I’m a planner, rather than one of the many other styles of packers. I like to figure out what I’m going to need based on what I’m doing during a given trip. However, I always start with the same basic categories.
My first category for packing is underthings. This includes socks, underwear, and bras. If I am going for less than a week, I will pack a set of socks and a set of underwear for each day, plus a spare. Bras, well, I totally go by the number of days divided by two for less than a week. If I’m traveling for more than a week, I pack the same numbers and plan to do laundry at some point.
Then there are bottoms. This one varies a bit depending on the time of year (because who wants to wear shorts in a blizzard?) and what I’m going to be doing. If I’m going to be chilling or outdoors in the summer, I want comfy shorts/capris. If I’m going to be doing something business related or it’s winter, I’ll go with slacks, jeans, or long skirts. I usually divide the number of days by two to get how many I need.
Now, of course, I can’t go topless in most parts of the world, so that’s the third category. This one tends to be the most activity based. Chilling? Great, tank tops and sleeveless it is. Business? Cool, I’ve got to plan on conservative cut stuff or layers. Outdoors? Well, that’s longer tops mostly because I sunburn quickly. I try to bring things that can be mixed & matched, or I bring one per day if it’s business.
In my packing scheme, my last category is hygiene and electronics. I’m not a big makeup person, so that’s easy to pack for me. Soap and hair care though I do bring with me unless it’s a multi-month trip since #curlyhair is a hard one to shop for in many places. I also make sure I have chargers for all the electronics in the bag since I tend to travel with both a laptop and a phone. I also don’t believe I need to pack multiple sets of shoes most of the time.
Packing Bullet List for 1 Week:
- 8 pairs of underwear
- 3 bras
- 8 pairs of socks
- 3-4 bottoms
- 6 tops
- Shower stuff and toothbrush
- Face cleanser and makeup
- Laptop
- Phone
- Chargers
- Prescribed medication (if applicable)