I’m a packing geek, but that doesn’t mean I’m very good at it. It means that I’m a sucker for all the little shit they try to sell you to make travel a little easier by not truly packing lighter, but packing tighter. With our recent trip to Italy, I picked up Rick Steves’s books on Italy and Rome and really took to heart his section on packing. After a few misunderstandings...”wait, I thought were WERE checking in”...”wait, now we’re carrying everything on?”...A and I decided to pack light and carry on. We had advise from Rick Steves and his staff through his books and YouTube videos (yes, I watch one of his lady guides unpack her bag and talk about it for an hour - see, geek), advise from friends, including a generously shared packing list from our well-traveled friend Jessica, many other anonymous packing lists and our own experience as a guide. And we still got checked in on the way back.
In one way, since my luggage made it home, I’m not too worried about them checking it that way, but there was a snafu with A’s reservation and we weren’t totally sure he was coming to Portland on the same flight, so it would have been inconvenient for him to have to stay over without luggage. Also, if there is any risk of your main pack being checked, you would probably pack precious and important or irreplaceable items in your carry on, right? As I said, luggage arrived, so no worries.
Packing List
I developed this list several years ago after a few trips from short weekends to 1-2 week trips, including a cruise. I feel like it serves me well every time.
Clothing
- Swimsuit, sarong, bandana, sun hat, sunglasses
- Underwear (1 pair each day +2)
- Socks (in warm weather: 2 pair; in cold weather: 1 pair per day + 2)
- Lounge wear (comfy's that can also be worn as PJs or work out clothes)
- Sneakers, sandals, dress shoes per occasion
- Interchangeable outfits for 1/2 the days of travel - plan to re wear, you probably will anyways!
- Formal/occasional wear per occasion
Toiletries and First Aid
- Make up: tinted lip balm and a waterproof mascara, eye makeup remover
- Misc: nail clippers and tweezers
- Regular toiletries - toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash, shave kit, soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, aftershave, lotion, hair products (SHARE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE)
- First Aid: aftersun lotion, SPF, seasick meds, bug spray, papaya pills, eye drops, stress drops, all purpose salve, sleeping pills, cold sore meds, aspirin, arnica and digestive enzymes (PER LOCATION AS NEEDED)
Gear and Misc
- Kleenex
- Pen and little notebook
- Day pack or purse
- Water bottle or travel mug
- Cell phone, charger
- Camera, batteries, memory cards - This is A’s area, so now I just take a smart phone.
So that was my base for packing, but I was going to Italy, where people are really into fashion and I had just been to New Orleans where I got a bad cold, was rained on unceasingly and ran out of dry clothes. So I ended up taking cold medicine and cough drops, extra clothes and dressier clothes. Not necessarily clothes that I don’t wear in Portland, but things that I consider my fun date night stuff - a sequined T-shirt and a velvet halter top for example. Yes, I took a halter top to Italy in November. And I’m nearly 40. I intended to wear a jacket over it, so please forgive me. (Imagine that read by Amy Poehler, who’s book Yes, please I just finished and it sounds hilarious.)
What I Did Right
There were some things that I feel were super smart to do - I picked up some waterproof mascara, CC cream and long lasting lipstick for the trip. These were great, but seriously ladies, read the labels - waterproof mascara is FLAMMABLE! Until dry. Yeah, that’s gross, I didn’t get that kind. But I’m glad I got waterproof, because it was my destiny to be rained on for all of November - thank goodness it’s almost December. We also brought moleskin - not real mole skin, that, like flammable mascara, would be gross, but that little soft padded stuff you stick on your skin for blisters. Not being a long time hiker and being a true baby who stops hiking if a blister happens, I was not familiar with the use of moleskin, so having it was great, but not having scissors, not so much. Recall we carried on, so what’s the solution here? Stopping at a Farmacia and picking up some scissors the first time we know we need them? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, but we didn’t do that. We McGuyver’d it with nail clippers and the hotel’s safety scissors. And then, not being familiar with the use of moleskin, I tried to take it off at one point and felt like I’d opened the holy grail and was burning up when my skin parted and a river of tears poured out. Okay, there were tears, but that likely wasn’t the fluid coming out of my foot. This all relates more to what I did wrong, so I’ll leave off on footwear until I get there.
