So you’ve booked your ticket(s), hotel(s) and tour(s). The countdown app on your phone is engaged and you have done more than enough research. What’s left? Oh right, packing. The LEAST fun part of any trip. Or maybe it’s the un-packing when you return? We digress. Over the years we’ve learned a thing or two to hopefully take the annoyance out of this task, so we thought we would share our best packing tips with you!

Laundry
If you’re traveling for two weeks, you may want to think seriously about packing enough for about 7 to 8 days and then getting laundry done. Lugging around a heavy suitcase is not fun and not easy in a lot of places! Cobblestone streets are less than forgiving on rolling suitcases! We’ve done laundry in several countries and it has mostly worked out really well.  The only time it didn’t work out well for us was the sticker shock of having laundry done in a small touristic town in Ireland. Do yourself a favor and do a little research beforehand or ask your hotel about their laundry service and pricing. Pro tip: bring a scented garbage bag for your dirty clothes. It is a quick easy way to “pack” them, plus it helps keep your suitcase smelling fresh!  You can also pack a few laundry pods (don’t eat them) or get concentrated detergent if you plan to wash clothes in a bathtub/sink!

Miscellaneous Helpful Items
Get a surge protector power strip. This sounds insane-but hear us out. It will have three US plugs (at least ours does), plus two usb ports. Using that with an adaptor for the country you’re in, instantly provides you with five ways to plug-in your US electronics without having to have adaptors/converters for each thing. This is one of our biggest tips. You can also use it in an airport since there are always so many plugs available (could you feel the sarcasm in that statement)?

Bring extra zip lock bags of both the gallon and quart size. The worst thing that can happen when traveling is a shampoo explosion! (yes we bring shampoo, etc with us because you can put your favorite brands in a travel container for so much less money)! Also if you travel with a snack-pack, it’s easy to toss a few snacks in a plastic bag for the day. Or even put an outfit you don’t want to get stinky in a bag and that keeps it fresh while traveling. The uses are endless, so just toss them in-you won’t regret it!

A Reusable water bottle is something we just started traveling with and are now wondering why it took us so long to get on this train. A lot of airports have those water bottle spots and even if not, the drinking fountain works well to fill them. Ours are collapsible and are 1L which is awesome!

An Umbrella should go without saying, but it should definitely be on your list. We’ve found this one to be a great option. It’s compact, performs well in wind and comes in lots of awesome colors!

Shopping bags– you know, the reusable ones that are everywhere. These can work in a multitude of situations and if you plan to grocery shop at all, most places charge you for bags. Yes, charge. So just toss one or two in your bag. You won’t be sad about that. There are even some now that fold up!

We are not going to lie-because how could you ever trust us again? These next tips are geared towards women because well, we are women. But men, we think they are valid tips! It’s just that we really don’t think you’ll take the time to do this – come on, you know you are packing the night before you leave! So if you want to stop reading here, no hard feelings. But one quick thing that you may want to read:

A special note
Before packing familiarize yourself with the local dress code. When visiting religious sites or countries with attire regulations or customs, be appropriately dressed.  For example, when visiting the Vatican, ladies are required to wear knee-length bottoms and are not permitted to bear their shoulders.  Men are not permitted to wear hats.  However, during a papal audience which occurs in the summer months only, men are permitted to wear hats if the audience takes place outside.  The rules can change based on circumstance, so the point is, know the code.

Clothing
The bulk of what you will pack is clothing-makes sense. But to do this effectively is a whole different story. As much as it might pain you, this is going to involve a bit of planning on your end. The first thing we recommend is to obsessively check the weather forecasts/averages/rain fall where you are visiting.  That way you have an idea of the layers you’ll need. Note: If you’re visiting a place for a specific event like Oktoberfest, you may want/need to bring something just for that!

