Packing for your trip: Toiletries, Clothes, Shoes & Miscellaneous items

It is overwhelming to try to start packing, but it gets easier if you plan and get organized. Let's start with clothing and shoes!

Clothing: 

Tip #1 Get organized with Packing Cubes. These are a dream for organizing your bag. I got these slim packing cubes, and all three fit perfectly in my bag (they only took up about 1/2 of my bag) stuffed with clothes. http://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/slim-packing-cubes-3pc-set/107842 The main purpose of packing cubes is to save space and to help keep you sane on your trip. I kept tops & tights in one, dresses/extra bra in another, underwear/socks/sleep stuff in the last one.

Tip #2 Roll your clothes. This saves a ton of space. Also as I picked up breakables on the trip (a glass cup, a little ceramic bowl, etc.) I would just roll them up in one of my clothing items and pack them inside the rolling cubes to save space and to keep them safe.

Tip #3 Only bring one pair of jeans. I didn't even bother to pack jeans at all - I'm more of a dress person, see below :) They are heavy, take a long time to dry, and are hot! I mostly paired tunic tops or dresses with tights.


Tip #4 Pack for the climates you'll be in. We traveled through a couple of different climates. In May, the UK, The Netherlands, Germany, and even part of our stay in Paris was chilly, Italy on the other hand was hot.When it was cold out I mostly wore my long tights with tops/dresses and a cardigan and jacket. I brought one black cardigan and paired it with everything.I brought one jacket, it was a rain/windbreaker jacket lined with fleece. It was perfect for London and the Netherlands. Plus it was the kind that packed into it's own pocket, so it was nice and compact for the places I didn't need it in. For sleeping, I brought two lightweight t-shirts and a pair of sleep shorts.

Tip #5 Pick a color scheme. All the clothes I brought were either black, navy, or brown (its best to pick 2 to 3 colors and stick to that when you're packing, this way you can mix and match everything).

Tip #6 Bring tights & a cardigan even if it's going to be hot. A lot of the churches/basilicas/cathedrals have strict dress codes of no shoulders or knees showing in order to get entrance. Tights are easy to slip on/off underneath a dress, and they seem to be a European wardrobe staple too, so you won't stick out.

Tip #7 Bring dresses. If you are a dress person, I'd definitely recommend bringing at least four or five. I actually wished I'd brought one or two more (I packed four). I love dresses, they are so easy to pack - an entire outfit rolled up into the size of a grapefruit!

Tip #8 Try to get synthetic fabrics - they pack nicer, dry faster, and get less smelly than 100% cotton.

Tip #9 Don't over pack. Clothes are the main bulk of your bag, and a lot of hostels have laundry facilities, and even if they don't you can bring travel-sized packets of Woolite to do hand-washing throughout your trip. Plan for the climates you'll be in (check the weather the week before you plan on leaving)!

Tip #10 Dress up in Paris. It really is true that everyone there is extremely put together! I felt like a total slob in my wrinkled windbreaker. Bring a scarf or pick one up on your trip, because even the men accessorize with scarves there. Paris is definitely the place to break out your most fashionable outfits.

Also just remember, if you realize you forgot something, or didn't pack appropriately for the weather there are H&M's in every major city in Europe. So it is very easy to pick up a jacket, or tights, or a going out dress!

Shoes:
My biggest packing mistake was in my shoe selection. I brought one pair of black Skechers ballet flats, a pair of black wedges from Target, a pair of FitFlop black sandals, and a pair of cheap brown "shower shoes" flip flops. I literally only ended up wearing one pair of shoes, the Skechers ballet flats, for almost the entire trip.  They were so comfortable, looked cute dressed up or down, and I could walk miles in them without even the hint of a blister. They are called "Bikers- Proposal" and I wore them most of the time with ballet shoe socks (the nice wool, moisture-wicking kind). Here they are:

Actually, I lied, I did wear the wedges one night. Only one night though, as they absolutely killed my feet (I used at least half of my bandaids that night!). My best advice for shoes is to wear them, or better yet walk several miles in each pair you plan on bringing - even your "heels/wedges" prior to your trip. This will save you from bringing unnecessary shoes, I was so mad I lugged around those wedges the whole time, I almost threw them out after Italy!

The cheap shower shoe flip flops were worth bringing since I used them for showering and at the beach in Cinque Terre, plus they were pretty packing-friendly.

Packing toiletries was one of my biggest challenges for the trip. First of all, I wanted to carry my bag on, so I was restricted to how much liquids I could bring and second, my bag was on the small side, so I was even more restricted to how much I could fit.

Toiletries: First I'd get a good toiletry bag, if you are staying in hostels you might have to walk down the hallway/downstairs to the shower and its nice to have everything in one easy, portable container. I picked up a nice one with three zippered compartments from Walmart.