I read it over and over again, so I packed for layering - yeah, that worked out great. We also checked the weather over and over again, having been cat-fished in New Orleans (the weather was supposed to be 60-70’s and sunny and ended up being 50’s and monsoon - screw you, New Orleans...no, not really, I really loved you New Orleans, I’m just bitter that I didn’t get your best), so we knew it was going to be seriously cold and packed base layers - small, lightweight and super useful. My base layer with some leggings were perfect for a cold sunny day.
I also feel like we were well-covered for security of our stuff. All the travel guides say use a money belt, so we picked up a couple. Wasn't too noticeable to me and didn't seem to stand out under my clothes, though I think this would be different in summer. Fine, no problem. Small investment, a little security. Another little tip from the blogosphere was to take a change purse - I pulled out one for each of us and I will not travel without one again. It was handy for us each to have our own coins in a contained way. I also got a travel safe purse - I now have two of different sizes/styles, but neither is very big. The newest one had expandable side pockets for a water bottle and umbrella which came in handy. I think the purse was maybe overkill and I actually thought I wanted an even smaller purse. I could have worn a small zip-able purse under my coat for tissues, lip balm, cash and phone only. That's all I really needed while we were out. However, I can't really say if it was overkill or not, because we didn't get our pockets picked despite bus and train travel, moving through crowds and looking, clearly, like tourists (camera, binoculars, bright colored jackets).
In general, with the list above, I didn’t really want for anything, so that was great. I felt like I had what I needed and enough of my comforts from home. But I left the house with two full bags, which I believe, should never happen again.
What I Did Wrong
We had two bags, because on our last minute trip to REI for a carry on backpack, they also introduced us to these great packable daypacks - they fold into themselves and weigh practically nothing. A few years ago, I picked up a packable duffel which lives in my suitcase and which I love. It is very useful not only when I overpack or bring more things home than I left with, but also during trips, it serves as a bag for a quick overnight or weekend trip within a trip or a gym bag. I thought this daypack would work similarly well. But then when my main pack was full, I pulled it out and filled it up.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve already told A - “next time, everything, purse included, is fitting into my (main) backpack and that’s it!” The great thing is, if I fit my purse and packable daypack into that backpack, too, I’ll have room when I remove them and can then pack things into them. It’s exponential. My daypack was so stuffed with my purse, binoculars, 1 quart bag of liquid toiletries, water bottle, neck pillow, sarong (to be used as a blanket on plane...what am I thinking? I’m NEVER cold) and snacks that I couldn’t even get to the things I wanted on the plane. I was lucky to get my phone out. Note to self: pack everything into my pack and then selectively pull out a few items for the plane and put them in a small tote or grocery sack. Also note to self: they will not let you starve on the plane. They fed us so many times on the plane and offered water so often that I didn’t empty my own bottle and didn’t touch the snacks I brought. They did, however, prove useful in Italy when we were jetlagged and needed something to tide us over til our next pizza stop.
So, I overpacked, but what exactly? Shoes first. Then clothes. Then toiletries. Shoes - oh, the drama. I knew. I knew. I KNEW. Comfortable walking shoes. We’re going to be on our feet all day. My IPhone were clocking 10-15 miles every day when I barely get 5 at home. The shoe decision was so complicated. I broke or at least severely sprained my foot in October and was still feeling the effects by the time our trip came up. When we went to New Orleans, I took flip flops and crocs because they were the only shoes that my foot would tolerate. And then it rained. You know what happens to a croc in the rain? (Sounds like the start of a really bad joke...) They become buckets for water accumulation. When we stopped at a lovey fancy bar for a cocktail, I had to use their disposable monogrammed cotton hand towels to dry out my shoes and feet in the bathroom.
So I was concerned about being wet and cold in Italy, but also concerned about this fashion thing. So I took my cool Sorel rainboots that have sort of a steam punk look to them and thought, why don’t I wear these more often, these are really cool. No problem on the flight - they were roomy enough that if my feet got swollen, I didn’t notice. But roomy isn’t what you want when walking all day. Roomy is what gives you blisters. After walking around all day in Amsterdam in them, I wore those boots for flights and train trips only and changed into my other shoes every chance I got. The other shoes I brought were my Montrail hiking shoes. They were so comfortable and are listed as waterproof, so I should have only brought these. I also brought a pair of ballet flats, but I only used them once when I went down to the front desk at the hotel.
