Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Sunday, August 28, 2016
How to pack for a week overseas
I am normally someone who packs a zillion things for a vacation. If going by car, I can easily have a large suitcase, large bag with toiletries, several bags of things to do... I usually pick out an outfit for each day, and possibly a different pair of shoes to go with each one. I spent a summer in Austria while in college and had 5 huge bags to lug about on the trains...I swore it would never happen again, but didn't know how to cut down.
I was the queen of separates...that didn't necessarily have a mate, because I was always sure I could eventually find the perfect thing to match. I also had a problem of expecting all of my tops to match one or two pair of pants at home. Once I realize how limited my wardrobe was, I began to only buy stuff that matched and my wardrobe got more and more boring. Lately I have been working on building my wardrobe, with the help of a dear friend, to becoming more versatile and mix n' match. Part of my outfit inspiration comes from browsing outfits on Pinterest. Often I have all the pieces (possibly in different colors/prints) or just need one thing to make it happen. While searching Pinterest, I started seeing the trend of capsule wardrobes. I was fascinated, not because I wanted to pare down...but that I could learn to buy things (or use what I had) to their full mix n' match potential. I also thought the concept of a capsule wardrobe was perfect for traveling light.
This summer my husband and I took a trip to Spain to celebrate our 15 year anniversary. I was excited to put this capsule wardrobe idea into practice, I had tried it once in the fall using a sudoku style system and had been pleased, but this was the first time I was planning to be intentional in packing. I browsed all my saved travel capsule wardrobe pins and pulled several good ideas...but nothing clicked. The ones I liked contained clothes I didn't own. Others were too specific, or the clothes too business, or for the wrong season... I got a little frustrated that this was becoming harder then I had planned it to be. I finally settled on some concepts that seemed to repeat between blogs, stick with neutral colors for base and pick one/two accent colors.
I then had to decide if I wanted to base my neutrals around black, gray or navy. Again...overwhelmed with options - especially since my summer wardrobe tops are bright solid colors. So finally feeling a bit overwhelmed again, I remembered that I had 1 pair of shorts I really wanted to take on the trip - the pattern made them seem dressier then I normally feel when wanting to wear shorts - a jumpsuit and a pair of casual linen pants. So I cleared a spot in my closet shelf for my open suitcase, and began hanging the two bottoms and jumpsuit next to each other. As both the shorts and jumpsuit had navy background and the pants were white, I decided to stick to my navy base. Score...I had a cute pair of heeled sandals that were navy and had a teal accent (also happened to be the second color of my shorts) and also had a teal pair of ballet flats. I just found my first accent color! I decided randomly that I would use 4 bottoms and 4 tops that mixed and matched. In hindsight that was enough for 2 weeks...but it felt good to make a decision. I added a dark wash denim capri and a taupe capri with tiny black and white dots to finish out the bottoms. I grabbed a white, light gray, and navy top from the closet. To accent I picked a wine color top. At this point everything went very smoothly and I will spare you the rest of my thought process.
Now for the details of what I actually packed:
Tuesday, Barcelona (beach, walk around town), unfortunately I didn't sunblock thoroughly and had a severe burn on my right leg and both feet. So my choices for bottoms got really slim the rest of the week. (red swim suit, white pants, navy top, hat, white sandals)
Wednesday evening, Cullera, (after dinner), spent most of the day driving, so enjoyed walking around the town, dinner and a stroll on the beach. (White pants, white shirt, taupe jacket, red mini purse, - held cash, phone, passport). Another favorite purse manufacturer is Baggallini, lightweight nylon purses/wallets/bags. Tons of pockets, interior and exterior.
Thursday, Valencia (sight seeing), (White pants - again...Gray sandals, white top, taupe jacket, hat, Travelon purse)
Saturday, Spanish Grand Canyon (hiking) (workout clothes, hat, daypack, tennis shoes)
Sunday, (airport), (wine shirt, white pants, navy sweater, teal shoes) When flying, remember to pack something comfortable, but also pants and long sleeves. Airplanes can be cold, and blankets are not always provided.
I really enjoyed being able to mix and match so many things in my wardrobe. I didn't get to wear my denim capris...hurt my sunburn too much. Also didn't get a picture of wearing the dress on the beach Thursday evening. Could have come up with lots more outfits had my sunburn not gotten in the way, and the vacation lasted a few days longer.
On a short trip a few weeks later I decided to just take a carry on bag and to pack minimally...taking only two tops and bottoms...this was not a good plan, had to stop and buy a pair of jeans to make it through the weekend. Better to take more clothes then you need, rather then the other way around! But by using this mix and match capsule wardrobe system you really do pack a lot lighter then for a normal trip.
