Traveling feeds my curiosity to continually grow and learn. As much as I LOVE to travel myself, I also find great inspiration from my client’s travels. It allows me to learn something new from different regions of the world, but it also feeds my soul to help others as they prepare to take off on their adventures. While traveling is fun, let’s be honest it can be stressful to get ready for takeoff. So that’s where I come in to offer a concise plan of action to get my clients packed (and stylishly, I might add!) without overthinking it.

I wanted to share a recent packing job for my mother’s trip to Portugal. I used my go to packing techniques:

1. Packing List-I’ve created a packing list that is essentially my road map for any packing job. It covers everything from dates of trip, local weather, special events/activities, clothing, hygiene, misc. items, and a list of outfits. Sign up for my email list to get your free copy. You can do that by filing out the form on the contact page on my website.

2. Color Palette-I choose a color palette to give me direction so I choose pieces that are versatile and allow you to mix and match. For this Portugal trip, we chose mostly black, blue and yellow for a POP of color.

3. Shoes-I mostly try to stick with one day shoe and one night shoe. Flip flops are typically thrown in too for water activities. For Portugal, we chose black nikes for the day shoe and black tod’s for her night shoe.

4. Do I pick out exact outfits or pick out pieces that mix and match? Typically for a weekend trip, I will pick out specific outfits so we don’t over pack. Over packing typically comes from too many shoes and then adding multiple options so you have choices. I get it, but it’s a waste and not necessary to have so many options.

For overseas/extended trips, I pack a specific number of items that are versatile and create many different outfit options. So for Portugal which was a 10 day trip and she needed 20 looks (10 day looks/10 night looks), I packed the specific number of items:

· 1 black travel pants

· 2 black pants

· 1 white jean

· 1 blue jean

· 2 black shorts

· 2 evening tops

· 2 stripe shirts

· 3 button up shirts

· 2 sweaters

· 1 cardigan

· 1 cardigan/jacket

· 1 dress

· 1 jacket

5. Neatly Organized-I like to get things neatly organized in categories before I pack them in the packing cubes. Sometimes I stack the outfits together. Sometimes I put all the shirts/pants/dresses together. Depends on the client and the occasion.

6. Packing Cubes-I’m a HUGE fan of the packing cubes. They are just another tool to keep things organized. I also use them to protect my shoes if they don’t have a duster bag.

7. Final Product-Here are a few of the outfits my momma created out of the pieces I packed. Isn’t my momma the cutest!?!? The clothes I packed gave her many versatile options that were appropriate for her activities and the weather in Portugal. My travel packing techniques allowed me to execute this with ease and all while packing her in a carry on!! Yeah!!!!

HAPPY Travels my friends!

with LOVE and grace,

Elizabeth

PACKING TECHNIQUES