• Shampoo/conditioner/face wash in travel size containers (pick these up on the travel aisle at Walmart/Target). You can save space by getting shampoo/conditioners in one.
• Deodorant
• Toothbrush(I got this cool fold up travel size one from Walmart)/Toothpaste
• Contact solution (if you have horrible eyesight like me!). I failed to plan on this and actually ran out of solution, luckily one of the friends I was with had a big container that she shared with me.
• Extra Contacts. I brought three pairs total, I even kept them in different locations in my bag just in case. I am lost without contacts, so I wasn't afraid to take extra precautions to keep these safe!
• Makeup. I found this little gem: a UNII palette http://uniicosmetics.com/index.html. You de-pot all of your makeup (eye shadows, blush, bronzer,solid lipgloss) and put them all into one convenient travel size palette. 

Miscellaneous Items Packing List:

• Makeup remover cloths. These are great for the plane, overnight trains, and for when you are too lazy to walk down the hallway to a shared bathroom in your hostel.
• Perfume Samples. Go to Sephora or Nordstroms and ask a salesperson if they can please make a sample of your favorite perfume. They will use these tiny spray vials to make you one, that are perfect for traveling! I got two from Sephora of Chanel Chance and it lasted my entire trip, and cost nothing!
• Bandaids. Even if you think you have the most comfortable shoes on the planet, bring bandaids!
• Downy Wrinkle Releaser. This did double duty for me as a wrinkle releaser and as a freshen-upper for clothes (this way you don't have to bring Fabreeze too). 
• Money Belt. These are used to safely store your extra money, cards, and passport in. The Rick Steve's one is silk so its a little bit more comfortable underneath your clothes, especially if its hot out and your perspiring!

• Sunscreen. Try to coordinate with people you are going with, so you don't bring multiples of items. Designate one person to bring the sunscreen.
• Travel Size Woolite + Sink Stopper. These are a lifesaver! We all threw our clothes in together and did washing once on the trip, but I ended up hand washing a few items and letting them either dry on a clothesline (we happened to have one at our B&B in Cinque Terre) or on the window ledge twice. I wasn't sure I'd even use it, but I used the sink stopper twice - a lot of the sinks in Europe don't have stoppers! http://www.amazon.com/Lewis-N-Clark-Laundry-White/dp/B00004SRAX/ref=pd_sxp_f_i

•  Dryer Sheets. Place a few of these in your backpack - in between packing cubes, etc. They keep everything smelling fresh!
• Ziploc bags. Bring a couple of the big ones and small ones, trust me you'll find all kinds of ways you'll use them.
• Plastic Grocery Bags. Random I know, but these are perfect for putting dirty clothes in, using to carry things, separating stuff you buy on the trip in your luggage, etc. Just ball up a few in tuck 'em away in a pocket. 
• Packable Tote. I brought a zippered tote that packed flat in my bag, because I was planning on doing some serious shopping in our last stop, Paris. With a packable tote that zippers shut you can check that on the way home with all of your dirty clothes,etc. and then you can bring all of your precious finds from your travels in your carry-on luggage.
• Sleep Sheet. If you are staying in hostels you will need one of these. Some of my friends found one at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I got mine, though, off Ebay, it is a silk one with a built in pocket for a pillow, and was brand new and under $20 with shipping. Silk sleep sheets are nice because they are lightweight and scrunch up really small in your bag.
• Micro-Fiber Towel. Don't scrimp on this one! If you are staying in hostels you'll definitely need this as hostels don't provide you with a towel, or they charge you for it. Micro-fiber towels dry really fast which is necessary if you are hopping from place to place. Make sure you get one big enough to wrap around your entire body, that is unless you want to give your hostel-mates a peep show!
• Adapter/Converter Set. My coworker let me borrow her set, but this is an essential for your trip. We had a lot of electronics (an ipad, blow dryer, cell phone) so it was pretty important that we had ways to charge everything.
• Eye mask/Earplugs. I have never been an eye mask kind of girl. In fact, I've always felt they are uncomfortable and harder to sleep with on. But, I got this one off Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CCI4YU and I used it every night. It was so nice to be able to go to sleep while everyone else was still rummaging around getting ready for bed. Definitely one of my must-haves.

• A lock. This is for locking your stuff up in a locker at your hostel. Get one where you can set the numerical code yourself, so you don't have to keep track of a key.

•  Travel-Size Blow-Dryer. Make sure its dual voltage. If it's not then it will just burn up.
  
  
  I will probably add a second part to this, as I'm sure I forgot to list some of the essential "miscellaneous items."
   

Packing For Your Trip: Getting the Backpack

Before I get started on picking out a backpack, I'll give you a little background on me and my trip. I'm 23 and I recently graduated with my Masters in Accounting. I just got back from a three week backpacking trip throughout Europe in May. I went with a group of close girl friends, luckily, a few of whom have traveled and even lived in Europe before. So I benefited a lot from their advice, and from tips from friends who were studying abroad in some of the locations we visited, and from travel websites I frequented. We flew into London, then went to Utrecht and Amsterdam in The Netherlands, then it was onto Koln and Munich in Germany, next was Venice, Rome, and Cinque Terre in Italy, and finally Paris, France! It was the trip of a lifetime. I had an amazing time, maybe after I finish writing a couple of posts on packing and preparing for backpacking in Europe I'll write one on the different locations we visited!

