It doesn’t fit?!

And all of the sudden it was Sunday late in the afternoon and I was sitting on my bedroom floor stressing out about the fact that I hadn’t packed yet. Packed? Packed for London to be more precise!

Tomorrow morning I will be flying to London for 4 days filled with new adventures. Never have I been to London before what makes this trip even more exciting. I am ready to explore the capital of the UK, and its amazing little hidden gems.

But first, packing. Here are some tips for packing for when you are going on a city trip or any other vacation really!

First things first: you need something to pack in. Whether you’re planning to pack a carry-on suitcase, a shoulder bag or something else, I highly recommend to travel as light as possible. London in general is big and crowded like a lot of other cities, so being held back with big and heavy luggage can be a pain, literally.

Then start off with thinking about what you normally wear when you’re at home. You probably have a few favourite pieces of clothes that you wear all the time or at least a whole lot. Put them in the bag. Right now. The second question you have to ask yourself is; What do you wear with your favourite outfits? Throw it all in there. Yes, exactly, just throw it in your suitcase or bag; shirts, pants, jeans, dresses, shoes. Everything you could possibly want to wear while you’re gone.

And now the hard part, take it all out again, the whole big mountain of clothes and shoes, and lay it out so you can see everything. It is too much! Admit it, I know its hard belief me I have this every single trip again. A girl can never have too many clothes with her… or at least that is what I used to think.

Sort the big mountain out and divide it into three categories:
1. must bring
2. maybe will wear
3. probably won’t wear

This is probably the hardest part but BE HONEST. Otherwise, we will all travel with 5 bags. Unless you have an event that you need a special outfit for like I don’t know that special subway dinner, your “must bring” category should only include items that work with several other pieces.

Try to stick with this one rule, that has saved my life many many many times before; you probably don’t need more than three shirts, two pairs of pants/jeans, a sweater, a day-to-night dress and one or two seasonal items (like a bathing suit or snow gear, just depending on the season). For shoes, wear casual ones on the plane and bring nicer ones. Nobody wants to travel while wearing uncomfortable clothes or shoes. Add underpants for every day, obvious, and don’t forget bras or other basic underclothes that work with the clothes you’ve packed.

You should imagine that there are three layers in you bas or suitcase, horizontal. First place your shoes and other hard or big items on the bottom. Than fill in the spaces between the items with smaller items like socks and underwear.

On the second layer, you can place your larger clothes, just fold them up like normal and put them in there. Or when you can’t fold your clothes, please ask your mom or friend or lover because belief me, it will safe soooooo much space.

On top of everything, so your third layer by now, should be anything that you might want to get out of your bag while you’re traveling, like an extra sweater, REMEMBER it gets cold in airplanes! I for sure made that mistake too many times already… Also, put your liquids on top in a plastic and see through bag so that you can easily get by them when you are going to security.

If, but seriously only if, you have extra space, you can add an “maybe” item. Or do what I always do, keep some space in there! Seriously nothing is as good as buying souvenirs during your trip, and nothing is as bad as not being able to bring it home with you…

To save space you should wear your heaviest and biggest clothes during your trip. I mean you can always use your scarf as blanket or jacket as pillow. Also, to make your trip a little bit more comfortable, put anything that you might or for sure want to use during your flight or trip in your handbag. A must for long, overnight flights; earplugs! Nothing as bad as a crying baby behind you and no sleep for yourself.

To help you out here are some things I always bring with me in my handbag;
- headphones
- phone charger
- hand cream (they dry air is the worst enemy of your skin. Period.)
- magazine/book/e-book
- PASSPORD
- Earplugs
- Gum (you definitely want this for when you are taking of or landing while flying, think about those ears)

Now that I finished this post and shared my best tips and tricks for packing I have nothing to post pone my own packing with, oh help… I hope this helps you guys for when you must prepare yourself for your next trip!

Kisses!