Packing for a Trip

 When it comes to packing, I am no pro.  I don't travel very often and when I do pack it is usually for an over night stay.  So, when we were preparing for our trip to New Orleans, I was pretty happy with the way I packed.  It was 3 night, 4 day trip but I had to be prepared for a thunderstorm (which is what the weather was predicted to be) or a beautiful day.  So, this how I packed:

 I put all of my outfits out on the bed.  I know - this could easily be for a 10 day trip but I had no idea what to expect weather wise.  Packing like this saved me a lot of time and it eliminated me adding items to the top of my suitcase "just in case."  I feel like I packed less and used more of what I brought. 
This was a vacation so all the clothing was casual.  I stuck with colors that went well together (jeans are the neutral).  If I were packing for a business trip (ha - would that be teaching out of state?) then I would have chosen a neutral and based by outfits off of that. 

 

I put the dresses with what I planned on wearing them with; the coral dress with a jean jacket, a necklace, a strapless bra and boyshorts, and the jean dress with a belt, cardigan, boyshorts and a scarf.  You can also see my capri and striped shirt outfit.  I also brought leggings, 7 pairs of socks, a few undershirts, and at least 6 pairs of underwear. 

 I packed one pair of jeans (and wore one of the plane) and packed 4 shirts to pair with the jeans or my capris.

 I also brought two sweaters (on zip-up and one pull over), a black cardigan, a scarf, and workout clothes.

 I packed all of my jewelry in a bag so it would stay in one piece and not become a tangled mess.

 I put each necklace in a snack sized ziplock bag. 

 And it all fit perfectly in the adorable make-up bag I bought at the Gap Outlet for like a dollar the other day. 

 I brought a variety of shoes - boots, flip flops, flats, and sneakers (with my workout clothes).  I didn't know what the weather was going to be like so I was prepared.  I wore the sneakers on the plane since they are the bulkiest of the shoes I brought. 

 Everything fit perfectly in my bag. 

What I packed:

- jeans

- jean capris

- 2 dresses

- jean jacket

- 2 cardigans

- 4 shirts

- sweater

- 7 pairs of socks

- 8 pairs of underwear (2 boyshorts for the dresses)

- strapless bra

- regular bra

- 3 pairs of shoes (boots, flip-flops, and flats)

- belt

- workout clothes 

- PJs (not pictured above)

- jewelry (which I didn't wear)

- leggings

- makeup and showering stuff

What I wore on the plane:

- jeans

- undies, a bra, socks and an undershirt (like I needed to write that)

- purple shirt

- sneakers

- sweater

Leaving the other half for snacks Michael's clothes.  If I was traveling alone (and owned a carry on bag) then this would have easily fit in a carry on. 

I put my showering supplies and makeup on top. And, I had plenty of room for my snacks in the pocket on the outside of this bag.

What are your packing tips?