I usually write up a packing recap in a Word document after a trip, just to remind me of what worked and what didn't. Since I enjoy reading packing recaps, I thought I'd post mine. For context, this was a solo trip. I flew from Tucson to Raleigh/Durham for four nights prior to visit my daughter, son-in-law and two month old granddaughter, and after that, flew to Philadelphia to connect to Amsterdam. I stayed in Amsterdam for six nights.
Packing recap Raleigh/Amsterdam, April 2024
Tues. 4/2 - Sat. 4/6 Raleigh
Sat. 4/6 Flying to Amsterdam
Sun. 4/7-Sat. 4/13 Amsterdam
Sat. 4/12 Fly home
Did laundry in Raleigh. Did sink laundry at hotel.
Did carry-on only on the outbound flights (Samsonite 4 wheeled hard sided light weight spinner purchased Ross and a 25 liter Duchamp Duffle purchased from TJ Maxx as the personal item). Because I purchased some food that would be considered liquid, I checked the Samsonite for the flight back home, and used the Duchamp Duffle as my carry on and an Eddie Bauer 20 Liter Stowaway Packable Backpack as my personal item.
Packed clothing:
Eddie Bauer (EB) black Sun Valley down parka, compressed in a medium packing cube & packed in Samsonite
32 Degree packable blue parka, compressed in a small packing cube & packed in Samsonite
Grey Banana Republic Merino wool long sleeve thin sweater
Black Merino Wool long sleeve thin sweater
Primark black long sleeve t shirt
Kohl’s pink long sleeve thin t shirt
Kohl’s Tek Gear think short sleeve t shirt
Graphite grey jeans
Blue old skinny jeans
2 pairs of black leggings with pockets from 32 Degrees
1 pair of thin black “travel pants” from Eddie Bauer
7 pairs of underwear
2 bras
2 pairs Merino Wool blend socks from Costco
Black fuzzy scarf
Black fuzzy cap
Black rain hat
1 pair of pj’s
Slippers for hotel
Jambu boots
Wore on flights to RDU & to AMS: Dark blue Costco Matty M tencil button up shirt and old Old Navy black jeans and black Skechers lace up shoes with compression socks, black EB Rainfoil Utility Jacket rain jacket and EB pocket scarf (a.k.a. Daisy Wrap). Jeans stretched out so much on the long day from RDU to PHL, 12 hours at PHL, flight 7 hours to AMS, then the 2-3 hours to get settled that I didn't wear on the rest of the trip.
On the three flights home from AMS, wore same except instead wore old graphite grey zipper jeans from Kohl's and brought the blue 32 Degree packable jacket instead of the EB rain jacket.
Did laundry in Raleigh. Wore Kohl's old Tek Gear short sleeve top, Primark long sleeve black t shirt, Kohl's thin long sleeve pink top.
For pjs whole trip, wore thin 32 Degree leggings, old grey ¾ sleeve stretchy t shirt. Worked well.
Instead of a money belt, I bought and used a “Stashbandz”, which worked very well, was comfortable and I didn’t have to worry about the Stashbandz falling off like I did with the money belt (such as at Disneyland Paris, when the buckle of the money belt unbuckled by accident).
In Amsterdam, wore black long sleeve Merino Wool t shirt/sweater twice and grey Merino Wool long sleeve t shirt/sweater three times. Worked great, especially grey one. Black one is pilling.Also wore the thin pink Kohl’s long sleeved t shirt.
Brought compression socks and wore them on the flights, washed and wore again twice in Amsterdam. Brought 2 pairs of Merino wool socks and wore the rest of the time and washed 1 or 2 times.
Washed the dark blue Costco Matty M tencil button up shirt at the hotel, dries beautifully in hours.
Black long EB parka worked great, as did the combo of the blue 32 Degree packable parka and EB rain jacket. Thankfully only rained, lightly, one day for some of the day. Didn't wear gloves or hats (fuzzy black and black rain hat) but glad I brought. The black fuzzy scarf that I bought on the cruise to Norway worked well. The weather was, for the most part, was pretty good.