Packing a month's worth of outfits, shoes, cosmetics, and travel essentials would be challenging enough to fit in several pieces of luggage let alone into one backpack! But that is exactly what I did, and hopefully what this blog will help you accomplish!

Getting a Backpack: Many seasoned backpackers will tell you this is the most important investment you will make for your trip. After hours of reading on which backpack is the best, I came to the conclusion that it boils down to personal preference. I would recommend reading reviews online, but definitely go into stores in person and try some on to get an idea of what you want. When I visited stores I found out the styles I had been looking at online were wayyy bigger than what I had been envisioning, I would have been really mad if I ordered one online only to find it out the bag was bigger than I was!

So my choice ended up being..... a rolling backpack! My sister and I both got identical Samsonite Rolling backpacks and we both LOVED them. We got them from a Samsonite outlet for just $80 (just in case you want to check em out it's item # 17896XXXX). Just a warning, this is a smaller bag, it's carry-on size at just 21"x14"x8"! The other girls we traveled with were shocked at how small our luggage was. I'll admit, my sister and I are the most high-maintenance out of the group, but somehow we packed the lightest!

What I liked about having a rolling backpack: In the entire three week trip I only had to put this bag on my back once, in Cinque Terre, Italy when we had to climb a couple of very steep staircases to get to our B&B. Everywhere else I rolled it. Our itinerary was pretty ideal for a rolling backpack, but if you're going to more remote locations or less modern places maybe reconsider a rolling bag, it wouldn't be my first choice for dirt roads or off road hiking!

I would recommend getting a high quality rolling bag because you will encounter cobblestones and roughly paved streets in some of the locations and breaking your wheels halfway through the trip would be disastrous. But while everyone else was complaining about their backs, and always looking out for seats in the metro station to awkwardly perch their bags on, my sister and I were just ...rolling with the punches!


What I disliked about having a rolling backpack: You will encounter stairs in the metro stations when you are navigating to your hostels to drop off your luggage, so if you get a rolling backpack be prepared to carry it up and down stairs, for this reason make sure it has a good/easily gripped handle. By the end of the trip, as my bag got a little heavier with souvenirs, this got a little annoying but for the minimal time I had to carry it like this, I still think the rolling bag was worth it. Also, if you decide on a rolling backpack prepare to sacrifice two important things.

1.) You won't have a waist strap. Waist straps are what help distribute the weight off of your shoulders when you wear a backpack. Getting the convenience of being able to roll the bag, then, means you are going to sacrifice on comfort when you actually have to wear it as a backpack. For me this wasn't an issue, since I only had to bust out the shoulder straps once.

2.) Your bag might be heavier/you will have less packing space. A lot of rolling backpacks are inefficient because the rolling apparatus makes the bag heavier, and takes up precious packing space inside. BUT, I lucked out with this Samsonite bag, it only weighs 4.3 pounds empty (that is really light) and the rolling apparatus is in a separate compartment that doesn't seem to take up much packing space at all. Excellent, more room for shoes now (haha, yeah right)!

Other Backpack Shopping Tips:

• Make sure to get one that zips all the way around,or at least halfway (not just a top-loading one which makes it very hard to find things in your bag and stay organized since you're always digging around trying to find your stuff).
• Be careful of bags that have a lot of straps/buckles, etc. that stick out. These can get caught and break/rip if you check your bag on flights.
• The bigger the bag, the more crap you will bring! Trust me when I say it was a relief to have such a small bag - yes, it was challenging at first, but I was grateful once I got over there. With such a small bag, I never had embarrassing train moments (people will give you dirty looks if you're that girl who takes up an entire seat with just your backpack, granted it is necessary since some of those bags are the size of a small person!). Also with a small backpack you don't have to check your luggage. I carried mine on, so there was no fear of losing it : ) Double win.
• I never used luggage zipper locks. I did, though, use a cable lock a couple of times. In a couple of the more sketchy hostels before we were allowed to check-in, we had to leave our luggage off in rooms that didn't seem that secure, so we would cable lock a couple of our bags together. Not sure if this really prevented any thieves, but it gave us a little bit of peace of mind (what thief would steal four huge bags bundled together, actually what thief would even be able to!?)

Sidenote: Like I said before, choosing the best backpack for you is all about personal preference, overall I was very happy with a rolling backpack. But I won't lie, there were times when I was jealous of the extra space in my friends bags, or frustrated at the extra 2 seconds it took me to pull the handle out of my bag to roll it after climbing a set of stairs. This is why I recommend you going to stores and checking out bags in person to find out what's best for you.