11 days, 6 cities, 4 countries and two carry on bags. Yeah, I did that– solo.
Traveling is one of my favorite things to do. There are so many wonderful things you can discover by stepping out of your comfort zone and traveling. I have been fortunate enough to have traveled a lot in my life and every time I come home from a trip I feel like I need to start planning another!
My most recent trip to Europe was the first time I have ever traveled by myself and sis, I learned a lot. One of the lessons I learned is that it’s v hard to travel when you have no one to help you out with your shi*. So packing light and having efficient baggage is SO IMPORTANT when hopping from country to country every other day.
So– are you balling on a budget but want to see the world? I feel you. Keep reading to get my top tips for how to efficiently prepare, pack and plan for your next vaycay.
Tip 1: Plan your outfits. If you don’t go in knowing what you’re going to wear ahead of time, you’ll end up over packing and leave no room for the must-needed shopping you’ll be doing on your travels. Lay out your outfits ahead of time and bring versatile pieces that you could wear with multiple different looks.
- Pro tip: Accessories can take a basic outfit to chic af. Plan to bring neutral clothing (to match everything) along with a cute jacket and some statement jewelry. If there is one thing that I learned from Europe is that EVERYONE wears jackets. Shoulders who? A cute and light blazer is small enough to fit in your bag and simple enough to pair with multiple looks. (see below)
- Pro tip 2: Question your choices like you would your best friend’s. “Do you really need to bring those super heavy boots that are really uncomfortable even though they’re cute?” No. They’re not functional, leave them at home. PLUS– everyone in Europe wears sneakers/tennis shoes because of all the walking they do. So when deciding your shoe choice specifically, make sure you choose comfortable shoe that you also find chic instead of heels or booties that you’ll regret wearing 15 minutes in.
Tip 2: Pack Efficiently. Once you have your outfits picked out, plan your packing strategy. For my Europe trip, I packed by rolling my clothes and working my tetris skills to pack them in nicely. I also purchased travel-sized toiletries that would be small enough to fit in my bag without taking up room I needed for other essentials.
- Pro tip 1: Pack your toiletries in a water-proof bag. If you’re staying in hostels (like I was) you don’t want to bring your nicest, most expensive makeup bags. I opted to reuse my glossier bubble wrap packaging that I saved to pack all of my toiletries in. She worked great, held all of my skincare and the packaging kept everything safe because #bubblewrap baby.
- Pro tip 2: Plan what you can take in your purse/carryon and pack accordingly. I packed my book, hand sanitizer, camera bag, snacks and an extra jacket in my Fjallraven. I knew I needed to save space in my carry on so I made sure to keep the boxier shaped items and breakables in a bag I knew I couldn’t “smoosh.”
- Pro tip 3: Make sure you have functional bags. For example–I knew I needed to put my camera in my backpack so I found a great versatile bag from Target that could double as my camera bag and travel purse. This bag was a life savor because after a while, carrying around a backpack gets tedious and a purse is just so much more functional for me. AND, it fits nicely in my backpack so I didn’t have to carry three bags on my arms at all times.
- Pro tip 4: Make sure you have a travel wallet. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, I wrote a whole post about how important it is to have a FAB travel wallet that can hold your passport, change, cash, cards, etc. You can more about my Zoppen Travel Wallet I purchased on Amazon for $13.99, here.
Tip 3: Book your travel with a GREAT website. I booked all of my travel using one website that I absolutely swear by. Its, Omio.com and it is my travel BFF. This website compares prices for planes, trains and buses and there’s nothing better than multiple options when you’re traveling. Also, if you are trying to compare prices for where to stay, Hostelworld.com is my go to.
I hope you found this blog helpful and inspiring to plan your next vacay! Whether you’re traveling to Europe or elsewhere, you can take these tips with you to ensure a swift and efficient planning process!
Now, what are your traveling tips? How do you plan for your vaycays? Leave a comment below!
xoxo
your average shrub
averageshrub 