Clothes. I overpacked clothes. I always do. But part of my particular problem on this trip is that I also bought and packed new clothes. It was fun - shopping for my trip and buying new stylish things. But that means I didn’t know exactly how things wore, including that my comfy new sweater was going to leave incredible amounts of fuzz on everything it was layered over and all over the place in general. And that my new bra was going to pinch a little. And that my new pants, though perfect in length, would get heavy in the rain and start dragging. I would still take the new pants - they are gorgeous and comfortable, but I think my plan needs to be to shop more on the regular and not buy anything new for travel. I just hate shopping most of the time, so that’s a drag.
I don’t have too much to say about toiletries except that I know I can pack less. I tend to have a few things that I like to have on me at all times - stevia, lip balm, canker and cold sore meds, tea tree oil and digestive enzymes...this list gets longer a little all the time and my purse gets a little heavier until I purge it and put everything into a tinier cosmetic bag and the cycle starts again. I think my toiletries are the same way. I didn’t use my organized pink toiletry bag because it seemed really big to put in my pack and with the liquids needing to be separated, it seemed not that useful anyway. But it seems like I took enough stuff that it took up the same room. Headache herbs. Digestive enzymes. Extra cold and cough medicine. First aid kit. Sewing kit. Mole skin. No scissors. I did manage to use the goo tubes I got for my birthday and share shampoo, conditioner and body wash with A, but we still only used about 1/2 of what was in them. A lot of the travel blogs suggested just using what’s at the hotel and/or buying travel sizes when you get there. I think this is not such a bad idea. I loved the single serving sized pouches we had at one hotel, but it seems like such a waste of resources. Not sure exactly where to pare down in this area, but I know it can be done. And I think I’ll pack my pink toiletry kit in future and maybe stuff my pajamas in.
The last thing I did wrong isn't really something I did wrong, but a choice I wished I'd made differently. When traveling to another country, unless perhaps you've lived there before and speak the language fluently, you're never going to pass. No one is going to look at me and think I'm Italian or Mexican, for example. And as soon as I opened my mouth, I would lose any cred I might have gotten in Ireland or Germany. But you also don't necessarily want to stand out like a beacon of otherness. On the day of our trip, though, I reached to the coat rack and grabbed my hot pink rain jacket instead of my neutral off white rain jacket. Small decision that might have made a small token difference. The Internet said that bright colors are catching on around the world and the Internet lied. My previous rain jacket was black and I missed it this week, but the pink did make for some fun photos!
Weights and Measures
So, in conclusion, being the geek I am and with all of the above in consideration, I weighed and shuffled and reweighed and removed things and reweighed. Here’s what things looked like:
Weight limit for carry on luggage and personal item: 12 kg/26 lbs
Why my luggage was checked: appox 16 kg / 35 lbs
Yeah, I thought being only 4 kg over weight wasn’t a big deal, but when you say 10 lbs, that’s a little more significant. My home-weighing was in line with what they got.
So I shuffled and removed: souvenirs, sarong, neck pillow, all unworn clothes (4 shirts, 1 cardigan, a couple undergarments and tank tops) except for a dress and leggings, my extra shoes, my dressy jacket and my big fluffy sweater. I did use the neck pillow on the way there, but didn’t really need it. I did use the sarong for one flight, but they also provided blankets, so really didn’t need it. Instead of the sarong, next time I’m going to take at least a second scarf. The sweater I did wear, but could have been wearing on the plane and would shift next time for a zippered or button sweater. The jacket I did wear, but only because I was going to be pissed to have taken it all the way there and then not wear it. You can’t see it any of my pictures, because it was so cold that I almost never took my coat off. The dress and leggings I left in, because I would have worn them more if I hadn’t waited to put my leggings on until the last couple days - they were so great.
I was on the fence about my binoculars - my bathroom scale puts them just over 1 lb and my luggage scale cannot detect them, but they are large. I did use them for the Sistine Chapel and they were very useful there. And every time we travel, I’m always telling A that I wish I had them, so I left them in. Although we are planning to get a smaller, but just as powerful pair that fits into my purse, because I looked very much the American tourist with them dangling around my neck all day. I also left in my book, which I didn’t read, but would replace with a guidebook next time.
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| Binoculars around neck. Very much the tourist. |
After the shuffle, not only was I able to get everything into my purse and pack (without using the expansion zipper), but the weight was down to 21 lbs for the pack and 3-4 lbs for the purse (including a 1/2 full water bottle). So I would have been more comfortable and able to carry on. So I think the general rule I’ve read again and again is right: pack, then take 1/2 of your crap out. Repeat step 2 as needed.
