My trip to Europe lasted from April 29th until May 23. Here is what I packed and what I acquired along the way. Check out this post, for tips on how to choose a backpack along with my review of the bag I ended up with.
What I packed:
- Fancy dress- This was only for the high tea in London. Normally, I wouldn’t pack an expensive dress especially knowing that I would only wear it once but this was a special occasion.
- Leather jacket- This was my standard daily wear jacket.
- Rain jacket
- One pair of jeans
- Two leggings
- 30 pairs of contacts- I wear dailies but after lugging around so many pairs of contacts for weeks I’m debating whether or not I should buy two week wear pairs for trips. Does anyone have thoughts on this?
- Book
- Walking shoes
- Flats
- Beach bag
- Neck pillow
- Pajamas- shorts and tank top
- Locker lock
- Luggage lock
- Adaptor
- Phone charger
- Go Pro
- Sunglasses
- Cardigan
- 28 pairs of underwear
- Two pairs of shorts
- Two bras
- Tank top white
- Fancy club dress
- Backless bra and three pasties
- Clutch
- Five Dresses
- Three tank tops
- Three T-Shirts
- Two bathing Suits
- Black skirt
- Tights
- Bathing suit bottom cover
- Bandeau
- Three compressor bags
- Selfie stick
What I didn’t wear:
- Tank top
- Clutch
- Rain coat
- One pair of leggings
- Only wore once- white tank top, blue dress, black dress, fancy club dress, black tank top
- Bandeau
Toiletries
- Small shampoo and conditioner
- Soap
- Two face products
- Small moisturizer
- Sunscreen
- Two face sunscreens
- Razor
- Floss
- Brush
- Comb
- Q-tips, cotton face pads
- Heel Band-Aids
- Polysporin
- Deodorant
- Face cloth
- Towel
- Head towel
- Vitamins
- Comb
- Hair ties
- Three chapsticks
What I bought:
- One dress
- One jumper
- One hoodie
- Jeans
- Top
- Heels
- Bathing suit
- Postcards from all cities
- Three shot glasses and cards as gifts
- Sunglasses
- Harry Potter trivia
- Glasses case
- Necklace
- Clutch
- Notebook
- Two necklaces
- Gifts- sunglasses, luggage tag, lip balm, candy, three boxes of tea, London te
Threw away:
- One face soap
- Hand sanitizer
- Book
Wished I had:
- Flip-flops both for the beaches and in the hostel
- Jean jacket
- Water bottle- spent a lot of money buying water.
- Soap container
Overall, I packed too much while actually thinking that I was packing light. Most of my clothes only got worn once which isn’t great. While my bag managed to feel light, it was definitely too much. I find that my downfall with packing is that I want to look good in different pictures and I don’t always want to be wearing the same outfit for photos. I need to work on caring a little less about this. Does anyone else have this problem?
I ended up buying a second pair of jeans and the sweater because the weather was colder than I anticipated and I was woefully unprepared for it. Next time, I will try and pack a little bit more prepared. Also, it never once occurred to me that I might be able to do laundry in a hostel. I was able to do laundry a few times throughout my trip. This could have cut back on clothes as well if I had thought of it sooner.
Some of my toiletries I packed without anticipating needing such as the band-aids and polysporin (an antibacterial product for cuts) but knew that I would regret not having if I did end up needing. For items such as this, I don’t mind that I lugged them around for three weeks. However, for items such as two sunscreens for my face (Why Arielle?) I do regret dragging about with me.
For the most part, I definitely over packed and could easily have managed with half of what I brought but there are no glaring regrets. Does anyone have any thoughts about how I could have done things differently?
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