Travel Tips: Packing Light

So, for our honeymoon, we went on a wonderful trip to Italy.  This was our 3rd long vacation together.  The first, was a cruise to the Mexican Riviera – easy, but not my husband’s cup of tea.  The 2nd was an experience I’ll never forget (both good and bad).  My soon-to-be husband at the time had the unique opportunity to work in England for a year.  I had the unique opportunity to take a leave of absence for a month to join him.  During that time, he took some time off for holiday.  We decided to visit Tenby, Wales (my Dad’s birthplace which allows me to be a dual citizen), a beautiful beach town for 3 days; Paris, France where another friend couple lives for 3 days and then on to Spain for 2 weeks.  At first, we spent every other day going from one location to another which meant unpacking/packing/unpacking – you get the idea.  By the third place, I felt like a sherpa and was nearing my breaking point.  I won’t go into details, but we promptly extended our next stay in Granada to 4 days – it was wonderful!

Our trip to Spain allowed us to learn about each other’s travelling styles and more importantly how to mesh each style so that we would both be happy.  I learned that I really don’t mind having only 1 bag – what!?  He learned that a girl needs to feel girly once in awhile;)

Like I said, our honeymoon was to Italy – for 3 whole weeks!!  We split it between 1 week at a cooking school (Torre Del Tartufo) and the next 2 weeks we only semi-planned.  We knew basically where we were going, but not necessarily when or what hotels.  We brought our Rick’s Steve’s pages for the places we planned on going and called around to the hosteles the day before we arrived for vacancy.  We were travelling from Rome to Tuscany, from Tuscany to Varenna, Lake Como, from Varenna to Praiano, Sorrento, Positano…and back to Rome again.  Basically, from one end of Italy to the other (and there’s still so much more to see).  Basically, this trip was going to require a lot of train rides so minimal luggage was required.  We had actually shared a bag in Spain(!!!) so I learned a lot.  Here are my tips for 1 bag packing for a lady:

1.  Make sure everything matches everything
2.  Easy dry fabrics for undergarments so you can wash and will be dry the next day.  You can find these types of clothing at places like REI or other camping stores.  They’re very cute nowadays too.
3.  Quite simply, don’t bring a different outfit for each day.  Get your mindset to the point where you’re okay that you’ll be wearing the same clothes every few days.
4.  The List:

• 1 pair of jeans
  2 tank tops
  cardigan
  short-sleeve tee
  long-sleeve tee
  1 foldable skirt that can be dressed down or up
  really good flip-flops – I mean it, the kind you can’t believe you’re paying that much for, but your feet will thank you in the end.  I bought Chaco at Adventure 16 and I still wear them.  I have wood floors and they help my back when I’m at home
  1 pair of wedge heels (esp. if there will be cobble stone streets)
  2 pairs of shorts
  1 bathing suit
  hair brush, pony tail holder, scarf/headband (no blow dryer, flat iron, etc.)
  minimal make-up
  dual shampoo/conditioner (you can do a deep condition when you get home)
  rain/wind-breaker that can be rolled up into a tiny little ball
  comfy walking shoes
  2 pairs of socks (not cotton, get the easy dry fabrics)
  2-3 pairs of underwear

We packed our clothes in a large backpack and any books/iPods, etc. in our daypack.  Now that the Kindle is around, I would sooo bring it.  Having to find books to buy or trade in another country wasn’t easy and I read a lot while on vacation.

Hope this helps.  Please comment with your own suggestions that have worked for you.