Wednesday, December 20, 2023

I stewed and stewed, planned and planned, ordered and returned and ultimately I realized I am not going to a remote place without stores! Also, we will have the ability to do laundry if needed in the Airbnbs. 

We are changing where we lay our heads 5 times and exclusively staying in Airbnbs. With our family of four I thought it would be the best way to go both economically and comfort wise to have a bit of space to spread out. 

We are not generally people that eat 3 meals a day at restaurants on vacation, so it will be good to have the ability to have a bit of food there, too. We also like to go against the grain on timing of our meals, so this helps with that, too! We might have a little bite to tide us over. 

Because we are changing locations so much and using trains, we felt very strongly about being COOs – Carry On Only! We have done this before and love the freedom of not having to wait and take the chance on lost luggage. Just ask me about losing my luggage for 5 of my 8 day Germany trip back in 2000 – that sucked! We also will have to help Mason who is not COO after being in England for a semester. 

The fact that it is winter did give me pause and the fact that I have “lost” my travel muscle because it has been so long made me start thinking about packing very, very early. 

The goal: Comfortable, cute-ish, seasonal, and appropriate!

The other goal: We did COO for a two week trip to Germany in 2016 and I really hated my clothes and didn’t pack well. I stuffed it too full and it just made it harder than it needed to be. I wanted to leave breathing room. 

Plane outfit:

black leggings with pockets, black short sleeve v neck tee, striped top over the tee, tan coatigan, black Chelsea boots, black crossbody with red/green strap – hopefully tucked away in my personal item bag, personal item crossbody that hooks onto carry on wheelie suitcase

In carry on suitcase:

Color Scheme: black, cream,/white, camel, green, red

Bottoms: Kut from the Kloth light jeans, Spanx black faux leather leggings, American Eagle black velvet leggings, black Chico’s pleather pants (will also have the pocketed leggings from the plane outfit)

5 bottoms total if you include plane outfit

Pajamas: Scotch tape plaid leggings that can also go out on the street, Prosecc Ho Ho Ho that can also go out, one pair sleep shorts, one tank that will also go under a sweater

Tops: cream Walmart sweater, Target red sweater/cardigan with Christmas tree buttons, black long sleeve knit tee, black feminine sweater from Amazon Essentials with puff sleeves

5 tops including the striped shirt from plane outfit

Dress: turtleneck Aldi black sweater dress – can wear the plaid leggings or the Spanx faux leather leggings under

1 dress total

Scarves: tan plaid, neck scarf in black, white

2 scarves total that can make different looks of the tops

Shoes: black and white Nikes, black short Chelsea boots

2 shoes total

Coats: coatigan, emerald green packable down coat, Columbia rain coat, black down vest

3 coats, 1 vest total

Jewelry:

wedding rings, Prosecco earrings, black/gold studs, pearl studs, small gold hoops, Kendra Scott small black pendant necklace

4 earrings total, 1 necklace

Bags:

black crossbody with red/green strap

1 bag total

Toiletries:

The goal was as many solids as possible and I’m not super picky about brands of shampoo, condition, body wash, etc. I also enjoying shopping in other countries to see what products they have!

All solid makeup from Merit to save my liquids allowance for other things:

Solid Donna Karan Cashmere Mist deoderant – this doubles as my fragrance and is very light so I don’t think it will bother anyone

Quart size bag with refillable bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lavender body wash for night, Into the Night body wash, and Cerave face wash. Contact lens case of night cream and day cream for face. 

Copied off of Kellyann – lol:

white/black Nikes

black/white neck scarf (can’t remember who got it first!)

We shall see if this worked out! 

I will be sure to report back!

Amy