Packing Tips - 30 Days in Europe
What should you pack for a long trip? For any girl this is a key question. The great debate is always between being practical or being cute. For this trip I decided to pack as light as I could and cram everything into one carry on bag. My secret? Two things, the perfect bag and packing cubes. The bag first... I bought the Weekend Mother Loader Junior from Ebags.com. I highly recommend it. My trip is a combination of backpacking and staying in one place, so I did loads of research and found this bag. No regrets! It can be a backpack, a shoulder sling, or just a regular suitcase. It fits nicely into the carry on cabin (I flew United and Delta). All of the straps pack away so that you do not have to worry about them when trying to shut the carry on door.
Note: when carrying this bag for extended periods of time I suggest wearing sleeves. I wore it with a tank top and it became pretty uncomfortable on my shoulders.
Now, onto what to pack and how to make it fit. In my carry on bag I fit:
- 2 jeans
- 1 yoga pants
- 4 shorts
- 3 skirts
- 8 dresses
- 4 tank tops
- 11 shirts
- 1 raincoat/lightweight jacket
- 2 pair comfy walking shoes (Merrell Swivel Lavish and Teva De La Vina Low)
- 10 underwear
- 2 bras
- 1 pair of black tights
- 2 pajama shorts
- 1 bathing suit
- 14 inch laptop
- Headphones
- Nikon One Camera
- Plug converters for European outlets
- Book
- French for Dummies
- Travel itinerary book
This is where the packing cubes come in handy. I organized all of my items by type and put each category in its own bag. When you are on the road and constantly shuffling through your pack, this is an amazing way to not mess up your neat packing job. Just roll everything and it will stay put through throwing, moving, etc...
My backpack ended up weighing around 20 lbs. It gets heavy after a really long day of walking but for my mini trips I will be condensing it down. It was easy enough to lift into the overhead compartment (due to the perfectly placed handles on the bag). I've been living out of it for 4 days and everything looks exactly like the first day I packed.