I was the queen of separates...that didn't necessarily have a mate, because I was always sure I could eventually find the perfect thing to match. I also had a problem of expecting all of my tops to match one or two pair of pants at home. Once I realize how limited my wardrobe was, I began to only buy stuff that matched and my wardrobe got more and more boring. Lately I have been working on building my wardrobe, with the help of a dear friend, to becoming more versatile and mix n' match. Part of my outfit inspiration comes from browsing outfits on Pinterest. Often I have all the pieces (possibly in different colors/prints) or just need one thing to make it happen. While searching Pinterest, I started seeing the trend of capsule wardrobes. I was fascinated, not because I wanted to pare down...but that I could learn to buy things (or use what I had) to their full mix n' match potential. I also thought the concept of a capsule wardrobe was perfect for traveling light.
This summer my husband and I took a trip to Spain to celebrate our 15 year anniversary. I was excited to put this capsule wardrobe idea into practice, I had tried it once in the fall using a sudoku style system and had been pleased, but this was the first time I was planning to be intentional in packing. I browsed all my saved travel capsule wardrobe pins and pulled several good ideas...but nothing clicked. The ones I liked contained clothes I didn't own. Others were too specific, or the clothes too business, or for the wrong season... I got a little frustrated that this was becoming harder then I had planned it to be. I finally settled on some concepts that seemed to repeat between blogs, stick with neutral colors for base and pick one/two accent colors.
I then had to decide if I wanted to base my neutrals around black, gray or navy. Again...overwhelmed with options - especially since my summer wardrobe tops are bright solid colors. So finally feeling a bit overwhelmed again, I remembered that I had 1 pair of shorts I really wanted to take on the trip - the pattern made them seem dressier then I normally feel when wanting to wear shorts - a jumpsuit and a pair of casual linen pants. So I cleared a spot in my closet shelf for my open suitcase, and began hanging the two bottoms and jumpsuit next to each other. As both the shorts and jumpsuit had navy background and the pants were white, I decided to stick to my navy base. Score...I had a cute pair of heeled sandals that were navy and had a teal accent (also happened to be the second color of my shorts) and also had a teal pair of ballet flats. I just found my first accent color! I decided randomly that I would use 4 bottoms and 4 tops that mixed and matched. In hindsight that was enough for 2 weeks...but it felt good to make a decision. I added a dark wash denim capri and a taupe capri with tiny black and white dots to finish out the bottoms. I grabbed a white, light gray, and navy top from the closet. To accent I picked a wine color top. At this point everything went very smoothly and I will spare you the rest of my thought process.
Now for the details of what I actually packed:
Here's the break down of the actual outfits:
Monday evening (dinner), Barcelona, after checking into the hotel and a long nap (wine top, gray sandals, taupe pants).
Tuesday, Barcelona (beach, walk around town), unfortunately I didn't sunblock thoroughly and had a severe burn on my right leg and both feet. So my choices for bottoms got really slim the rest of the week. (red swim suit, white pants, navy top, hat, white sandals)
Wednesday, Barcelona (Sight seeing), my taupe jacket worked well as I was trying to avoid more sunburn and it was light weight (taupe jacket, navy jumpsuit, teal shoes), also wore the teal shoes a lot because the sandals hurt my burnt feet. Travel purse was excellent! Made by Travelon, it has several safety features, RIF protection for credit cards. It also has a clasp that can keep the zipper in place, to deter pick pockets. Strap has a complicated to unlock hook, so you can hook onto your chair when seated, prevents someone snatching it as you're eating dinner. Contains many interior phone pockets, and 4 exterior pockets. Medium sized, so fit most of what I needed, even smaller sized water bottles and snacks.
Friday, Barcelona (sight seeing) (Gray top, patterned shorts, navy jacket, teal shoes, travelon purse)
I really enjoyed being able to mix and match so many things in my wardrobe. I didn't get to wear my denim capris...hurt my sunburn too much. Also didn't get a picture of wearing the dress on the beach Thursday evening. Could have come up with lots more outfits had my sunburn not gotten in the way, and the vacation lasted a few days longer.
On a short trip a few weeks later I decided to just take a carry on bag and to pack minimally...taking only two tops and bottoms...this was not a good plan, had to stop and buy a pair of jeans to make it through the weekend. Better to take more clothes then you need, rather then the other way around! But by using this mix and match capsule wardrobe system you really do pack a lot lighter then for a normal trip.
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