I have a heavy travel schedule which has taught me to pack light. So many friends ask me how I always travel with only a carry-on, so here are my tips on how to travel light and in style.
Trust me, when I started traveling, I would bring an oversize bag, a thousand outfits, and a million shoes! Your mind tells you that you need all these things, but if you are traveling to a rural location like abruzzi italy, or to a remote part of Spain, you don’t really need all those shoes and clothes do you? However, say you were traveling to Madrid – the colorful capital of Spain, would you then not need to dress up accordingly? And for that to happen, you need to have your beautiful shoes and clothes with you. Also, please make sure you have transport ready or that you know where you can get your transportation woes fixed from the airport itself (sites like StressFreeCarRental.com may come in handy during these times!). This can save you the hassle of haggling and bargaining for a cab in the middle of an unknown city.
Yes, after all, I’m the Trendy Latina, right?
One day, I had to pay luggage fees for being overweight and I didn’t wear half of the outfits I packed.
That’s when I thought: there must be a better way!
Here is it, how to travel light and in style!
How To Travel Light, In Style
Map out your itinerary
Most of my business journey and travel opps come with an itinerary. Even if you’re traveling on vacation, I bet you research and plan what you’ll do during the trip. From getting in touch with Uniqueworld DMC Europe and agencies of a similar caliber, to knowing the nitty gritty of the entire trip, prior knowledge and preparation has never done anyone any harm!
You can also look into other travel options, such as flying business class or taking a road trip. It can distract you from a variety of issues for a short period of time. As a result, you may emerge stronger to deal with the situations. It may be a bit of a luxury, but if you have the means, you may also consider private jet hire so that you can get some me-time over there to sort out your priorities. You’ll have the freedom to go wherever you want. You won’t even have to worry about waiting in line for luggage checks, allowing you to plan your trip accordingly.
Knowing your itinerary, gives you the power to pack for day and night activities.
I will give you an example: recently at the Chicago Auto Show I packed this sweater dress for my day time with black booties and high socks.
Night time: I’ve added high heel booties and a long open sweater to it, giving it a more polished look.
This was my day time option:
I looked at my schedule, walking all day was all over it, so, comfy booties – wide and low heel, socks to warm up my legs, long and warm sweater dress, still stylish, but comfortable as well!
My Schedule next week involves:
-> Dinner first night
-> Drive all day next day and dinner that night
-> Departure next day
Tip #1
It’s all about planning, check your schedule:
Day 1
Airport Clothing – comfortable, warm (planes are sometimes unbearably cold, even if you’re going to Florida), short warm jacket.
Exploring outfit, since I have all day before my evening commitment.
Dinner outfit.
Day 2
Jeans, Top, Sweater.
Dinner outfit.
Day 3
Same traveling outfit of day 1.
That brings me to Tip #2
Always check the weather
I know the weather will be all over the place in Savannah next week, 58 on Tuesday, 70 on Wednesday and 80 on Thursday.
It’s going to rain Tu and Th, so black booties are going to be my best friend, along with light sweaters and a light top for Thursday, but I will be facing 40s in Philly, so … planning is the key word here.
If I had not checked the weather, I would have assumed it would be warm there, which is not the case.
Tip #3
Do your homework
Research the attendees, know your crowd so you’re not over dressed, nor under dressed.
In this case, it’s a car press trip, so, jeans are a must bring, business casual for evening dinners.
Right now you’re confusing and guessing, she will need a large suitcase to handle the weather and all the events! Wrong, this is what I will bring:
Tip #4
Less is more
Are you ready? I’m packing just three outfits & PJs and will be wearing a fourth!
You’re asking how?
That’s it!
These are some of my choices, what do you think?
This is the last time I wore it in Idaho:
Are you afraid that one of my outfits will get dirty with food and things will go South?
That’s why the coat and sweater come in handy. If something happens to my top, the next day outfit is my extra pair of pants; in the spring and summer, I always bring an extra top as well.
What do you think? Do you like my tips?
You check out my travel makeup items HERE.
How about you? Do you pack light?
Here are three reasons why I use the tips above:
- Packing light will allow you to fit everything in a carry-on.
- Having Carry-on Luggage avoids airline fees
- The Carry-on saves time when you arrive at your destination
- Bringing the Carry-on will ensure you have all of your clothing with you, not needing to trust in the airline baggage service.
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Have I convinced you to pack light?
As usual, give us a Trendy Shout!
This is so important because you want to make sure you’re not bringing too much where it feels overwhelming or super heavy.. I know I need to learn to travel light because I tend to over pack myself.
This is so important because you want to make sure you’re not bringing too much where it feels overwhelming or super heavy. I know I need to learn to travel light because I tend to over pack myself.
This is something that I would struggle with, travelling light. You’ve shared some wonderful tips and tricks.
The weather is one of the first things that I’ll check before even arranging to travel somewhere. It also means you know exactly what to pack.
A great way to break it down so you don’t get overwhelmed and pack only what you’ll need. It’s a nice way of staying organized…thanks for sharing your method!
I feel like traveling light and avoiding check-in bags is the best way to do it. Sometimes I cut trips shorter than I want just so I can do it this way.
I struggle to travel light for any trip, especially as I don’t often travel with hand luggage as much anymore. But you’re right about planning and checking weather etc x
You do travel in style indeed lol…Amazing…I love the tips, thank you so much…
Great and important tips here. You don’t want the weather to ruin your trips so always check the forecast.
Thanks for the travel tips. Sometimes I forget to check the weather so I end up not enjoying my trips.
I always start with the intention of travelling light, then more items sneak in. I really do need to get betterr at this
Thank you for mentioning our dear Abruzzo and our authentic tours ❤️ it is often considered the greenest region in Europe, no tourists and a world to discover…
I like your tip of checking the weather forecast. That would be very helpful in choosing clothes to take with you. I used to be so bad with packing, but have learned a lot through experience. Light is might! 🙂
Love these tips! I am an over packer, ugh. I need to learn to pack light and put just what I will need.
These are awesome organization tips for traveling outfits. I always go wrong even I have a lot clothes. Thanks a lot for the suggestion.
Every time we travel, I feel like we over pack so much!! I need to really trim down for our summer vacation.
I’m getting smarter and smarter with each trip to reduce items that I travel with to the bare minimum with just one additional outfit just in case. I can get away with a carry on for most of my work trips. Family vacations I tend to overpack for.