Honeymoon & Vacation Packing

Packing One Carry On Suitcase for a 30 Day Trip

Welcome back to the blog! Today I want to share something special… Vacation Packing One Carry On Suitcase for a 30 Day Trip, and actually this works no matter how long the trip is. Yes, you heard me correctly. O-N-E Carry on size piece of luggage! Even better that that? I am going to include not one but 2 coats, 3 shoes and a combination of 35 outfits!!

It’s magic, you say? No! Its just smart packing and having the right tools. There are many bags that do the trick out there but I personally love my Ebags.com Mother Lode Weekender suitcase. It fits everything I need and is handy in a pinch. I can just throw it on my back and go. This is especially nice when you are in Europe and are traveling by train. I also love these packing cubes from ebags as well. They are great for organizing and making it all fit perfectly.

COLORS

 First things first… Always start by deciding what base color you want to use. You can do Blacks/Grays, Browns/Tans, or Navy. I tend to wear black the most so thats what I usually stick with. This will help you build your staple clothing pieces. I also usually pick a family of colors for the rest of my pieces. For this example, I am picking Jewel tones. You want to pick colors that go together. This is key to mixing and matching your outfits.

THE STAPLES PIECES

 Staple pieces are like your neutral pieces.
You use these to build all your outfits and then use the additional pieces to make the outfits pop!
You should always have these items:

3 or 4 Pairs of Pants:
1 Bootcut Jean, 1 Skinny Pant (jean or in your staple color), 1 cropped or 1 legging

1 Solid Color Dress (in your staple color)

1 Chambray Shirt  OR White Blouse

1 Neutral Sweater or Cardigan

TEXTURE AND COLOR

Once you have your staple pieces, it’s time to add your color and style! Choose colors that go together. I am selecting jewel tones. Not only do I think I look good in those colors but I also already own quite a few of these items in my closet. You will want the following items:

8 Shirts (mix of dressy and casual)

3 Colored Cardigans, Sweaters or Wraps

1 Dressy Jacket or Blazer

1 Casual Coat (for warmth if needed)

3 Camisoles or Undershirts

ACCESSORIZE!

Don’t forget to add some fun to the outfits. You will need:

Necklaces, Earrings and Bracelets – As many as you want!

2 or 3 Scarves

3 pairs of shoes – ballet flats, sandals, heels, and if you have room tennis shoes

I start by grabbing everything I think I want to take, and then sort though and select the right amount of items based on the list above. If you are having trouble narrowing down your selection, then take your items and place them on your bed or the ground and make different outfits out of them. Use every piece at least 2 times or more. If you aren’t using it twice, don’t take it. Select pieces you know you will wear more and pieces that match the other items better. If you have a little room you can always squeeze in some more items but beware of over packing! It gets heavy.

With the items listed above, you should be able to make about 30-35 outfit combinations depending on your exact pieces! Not including the scarves and the jewelry that is 26 pieces of clothing!!

Ok so let’s try this out in real life! Here is what I choose based on the weather, time of year and location that I at going.

I also had a black dress that I didn’t take a picture of but I did use it quite a lot.

Now, Lets so this! I did a little video for you guys explaining everything I just talked about and you can watch how I put my bag together. take a peek!!

Now that you watched me pack (snooze fest – I know) lets look at all the outfits I could make out of these items.

**Note** I didn’t include photos of the extra pink dress since it wasn’t something I would normally pack.

Thanks for reading my post!! Please let me know what you thought below and let me know how you do your vacation packing!

Cheers and until Next time… XOXO

-Steph