We also HIGHLY recommend either laying out what you think you want to bring, or at the very least making a list. This helps with a few things: It visually shows you how many of each type of item you plan to bring. But it also really helps to know what pieces go together. The best way to pack for a trip is by making sure your clothes mix and match. Sadly that means you probably don’t want to bring that neon yellow shirt (maybe not such a loss), or those crazy patterned pants. But it really helps cut down on the amount of clothing you have to bring. Packing light truly does make everything easier. Trust us, we haven’t always done so! Anyway, we like to pick some main colors for our “base pallet” and then choose an “accent” color to throw in some excitement. We’ve done the neutrals gray, black, navys and also the jewel tones- teal, purple, garnet. It all depends on location! Pro tip: If you’re traveling to cold-weather destinations, use travel space bags to compress your clothes, they really save a lot of space! Also bring a couple of dryer sheets to stick in your suitcase. They keep it smelling fresh and help with any static!

Here’s the breakdown of what we would pack for a two-week trip:

• Tops
  • 2-3 T-Shirts
  • 2-3 3/4 Shirts
  • 2 Sweaters/long-sleeve shirts
  • Basically a mixture of the above depending on climate, but you really don’t need more than 5/7 shirts.
• Bottoms
  • 3 pairs of pants-or less
  • 1-2 pairs of leggings 
  • Keep in mind jeans can be worn many times (usually) before needing to be washed, but they also take the longest to dry-chances are there won’t be a dryer if you’re doing your own laundry!
• Dresses/nicer clothing
  • 1-2 if any at all
  • Typically we do not bring a lot of dresses (or any at all) unless we need them for something specific, or they are sweater dresses that can be paired with leggings and boots! But if you’re fancy or like dresses, you may want to bring more and take out some pants/shirts. 
• Coats/Jackets
  • 1 maybe 2 depending on the weather
  • There aren’t many destinations we’ve visited without a raincoat! Definitely worth investing in something quality. 
• Undergarments 
  • 5-7 pairs of underwear – we recently got some travel underwear and love them, they dry SO FAST. This is also a category where you could bring enough for every day since they take up a small amount of space. 
  • 1-2 regular bras
  • 1-2 sports bras – this could change depending on the location as well as, what activities you have planned
  • 5-7 pairs of socks in a variation of styles depending on footwear and destination

Toiletries
This is a tough category. When we say toiletries, we are referring to makeup, shower essentials, face-wash, hair products or anything else you use in the bathroom to get ready on a daily basis. If you can share products with someone do this. They can take up space and add weight really quickly. Maybe you bring the shampoo and someone else brings conditioner. Another thing you can do is fill reusable bottles with your own shampoo, conditioner and body wash (if you are not a bar-soap person). We don’t usually wash our hair every day (stop, it’s not gross), so travel-size containers for these items work well and you can use your favorite brands. If you can, decant your makeup or hair products into smaller containers for your travels. We’ve done this with face lotions and creams and it works great! Makeup is going to be an individual thing, but they make so many small versions of products now, it might make sense to invest in some if you are trying to save space/weight! And the good news is, if you run-out of something most hotels have the basics, or there’s usually a convenience store nearby. Having a good toiletry kit is also really nice. One that can hang in the bathroom works well.  Pro tips: bring travel toilet paper! Even when traveling around your home country, this can come in super handy. And while you’re at it, toss in some hand sanitizer. We also never leave home without poo-pourri. Traveling in a group, this is an essential! 

Shoes
Shoes are tough and will vary greatly depending on the destination and activities planned. But we recommend bringing no more than three pairs total. Typically we aim for one sneaker, one boot-type shoe (maybe hiking, snow or riding) and one slip-on or sandal. This is really tough (we feel you ladies), but so worth it! The MOST important part is picking shoes you can walk in all day. We always have the best intentions of changing in the evening or relaxing during the day, but it doesn’t happen that often. Comfort is key! 

Suitcase Type
The debate to end all debates is about what kind of suitcase is best. And unfortunately a lot of it is personal preference and you may not know until you actually take a trip with it. We are not the carry-on only types of travelers. Our goal is to be really thoughtful in packing, but we are not die-hard fans of the carry-on situation. That said, it is really easy to buy a suitcase that is too big. So here is what we recommend. Buy a couple of types; hard sided, four wheels, two wheels, duffle style, take them home and do a test-run;  literally practice picking it and moving/carrying it around. You want to make sure you can manage your bag. Pro tip: roll your clothes or use packing cubes. We actually roll our clothes and use packing cubes. It helps stay organized plus rolling saves space! 

In general there’s always something we wish we had changed about what we packed. But these are our main guiding principals. Hopefully you found them helpful!