How to Pack for a Trip
Summer travel should be a time to relax and recharge, but we spend a lot of time stressing about what to pack. Do we need a new wardrobe? Can we wear things more than once? Do we need multiple outfits per day?
Here is my advice as a minimal-ish traveler having recently returned from a long trip to Europe.
Social media and advice columns will have you believe they throw you out of Europe if you’re dressed like an American. You don’t, in fact, need a special trousseau for your trip. If the trip is already a financial stretch, save your money for the trip itself and skip the new clothes. Borrow from friends or make do with what you have. The risk, other than the cost, is ending up with a “Paris Costume” or “Italy Wardrobe” that doesn’t serve the rest of your lifestyle. If you buy five outfits with lemons on them for your trip to Amalfi, where else can you wear them?
Having said that, there is a reason Italians are wearing linen in summer. It’s hot as blazes and “we have AC” and “we use our AC” are very different phrases. It’s hotter in Texas, but we don’t walk around outside touring the city, we drive cars with the air on full blast, and public buildings are overly airconditioned to compensate. Take cues from the locals (no heels, light fabrics, neutrals) but there’s no need to replace everything you own. Stick to basics and staples that can be used at home as well as abroad.
Clothing spray/wrinkle releaser works wonders. I tried samples of Poete and it really works, even on linen. It smells lovely, but the bad news, is that it takes almost a whole sample to fix a pair of linen pants. I will use it at home, take sample sizes on short trips, but for longer trips the Downy version is more efficient. The linked bundle comes with a Tide pen, which also got a lot of use on this trip (pasta and gelato stains appeared daily). Don’t spend your whole trip ironing.
Bring a light layer, even if your destination is hot. I brought a thin sweater I wore on the plane and on the train - their AC finally gets a chance to prove itself on a longer train ride. We also toured several religious sites that required our shoulders and knees be covered, so check your itinerary for dress codes before you go. I carried a linen shirt. One of our stops specifically prohibited sandals. Does your dinner reservation require men to wear jackets?
Don’t waste an outfit. If you’re trying to pack light, everything you bring should be fair game. Sweats for the plane are comfy, but bulky and can only be worn for that occasion. Choose a loose comfortable touring outfit and your light layer for the plane.
Making multiple stops? Pack. Light. Cobblestone streets, lack of sidewalks, limited bag space on trains, stairs to your room, stairs to the metro, and you’ll be banging your extra large suitcase through it all. I don’t love wearing a backpack - I feel like a sloppy tourist - but having my hands free to help others with their bags or even open doors was so helpful on my recent trip.
If it’s not practical to fully unpack between stops, there are two paths I often take. The first is to pack in outfits. Not a row of shirts and a row of shorts, but put them together in an outfit so you don’t have to think about it every morning. This is also great for travel companions who may walk in “ready for breakfast” in something that doesn’t match if they dress themselves. The second option is to use packing cubes to pack by location. As in, these are my Paris clothes, these are for Lyon, and this is my beach wardrobe for Nice. That way you are only pulling out one cube at each stop instead of rummaging through the whole lot and having to carefully repack in a day.
Commit to a palette. Make your clothes mix and match easily. Shoes and bags take up a lot of space, and I didn’t want to lose suitcase square inches to extra shoes when I may have to change clothes twice a day, so I made sure all the clothes I brought could be worn with my white sneakers (so comfortable) or my sandals. I have a leather purse that’s roomy and comes with a crossbody strap and shoulder strap, and that was the work horse. I’ve had it for years and actively looked for another option for this summer and couldn’t find anything that would work as well as mine. I wanted a larger option for days with slower itineraries that could carry water bottles, souvenirs we picked up, and extra comfort supplies, and I need something for a beach/pool day as well that could hold bottles of sunscreen and maybe a towel. I opted for an inexpensive woven tote from Amazon to serve both functions - it won’t last forever, but as I anticipated, a bottle of lotion and a bottle of water leaked inside during the trip. I can release it was gratitude when it starts to fray.
Strike a balance between fashion and function. If I hadn’t been walking all day every day in the heat, I may have chosen a more glamourous wardrobe for a trip to Italy. Instead, I wore my sneakers with the anti-blister socks for heavy walking days with linen shorts and a tank (unless it was a Cathedral day, then tank and pants/long skirt and a light layer). After sweating through my clothes, I’d go back to my room, shower, and change in to something fresh and tidy for the evening, like a light linen dress or my favorite yoga dress with a sweater over my shoulders.
Even though I keep my wardrobe fairly minimal, I did buy clothes for this trip. I wear a different size than the last time I traveled abroad, so only a few pieces still worked for me this year, but anything I purchased can be worn here in Texas as well. It’s so tempting to snap up floral dresses or lemon-patterned tops for a trip to Italy, and there is something to be said for dressing in a more “fun” style when you’re away, but I knew my investment would not be returned. I know I won’t get to spend every summer in Europe - I was extremely fortunate to be invited on a trip this year - so splurging on hyper-specific outfits didn’t suit my lifestyle.
I also left tags on many of the items. Everything I brought was perfect for that trip - if it didn’t get worn in the ideal conditions for use, it won’t ever get worn. Anything that still had tags upon my return is being sent back from whence it came. Keeping stuff in my closet that won’t get worn is a waste of space and money.
We had access to laundry during our trip, and while I didn’t want to spend my time on household chores, it was extremely helpful since the traveler advice to “air out and rewear” does not apply to sweat-through clothes complete with salt crust. You’ll have to weigh the time sunk doing laundry vs the pain of dragging around a huge bag with extra clothes vs the cost of having the hotel do your laundry while you’re out enjoying yourself and decide where you want to spend your resources.
There will always be something you wish you had, or something you didn’t end up needing, but practical guidelines can help even for the shortest trips. Make it coordinate so you can mix and match, easy on the shoes and bags, wrinkle spray and Tide sticks will help, and dress comfortably so you can actually enjoy your travels!
