Art of Not Overpacking...

My never ending dilemma continues, we leave for Cuba on Monday and I still haven't figured out what to pack. I am not sure where I read this but one blogger managed to pack for a two week trip to Italy only using a carry on! Good on her, I sadly don’t know if I can do it… mainly because who I am as a person.

However, for this trip I did however pack everything in one medium size suitcase (comparing to my OVERSIZED suitcases that make appearances usually). Issue with having checked luggage is that sometimes it doesn’t make the final destination at the same time as you do; this happens to my sister once every trip! Second issue with checked bags are that they are costly, everyone charges for checked bags and before you know it your trip is $200 more then what you started with. However, since I was unsuccessful in getting everything into a carry on, one small-er checked bag it is.

Here is what I packed for an 8 day trip:

• Two skirts.
• Three dresses. Two of those are on the casual side but swap flats for heels and I am ready for a night out.
• One sweater
• One pair of shorts.
• Four shirts.
• 3 swim suits.
• Three pairs of shoes. This was probably the hardest decision of them all. I need my shoes. So I settled on pair of flats, pair of runners and one pair of heels.
• Accessories: a hat, scarf, watch, two bracelets, a belt, 2 necklaces and 2 pairs of earrings,& pair of sunglasses.
• One leather jacket.

With all things considered I think I did well, maybe not great but compared to how I usually pack this is an improvement. I think that planing outfits ahead of time and repacking helped a lot. What do you think? What are some things you can’t travel without? (For me apparently its shoes!)


get to know me fact: I don't like not being in control of things all the time, so packing for a trip is stressful since I can't pack everything to dress for everything that might come my way.