Packing Tips

Happy Monday y’all! I hope you all have had a great weekend, I most certainly have. If you didn’t know I’ve been spending the weekend exploring Washington D.C. with my brother and have even gotten to see some friends while here. It has been such a blast. With a quick turn around after being at the beach for the fourth of July I unpacked just to re-pack to depart the following day. I am no expert when it comes to packing and tend to overpack especially when I am given no guidelines (brothers are *really* helpful) as to what to bring to wear during a trip. To make packing a bit more bearable this go round I decided to create a blog post and video for y’all instilling the little bit of packing wisdom I may have with hope that you’ll share yours as well since I am by no means a pro. Major props to anyone who can pack for a long trip in just a carry on, I’m convinced that will never be me. 

I shared some of my travel essentials with y’all a week ago giving you a sneak peek into my toiletries, travel outfit, and carry on bags but in this post you’ll be getting to see all of those things that actually find a home inside of my suitcase. Honestly, if there is room left in the suitcase I am going to find a way to fill it while still managing to leave a little bit of room for any prizes I may pickup during my travels!

Since summer clothes are pretty light I packed a slew of options so I’d have plenty of clothes to pick from for whatever occasion I needed to dress for. You’ll see more of that in my re-cap post and the vlog I am creating from my trip so stay tuned for that but you can get a nice general idea of some of my outfits from the images below. Here is what I packed and a few of my best tips that I always use when packing up to travel somewhere!

tip: put toiletries in a re-useable shopping bag

After gathering all of your travel sized (lover of all things mini over here) toiletry items but anything you may need in the shower or bathroom into a small re-usable shopping bag. I find that the small bags from lulu lemon work incredible for this. They are water resistant and ensure that I have everything I need in the shower in one place without having to ponder if it is worth getting out of the shower just to get the face wash I left in my suitcase in the other room. Packing everything up in these types of bags also helps to make sure that nothing leaks onto the important contents inside your suitcase. 

tip: pack in pouches

Y’all probably already know that I love organization so when it comes to packing that is no different. I find that the best way to stay organized when packing is by packing things into pouches. Packing cubes could also work but I already own plenty of dust bags from purses and totes over the years so I figure I may as well use those instead. I pack things by category using various sized pouches and like to put all undergarments into one pouch, workout clothes in another (that is if I plan to workout while on vacation), and shoes in another one or two. This makes unpacking at your destination and at home super easy since you’re keeping things that are stored together together in your luggage. 

tip: find a jewelry case to pack your accessories in

My last tip (I told y’all I wasn’t filled with that much packing luggage) is to find a jewelry container or case to pack accessories that can be easily tangled in. I am not exactly sure where mine is from since it was given to me as a graduation gift but it’s one of those things you didn’t know you needed until you have it. With a place for rings, bracelets, and a pouch for smaller things like earrings it does a wonderful job of keeping my stuff from getting too tangled while travel. I would recommend that any jewelry that is valuable or that you may be afraid of losing would be better off being worn on the plane or taken in your carry on.

So there you have it some images of the excess that is what I packed as well as a few packing trips to add to your arsenal of life hacks when you’re ready to travel! See more of what I packed in this video (having wifi issues, this will be included once I can get it to go live, sorry!) and be sure to leave your best packing advice below to help me become less of an over packer and maybe eventually be a carry on packer (that’s wishful thinking...).