17 more days until I’ll be in Argentina, but since it is a long weekend for Labor Day, I will be traveling a shorter distance from my home in Northern California to visit my family in Southern California to celebrate my imminent departure from the country! In the spirit of this shorter trip, I am going to be giving some travel tips for short trips!
- Bring a pair of versatile shoes.
- If you aren’t planning on doing anything that would require a specific type of shoe (i.e. hiking, where you would need running shoes, or going to a wedding where you would need dressy shoes) then just try to bring one pair of shoes that you can wear with any outfit you pack. I have a LOT of shoes so it used to be hard for me to decide which ones to take with me when I traveled, but now I usually just bring a pair of sandals that I can wear with a dress or with jeans depending on where I’m going. Or if need be I’ll wear the sandals as I travel and pack a pair of a different type of shoe if I know I will need them both, that way I won’t take up too much space in my suitcase.
- Bring smaller versions
- Sometimes it can be a nuisance to buy travel sized items, but if you are really trying to pack light, try to find what you need in small containers or buy small containers that are reusable so that you won’t have to buy new travel-sized items every time you go one a short trip. The reusable containers are also good for products that don’t come in travel-sized portions.
- Check the weather
- I don’t know how many times I have gone on a trip with my family just to find that one of my family members brought completely inappropriate clothes for the weather. I think when you travel somewhere often enough, it’s easy to think you can assume what the weather will be like, but you’ll come to find that sometimes you’re wrong. For instance, usually during this time of the year, it’s around 90 degrees fahrenheit where I live, but lately, it has been in the low 70s. If I were to assume when I walked out the door that it will be hot so I won’t need even a cardigan, I would be sadly mistaken (I get cold easily). Ultimately, when you pack for a short trip, you want to pack only the essentials so that you won’t over-pack. In order to do that, you need to know what the weather will be like.
- Bring combinations
- In order to bring as few items as possible, without wearing the same exact thing every day, try to bring clothes that you can mix and match to make new outfits rather than bringing several separate outfits. Changing the accessories that you wear with the outfit makes a huge difference too, for instance, if you wear a scarf with a shirt with jeans, and a couple days later you wear the same shirt without the scarf and with a skirt, no one will be the wiser (unless you got the shirt dirty, in which case you can do laundry or hand wash in the sink). Ultimately though, you want to make sure all of your clothes go mix and match well; the more neutral they are the more likely they can be reused.
- Wear your big stuff on the way
- It can be hard packing huge coats, thick sweaters, or boots, but if you wear them instead of packing them, you’ll save space. If you’re driving, that’s not as big of an issue because you probably will have more space to share with less people than you would if you were taking another means of transportation, but if you will be on a plane, a train, or a bus I can see where this might be a concern. My advice is to wear layers; wear your big jacket, or your chunky sweater, or both, over a short-sleeved shirt so that when you get on the plane, etc., if it is hot, you can take the jacket/sweater off. Wear your boots too! The idea is that you can wear as much clothing on the plane, etc., as you want but you can’t pack as much as you want because there is a weight limit or a bag size limit so instead of just leaving stuff at home because it doesn’t fit in the bag, just bring it with you on the plane, etc. (Just don’t leave anything behind by accident).
- Go natural
- Try to bring the bare minimum for hair appliances and make-up. Blow-dryers, straighteners, and make up bags can all take up a lot of space. If you can handle it, try not to bring them. Bring as few of those items as you can. If you have mini versions of the appliances then more power to you!
These are the big ones that I thought of but if any of you have any other ideas, please feel free to put them in the comments section!
KiaraDSmith 