My Packing Mentality

Hi peoples!  Happy 4th of July!  Sorry that I don’t have a red, white, and blue outfit for you today (though I do have one here.)  Instead, I have a post completely irrelevant to the 4th of July, on packing!  Haha.  Some of you said you’d be interested in seeing what I packed on my recent trip to Madison, so here it is.

Since I travel so much, you’d think I’d have this packing thing down to a science, but I don’t.  Sometimes I love what I’ve packed and other times I’m regretful.  It just so happens that on my trip to Madison in June I loved what I packed, so I’m trying to study my good packing experiences in hopes to get them down pat.

I’m not sure how helpful this packing post will be because it was only for 5 days and I didn’t have special occasions to dress for like nice dinners or the beach, etc.  Almost everything for my trip to Madison was super casual and involved lots of time in a hotel meeting room in band rehearsals.  Also, summertime requires less layers and excess things, so packing light is much easier.

At the very least, you will get to see a bunch of outfits!  🙂

I chose tops that could be paired with any of the bottoms I picked.  I limited myself to 3 (scary!), choosing one with a print, one in a solid color, and one in a neutral color with a subtle pattern.  I chose similar types of tops in my 8 Pieces, 15 Outfits post, so I think that might be something I stick to. 

I did originally have a different colored skirt in the mix, like white or navy–can’t remember, but after seeing the tops in my pile, I went with the rust colored skirt instead since it worked nicely with all three of my tops.  

Even though I’m always cold, I only brought one cardigan in a neutral color that went with everything, and it worked out well.  Having checked Madison’s weather before I left, I knew that it wouldn’t get too cold at night and that a cardigan would be sufficient, so I went sans jacket (also scary!).  I did, however, bring a fleece for “JUST-IN-CASE” but I felt okay about that because it could do double-duty and be worn to sleep if needed.  Even though a fleece is not the most stylish of outerwear, since it was for “just-in-case” I talked myself into being willing to potentially “sacrificing” style for one night.  (First-world problems, I know.)  I ended up not needing the fleece at all.

Believe it or not, I packed ONE pair of shoes besides athletic shoes to work out in.  And they were the sandals you see below.  I didn’t have to go to fancy dinners or anything like that, so I forced myself to pack light and disciplined myself that one pair of shoes would be enough.  Neutral to go with everything, comfy enough to walk in and stand in for long periods of time, and still keep an outfit cute.

Since I learned that accessories can change up an outfit, I brought just a few so that people would notice less when I repeated my tops.  Teehee.  🙂

Accessories list:

Besides workout clothes, the fleece, and undergarments, those were all the clothes I packed!  I had 12 outfit options here, but I only needed 5, so even this felt like overpacking!  Especially compared to my minimalist husband.  But like I said, the reason I overpack is because I just need to feel like I have options.  I’m glad to say that this time around I think I gave myself options while still packing pretty lightly.  

Here are the outfits I wore.  Maybe you’ll think I’m gross for repeating tops, but I don’t sweat much and I was in an air-conditioned room most of the time.  It’s okay, you can still judge me, cuz what’s done is done!  🙂

I only pictured the five outfits I actually wore and not all 12 possibilities.  I didn’t have time to take 12 outfit pictures!  Plus, I want to save them for future outfit posts.  😀

Wore this on the plane.  Loose and comfortable, and needed the cardigan because I’m often cold on planes.  I don’t like to travel in sweats, especially on trips like this when I have a 6:30a flight and arrive at 2pm only to go straight into a meeting.  To avoid feeling sluggish, I try to feel put-together while traveling.

Wore this to lead worship at the church.  It fit the bill perfectly, so good thing I packed that skirt!

Another mint & navy look.

Similar to this outfit.  I wouldn’t normally travel with mint jeans, but I knew I’d be seeing my friend who was also excited about mint jeans (my firey Puerto Rican friend who is in the post I just linked to).  In fact, she was on the hunt for them so I bought her a pair from Target here in San Diego and brought them to Madison for her!

Traveled home in this.  Again, comfy jeans and a loose top.  I added the scarf for warmth on the plane and to hide the fact that I’d worn this top already, hehe.

Other possibile outfits: