I am queen of the short trip. And while I take the title queen pretty lightly (meaning I'm self proclaimed queen of whatever is convenient in the moment), 5 years of traveling
at least once a month for school gives me a little credibility for this particular declaration. So I have a few tips and tricks for traveling lightly for a weekend or a week that I want to share with you for any end of the summer vacations, conferences, or road trips.
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| Godiva Shampoo, Jungle Conditioner, Buffy Exfoliant + Body Butter |
The first things I'd purchase to make your life 10 times easier for any trip in the airport with just a carry-on are solid shampoos, conditioners, and lotions. I have a confession: I have an irrational hatred of distilling my liquids into travel containers. I'm lazy about pumping my shampoo in a 2 oz plastic container, I fear my lotion spilling in my bag, and I don't want to take out a ziploc full of containers for TSA. So instead, I invested in solid products from Lush. I never thought I'd be such a convert but these products last forever, travel well, and smell great.
My second toiletry recommendation is a small travel bag. I use a little black bag from Muji that I can hang up in my hotel room. I love this bag's mesh compartments because everything is visible and I don't need to rummage around to find my hairbrush under tubes of mascara and eyeliner in a (potentially cuter) makeup bag.
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| Muji Hanging Travel Bag |
When it comes to clothes, advanced planning is your friend. I used to decide to bring X bottoms, Y tops, Z shoes, etc. but that left me with odds and ends that I wasn't sure how I wanted to piece together in the mornings of my trips. Now I am a firm supporter of packing outfits instead of pieces (and getting extra time to sleep in or see sights instead of figuring out what to wear). I like to draw out the outfits I'm going to bring. Having a visual "packing list" to consult also lets me imagine different combinations of pieces so that I know I'm not stuck to one look.
When actually packing your clothes I recommend rolling them up instead of folding them on top of each other because it makes it easy to see what you have if you're living out of your suitcase.
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| Skirts & Pants - Topshop |
For my small carry-on (or just a more accessible bag if I'm not flying) I have a few musts. I like to bring multiple forms of entertainment or work (like printed out readings for class in a folder, a magazine, and a notebook). I also need my travel documents and IDs, laptop, wallet, glasses, and phone with me. To save money in the airport I always try to bring a snack, knowing that if I don't I'm going to spend 5 dollars on the granola bar I could've gotten at Trader Joe's for 1. For my trip to Chicago I was missing lunch so I packed a wrap that I made in the morning. To carry all of this I used my (new!) leather backpack from urban.
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| Assorted Essentials |
Planning to travel for this week also taught me some tips and tricks that I learned by messing up (pretty severely). One, always check what day you are supposed to return home!!! I'm attending a training that ends on Saturday and accidentally booked my flight out for Sunday, leaving me scrambling to find last minute housing accommodations because changing my flight would cost more than my original round trip (thx Delta). Two, read up on the public transit of the city you're visiting. As a New York kid, I expect buses to run frequently and all week. That's how I ended up waiting 20 minutes for a bus in Chicago on Sunday that only runs on weekdays. Despite the blunders, I made it to my conference center safely and am excited for a weeklong training on community organizing!
Post by Naima Drecker-Waxman
