Adding RyanAir to our plans saves us some travel time, but it does mean we have to travel super light. That means one smallish backpack or duffel and one tiny under the seat bag. The “bigger” bag must weight less than 20 pounds. They can and do pick people out to weigh their bags. If you are over weight, you have to pay big cost to check the bag – like $80. Which is actually more than most of our flights costs. So – packing light. No fashion plates this summer, lots of grey and black and wearing everything twice before we do laundry. Sounds like college.
Note: Items crossed out we either threw away or mailed home because we didn’t need nearly as much as we thought. After this trip, I became a convert to the pack-lite movement.
Important Stuff
- Passport
- Some cash in Dollars and Pounds
- ATM/Debit and credit cards
- Driving licence
- Digital copies of passport & travel docs stored on laptops and emailed to ourselves
- Money belt for Karen
- Wallet for Jacob
Electronics
- Travel power adaptor kit
- USB flash drives
- Jacob’s camera and gear and bag and charger & sd cards
- Spare USB Cable
- Phone, charger
- Headphones
Headphone splitter – so we can listen to one device together for tours- Tablet and charger
Digital keyboard for writingHooToo with adapters
Misc:
- Travel information (
minimal paper – mostlydigital) - Addresses (digital)
Small picture book of our hometown and pictures of our family- Tiny flashlight on key chain
eyeglass repair kitsafety pins – assorted sizes- ziplock bags – 2 each size
- small notebook
- small sketch pad (Jacob)
- pens, pencil & eraser
- Earplugs
- Eye mask
- Sea sick bands
Luggage
- 1 Backpack or duffel each (too big by end of summer but great for shopping)
1 tiny under seat storage bag each- Foldable/packable day pack each
- We each bought a beautiful leather bag in Florence and carried that the rest of the summer.
1 small combination lock eachPacking cubesCompression bag for laundry
Plane Travel Kit:
- Tissues
- Nasal saline gel
- gum
- dop kit
shawlfuzzy socksPlane snacks: nuts, chocolate, sandwiches- Refillable water bottles and/or travel coffee mug to make coffee and take it out in the mornings
Paperback book each,books on audible, books on Kindle and Nook books
Jacob’s Clothes
- walking shoes (outgrew these on the trip! Bought sneakers in Paris)
Sports sandals (waterproof)rain jacketlight sweater or sweatshirtJeans (debating this one)- Other pants (not jeans)
Shorts x 2- 1 long sleeve shirt
- 3 t-shirts
- 5 underwear
- 3 socks
- Swim shorts (did double duty as walking shorts)
- Sunglasses
in travel case
Karen’s Clothes: (can I put stuff in Jacob’s bag or is that cheating?)
- Gray and black – no whites, no reds to fade
- swim suit
- Pajamas (tank and shorts can double as emergency clothes)
1 grey jeans (wear these on planes)- 1 skirt (lightweight)
- 1 dress (double as beach cover up)
- 1 black leggings
sandals- walking shoes
light rain jacketgrey sweater -wear on the planefleece beenie for cold days and planesumbrella- hat for sun/rain
53 shirts + wear 153 underwear + wear 1- 2 bras
- 3 socks + wear 1
- scarf
Dop Kit (what we call our toiletry bag)
- Toiletries to share (we can each carry only 3)
ShampooSoapLotion- Sunscreen
Hair gel- Dr Bonners
acne wash- toothbrush with covers
- toothpaste
- floss sticks
- pads
- eyeliner
- lipstick
- comb
- deodorant (shared by end of summer)
- By the end of the summer, we had one bottle with a few:
- benadryl
- Ibuprofen
- Aleve
- Immodium
- Dimenhydrinate travel sickness pills
- Medicine and vitamins. Keep medicine in original containers, if possible, with legible prescriptions and generic names.
- Few bandaids/moleskin
- Prescription meds
- tiny roll of duct tape
- Shout wipes
- Prescription sunglasses.
- Travel size hairbrush
- Lip balm