It takes a lot of effort to look effortless.
• Confidence is key, but it's very, very okay to not have everything figured out.