WGJ Travels: What's In My Suitcase

 

Hi friends!

I'm back with my first installment of WGJ Travels: Florida Edition 2023. 

Let's first have a giggle.....

My favorite thing about traveling is how everyone fits so many clothes into such tiny suitcases. I am a chronic overpacker. (Whew! It feels good to admit that! LOL)  I am so jealous of men- 1 pair of shorts, maybe 3 tees and a few undies and they are good to go. 

I can't be the only one who sits and pleads with her suitcase to magically close am i?! 

I'm using my trusty Away lavender carryon this trip with my purple travel backpack. 

How I packed this trip: 

I made the first draft of my packing list, laid out all the clothes on the bed and then panicked because i can clearly see its not all going to fit in my suitcase.  Naturally, I threw everything on the open suitcase on the floor and decided to ignore it. 

Took a day or two off from thinking about packing.

Then I figured out actually what we will be doing and then started to edit the list down to what o actually needed. 

I also wrote a list of all the items that I use in a day- from morning to Night. Then I added the extras that I might need specific to the trip- sunscreen, a hat, seashell bag, etc. 

I kept to a color scheme to make things easier to mix and match. I also made sure the shoes I brought I could use for multiple items. 

Okay real talk: 

I left packing to the day before we leave. I panicked and perhaps needed an adult beverage to get through it BUT I did it. 

I think things went South when I started trying on outfits and realizing somethings were not coming together like they were in my mind. HA! 

Welp, after 3 hours and many many edits, I finally was able to sit on my suitcase enough to be able to close it. I might have put some of my stuff into Keith's suitcase to make mine close BUT the point is, I was able to fit.

Let's let the photos speak for themselves:

The angle does not show the height of this pile of clothes

Keith let me know that he packed this bag in 10 minutes and still had room to spare.
(Thanks for that hint babe!)

First attempt with the original list

Panic set in at this point

Okay, back to editing

I kept revising and thinking about what we will actually be doing and what I need clothes for. It was pretty frantic scene. Keith came in a few times and was shocked to see what was happening. At one point, he even said, I was going backwards! HAHA

Look at that beauty! 
We are ready for vacation

I ended up using packing cubes- 2 larger ones for my clothes and a smaller one for the unmentionables. 

I brought the following outfits:

Light blue and white striped dress | Jean Jacket (Travel to Florida Outfit)

Light blue shorts | Tan T-shirt
Navy Shorts | Aqua T-shirt

White Skirt | Yellow T-shirt

White Jeans | Red Tank

Yellow Floral Skirt | Coral Tank

Navy Floral Dress

Athleta Adventure Dress

Grey Shorts | Coral tank

Aqua shorts | Coral Sports Bra | Grey Tank 

Black Yoga Pants | Yellow Sports Bra | Purple Open Back Tank (Travel Home outfit)

Multi-colored pants | White Tank

Grey striped beach coverup

Black beach coverup

Fushia high waisted bikini

Watercolor high waisted bikini

Bright pink and leopard high waisted bikini

Purple pajamas

Tan sweater

Jean Jacket

I ended up bringing 4 pairs of shoes:

White sneaks 
MK Sandals 

Nike Sneaks

Flipflops

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Looking back at what the steps were I took to get to this point, I had the best intention to pack intentionally and to have options BUT when it comes down to it, I only have so much space and there are so many days I am going. I have to realize that I am not going to have full access to my closet AND to be honest, I will be spending most of my time by the pool or on the beach. 

I know I will be just fine and if need be, I can mix and match all these items because of the same hue. 

If you are wondering where my toiletries are, they are in my backpack along with some snacks, my glasses, my puzzle book, phone charger, my empty water bottle, a notebook and of course Penelope is traveling in style with her suitcase. 

I also have my hat and beach bag along with shell bags for the beach in the luggage. I have my crossbody purse in my suitcase and my wallet in my backpack for easier access.

I can't wait to see how these outfits come together.

IF you are curious, you can take a look at the What's In My Suitcase posts from previous trips:

North Carolina in July | Panama City Beach in November

I will be back next week with the first recap of the trip!

[[Blessed are the curious, for they shall have adventures.- Lovelle Drachman]]