The Euro Trip Packing Wash-up

So recently I travelled to Europe for 3.5 weeks. I saw this as an excellent opportunity to test my packing and planning skills. A timely way for me to rate my own chops when it came to ensuring I had the right pieces for every occasion.

So how did I go? I’d give myself a 7/10. Not as high as I’d like given I pride myself on helping others pack practically and comprehensively for their trips.

Here’s where I lost the 3 points:

1. Clothing Weight – for most of the trip I was in Spain and southern Italy and the temperature ranged from about 27-38 degrees. I knew that this would be the case so I packed what I thought was appropriate. Some shorts (not enough), singlets, lots of cozzies and some summer dresses. Lots of accessories (scarves, costume jewellery, sunnies), HOWEVER, an Australian summer dress is not the equal of a southern European summer dress. The reality was, most of my packed dresses felt too heavy to wear in such hot weather. Even though they were all cotton. The same for my shorts. I had a long denim pair of jorts which were great for sightseeing in much cooler Berlin (20-23 degrees) but not right for Sicily. I did have some lightweight summer cotton short sleeved shirts which were excellent but not enough for 2 weeks of this sunny, hot weather.
2. Casual to Dressy Ratio – the reality is I planned for more dressy evenings (dinners) than we had. What I needed and indeed found myself shopping for while away, was more very light cotton shorts. I should have left the 2 skirts at home (too clingy and warm) and loaded up on cotton shorts.
3. Too Many Accessories and Beauty Care – see here’s the thing. I LOVE my skincare routine. I’m doing all the serums and masks and potions. It’s important to me and I think it works. However, what I didn’t need is my full Dyson Air Wrap with 4 styling attachments, especially given it conked out and died on the trip!! Grrrrrr. The 4 heavy gold necklaces, the various chunky bangles and the 8 pairs of sunglasses were also surplus to requirements. Yes it’s nice to have a sunglass for every occasion but its impractical, takes up too much space and is easily remedied by choosing a tight 3 winning pairs that work across a variety of occasions. Better still 2.

So, my learnings that I captured while I was away and I share now for the greater good are:

• Don’t bring heavy, cumbersome hair styling accessories, Bring one great hair product in a small container and some hair elastics for a slicked back or beachy wet aesthetic. Shiny, smooth blowdries need not apply for this job.
• Be ruthless in your sunglass selection and select 2-3 great pairs max;
• You will want face oil, body moisturiser and hair treatment but you may want to skip too many additional tubes and bottles of skincare. I didn’t use many of the ones I packed.
• Favour lightweight small dressing options. Cotton shorts or skirts, loose fitting cotton tops and dresses. Leave bheind more elaborate weighty pieces which just take up space and feel too warm when you’re there
• Shoes – I wore 3 pairs evenly and these were my ride or dies for the trip
  • 1 x gold comfy sandals (for any dressier evenings) seen in image above
  • 1 x comfy flats (boat shoes) for strolling, casual dinners and place travel
  • 1 x sneakers for long days of walking ….. and really, that’s all I needed, I could have left the flip flops and mule flats at home

Davina’s Oi Oil

This little gem was recommended to me by my friend and its a total winner. Smoothes frizz, binds strands to eliminate some of the “pouf” in my new short bob, and also smells heavenly. Its important!