what happened when I ignored all of my own packing advice
my contribution to the plethora of substack summer packing posts
Something you should know about me is that I'm one of those annoying people who takes pride in packing light. I hate dragging luggage around, I don’t like to check bags, and for the last ten+ years, we’ve also had child paraphernalia to deal with (only recently have I had a whole suitcase to myself!). Packing light1 has always been a priority and I’ve accepted that I will not be my most stylish self while traveling.
However, as my style evolves, my views around other areas of my wardrobe evolve as well. For a recent trip to visit family, I thought I might experiment a bit with *not* bringing the absolute fewest number of clothing items. Here’s my packing process for a trip a couple of weeks ago to visit my family in Mobile, Alabama and my own advice I did or didn’t take.
Advice taken: plan ahead
I have too much anxiety to not follow this one. I always pull out a bunch of options a couple of days in advance. Usually I use a wardrobe rack, but ours is currently full with winter coats, so I just hung things on my closet doors. I’m a visual person, so it’s really helpful for me to see everything together to make sure that I can make multiple outfits from what I bring.
Advice not taken: don’t buy anything new before a trip
I always start with more than I’ll need and then start to whittle it down. As I was doing this, I decided that I needed a new dress immediately. In my defense, I had been wanting to add a colorful dress for hot weather (I only had one) and had been looking in a thoughtful and intentional way, but by that point I hadn’t found anything. I threw up my hands and went to Marshall’s, where I found a very cute and comfortable dress that was good for the heat. I wore the dress on my trip and at least 4 times since (you should not do this, last minute shopping isn’t usually this successful!).
Advice not taken: only bring one extra pair of shoes
This isn’t something I always follow, but usually do for casual summer trips like this one. This time, I thought I might actually like to wear different shoes for different outfits 😯 I brought flip flops and yellow slides, but didn’t end up wearing either of them. The Birks I wore on the plane are just too comfy and easy.
Advice not taken: rewear as much as possible
Because of the heat, I actually packed an outfit per day. My suitcase wasn’t overflowing or anything, so it wasn’t a big deal, but I definitely did overpack. I didn’t get as sweaty as I had anticipated (going from air conditioning to air conditioning), so I did end up rewearing more than a few things and a few items didn’t get worn at all, or very little.
All in all, I probably would have done a little better if I had followed my own advice (except for that dress!). If you realllly struggle with overpacking or just not having a system for getting started, I put all my advice (much more than mentioned here!) into a mini-course with videos, a workbook, and a packing spreadsheet template! Use code SUBSTACK for 20% off.
Behind the paywall: how much I actually packed, the specific items, and how I wore them.
