International Travel Packing: What I Packed + Wore in My Carry On
There are no words that can accurately describe the feeling I get when I’ve traveled to a new place and taken in all that the experiences in a new environment have to offer. I had the opportunity to travel for 8 days to Kenya with Abby Alley (and I can’t wait to share all about that in my next post). I’m laying out what I packed and wore on my trip and what my method is for packing on a trip to a place I’ve never traveled to before. Abby Alley has graciously offered a 20% off code on her bags (and the black croc bag for pre-sale!) through Monday. Use code CONNI20 for 20% off.
SHOP MY CLOSET METHOD
Whenever I plan a trip I always start thinking about outfits based on what I have in my closet. Shopping for a bunch of destination specific pieces feels like a waste of resources and quite frankly, it’s overwhelming. The fact that I can “shop” inside my closet is a testament to loving what I have already and focusing on building outfits ahead of time around that.
No matter where I’m headed my packing takes on the same method. When I travel, I don’t want to dress as someone else, I want to dress like me. By sticking to the “shop your closet” method, I’ve been able to create functional, comfortable travel outfits I love when I travel. (This isn’t to say I don’t ever shop, but I start with my closet and then create a list of a gap piece or two that will work with most of the pieces I already have.)
MY PACKING PROCESS
7 to 10 days before departure: 10 days to 1 week before a big trip: set aside a bunch of bottoms that I think would be reasonable to take - I start with a lot and curate from there. I look at the weather and think about which bottoms would feel most comfortable based on the temperature.
3-5 Days before departure: This is when I set aside time to play, create outfits, and narrow down a color palette. I use one bottom at a time and make a point to create at least 2 outfits out of every bottom, minimum. If I can’t do that, the bottom gets cut from the mix. I stick to mostly neutral bottoms, which makes pairing easier. I take pictures or videos of each outfit and save them to my phone to reference when I’m on my trip. It’s such a time saver!
MY TRAVEL CAPSULE WARDROBE FOR 9 DAYS WITH A CARRY ON
Tops // Button up (2) (dubbed as layering pieces), tanks (4), tees (2)
Layers // Cardigan (1) + Jacket (1)
Bottoms // Pull on pants (2), Button up pants (2), Shorts (1), Dress (1)
Shoes // Tennis Shoes (2), Sandals (2)
Accessories // Abby Alley Sling Bags (2) + Hat (1)
My Top Travel Packing Tips
Start shopping closet first - don’t go buying anything (just yet…)
Start with bottoms: Every bottom has to be worn at least twice in order to go into my bag
A narrow color palette of 3-4 colors allows for more mixing and matching (mine are: white, black, green, brown/tan)
Try on your outfits before you leave on your trip (and take photos!) - this helps reduce the overpacking. Once you see how many outfits you have by day after trying on pieces and creating outfits, you’ll see how much you don’t actually need and all of your outfits will be created before you leave.
MY OUTFITS ON THE TRIP
Day 1 & 9 // Travel Days - I wore my black Vincent James pull on pants, black tank, NB tennis shoes, and black cardigan - you can see that outfit in the reel I post on Saturday on Instagram.
Day 2 // tank, field pants, sandals, denim jacket
Day 3 // tank, pull on pants, sandals
Day 4 // tank, field pants, sandals, sling bag
Day 5 // button up, shorts, sling bag, sneakers
Day 6 // tank, field pant, sandals
Day 7 // dress, sandals, sling bag
Day 8 // black tank, green field pants, sandals
When you find yourself thinking about packing for your next trip and the anxiety starts to creep in about overpacking, remember the tips above to help guide you. Also, key here, trying on your outfits before your trip really does help. You may think it takes too much time on the back end but let me tell you, it will save you so much time on your trip. If you are struggling, I do this with clients in a Shop Your Closet - Outfit Planning Session and we focus on travel packing for trips.