I spent quite a bit of time researching and trying to figure out what to pack for our trip. We traveled in late April / early May 2016. Hope this helps you pack for your trip!
Here is a list of what I packed:
- Black pants (they are yoga pants but they aren’t tight on my legs and they pass for dress pants – daughter approved)
- Gray pants (similar to the black pants)
- White pants
- Jeans
- 3 pairs of shorts in the same shade as each pair of pants (black, white, jeans) — I only wore 1 pair of shorts but several people in our group wore them more often.
- A dress shirt that matched both the black pants and the white pants — wore this to our farewell dinner.
- Enough Shirts to wear each one twice
- 3 scarves to wear with my plain t-shirts (mix-n-match)
- Cardigan for the plane and evenings – brought the one that doesn’t wrinkle easily and is easily stuffed into my bag.
- Black warmer jacket
- Rain Poncho. This is also easily stuffed into my bag when not in use.
- Walking shoes – my research said that women in Europe do not wear tennis shoes — our guide agreed but I saw many tennis type shoes for sale in the shops and I saw many people wearing them.
- Chargers and Two converters — good thing because 1 broke!
- Sinus medication — packed extra and I am so glad — it was a late spring and my sinuses were very active.
- Lotion — I come from a humid climate and it was very dry there — so glad I had some good quality lotion because the lotion provided in the hotels is ok but not great.
- Snacks
- 31 Vary You bag that turns into a backpack. I don’t like the backpack very much but I do like the extra zippered pouch that pick-pockets cannot get into. The inside compartment is large enough for my cardigan and rain jacket and tissues and hand sanitizer and more.
- ATM card — super easy to use and get money. Credit Card in case I had problems with the ATM card. Read my blog post on this subject.
- Travel steamer — what a great idea — it doesn’t really wash out stains but it kills all the germs in the clothes so when I wanted to wear something a second time, I steamed it and told Mom that I was “doing my laundry”.
- Bus Bag / Plane bag — this was a easily folded-up bag that I used to carry the airplane pillow, blanket, books etc on the airplane. While touring I used it for anything I wanted to have with me but not carry around, like the rain poncho or walking shoes and anything I bought. I bought it on clearance from Travel Smith but I liked the lightweight bag my mom had better — it just crumpled up and fit into her purse or suitcase.
- Sunscreen — needed it almost every day
- My Kindle e-reader and some paperback books with short stories. (My kindle does not have the ‘special offers’ and I love that). The paperbacks took lots of space so I left them behind when I was finished reading – I only brought them in case I couldn’t read the kindle on the plane during takeoff and landing. The Kindle e-reader is awesome, it is lightweight, mine has a back-light and keeps the charge for a long time. I pre-loaded lots of books to read and never ran out.
Here is a list of what I wish I had packed:
- An umbrella to go with my poncho. Sometimes it just sprinkled a little bit and a small umbrella would have been nice instead of having to get in and out of the poncho.
- Puffs-plus. I had sinus problems and remembered to bring the medication but had a difficult time finding soft tissue.
- Charmin Toilet Paper – not going to discuss this but I think you understand
- Wash Cloth
- Second pair of walking shoes — just one pair was not enough.
Things I didn’t need:
- Shampoo, conditioner, soap — provided by every hotel. I would only pack a single sample of each in case of an emergency.
Good Ideas / Bad Ideas:
- I was concerned that eating lunch at 2pm and dinner at 8pm would cause me problems but after the first week I didn’t need any additional snacks. I would still take snacks but not quite so many — plenty of stores around if I needed to restock.
- I wore flip-flops on the plane — that was also a great idea!
- Pack your toothbrush & toothpaste in your carry-on. After the over-night flight you will be happy you did!
- Leave room in your suitcase for purchases or bring stuff you will use or leave behind (like paperback books), leaving extra room in your suitcase.
#VickieTravelz
My mother and I are taking a trip called the Back Roads of Iberia: Spanish Paradores & Portuguese Pousadas. These are our daily adventures – written for our family while we were traveling – April / May 2016.