I wish packing were an easy task; just picking a few things, throwing them in a bag, and all done!
For someone like me, it isn’t that simple. A task that may take some 10 minutes, will take me a whole night. I have to set aside a few hours to pack for two days. Crazy, I know.
It’s just when you love clothes as much as I do, you want to take them all but then you realize, that’s not very practical and then talk yourself out of doing it.
So how do you narrow your wardrobe down so that you aren’t taking two suitcases full for just a weekend?
My first step in the packing process is finding a space in my room where I can lay everything out. I have a love seat in my room with a large ottoman so this ends up being my workspace. I like choosing the bag that I’ll be using so that I know what kind of space I’m working with.
I then go through my closet and start pulling out everything that is an option. Depending on where you are headed, I am sure you have an idea of what you may want to take with you. On this trip to Laughlin it was forecasted to be 100 degrees, so I obviously would not be pulling out sweaters and long sleeves.
Being a visual person I work better having everything laid out in front of me, it really helps me to piece everything together. Once everything is laid out, I then start thinking practical. Knowing that I may be doing a lot of walking, I will definitely want a good, comfortable pair of sandals so I can count those in. I will for sure want at least one pair of shorts. You will have to figure out which ones are going to be more practical for your trip. Don’t worry you can go back and pick a second pair if need be.
My jean shorts usually pair well with all my tops so I will always choose these as my primary pair. Since we are planning on going swimming I will also need to pack a swimsuit. Since it’s only for the weekend I will probably only pack one.
You can obviously pack underwear, bras, socks, and pj’s right away since those are essentials and typically don’t need much thought.
The hardest part for me is always choosing which tops to take. The good thing about summer outfits are that with shorts and tanks they usually don’t take up too much room, so I will usually pick a top and then a back up one. I do this for two reasons; one being that in case I change my mind about wearing my first option I am not stuck with it and two just incase a wardrobe malfunction happens or with it being so hot sometimes it feels nice to switch out of a top you’ve been wearing in the heat all day.
What will sometimes help me is trying on outfits that I have in mind and seeing if it’s going to be comfortable for my trip. When traveling, comfort is very important because you can’t just go home and change.
At the end of it all, I typically have packed enough to get me through the weekend, plus a little extra. It will look something like this.
1-2 pairs of shorts
3-4 tops
1-2 dresses
1-2 pairs of sandals
1-2 light cardigans
1 pair of pj’s
1 swimsuit
1 coverup
Depending on what activities I have planned the list may vary.
