3 weeks in summer: what I packed vs. what I wore

Thanks for posting, travel4fun! It looks like you did amazingly well with wearing almost everything you packed. I always end up with two or three items that never left my suitcase, and am so disappointed! I too always bring changes of jewelry, and then never wear it! My old standby earrings, black lava pearl posts from Iceland and silver hoops seem to go with absolutely everything I wear!

Bookmarked for future reference 😉

Travel4fun, I too am an overpacker and can admit it, and I appreciate your courage in posting your list here. TWELVE BOTTOMS ???!!! (Including dresses ) Wowwwwww

Oh Kim, you had to count them! Yikes. I know, it was way too many.

Travel4fun, ok I am surprised you felt the need to pack 9 bottoms, 1 skirt, 2 dresses, 9 tops and 1 sweater. BUT!! To then read you got all of that into 3 packing cubes and 1 carryon!?!? I do salute you😁. Amazing.

Also interesting to hear your thoughts on what worked with your shoes. Very good point about good sneakers covering most vacation ‘hiking’. Love the sun hat too. Sounds like you had a great time.

Good record keeping! So what about next time - do you think you'll remember this and pack lighter? 😊

That's about twice the clothes I bring for a 3.5 to 4 week trip. I can't figure out how that all fit into a carry on. What luggage did you use?

Usually people say 2 pairs of shoes. I do break that rule, as well, and agree that even broken in fave shoes, can become uncomfortable. I always bring at least 3 pairs of shoes, especially if one is flat sandals. Sometimes just rotating thru shoes helps. I've never brought hiking boots to Europe, but I just purchased Merrill hiking shoes that I intend to bring to New Zealand. They are so much smaller for packing.

Well you did pack them all in AND wore them all ! So my hat is off to you !!

That is an awful lot of clothes for 3 packing cubes and one carry on! You must be a size -6... How big was the carry on? I love linen, but not the wrinkles. How did you keep the linen items looking fresh and uncrumpled?

I too am impressed with what you were able to pack into your carry on. Your clothes must be very lightweight. What brands were your clothes? I'm starting to plan for a 2.5 week northern Italy trip which includes a wedding, hiking and cycling and would like to pack that into a 8kg carry on.

I’m certainly not a size 6, more like an 18, so my clothes are far from tiny. But they are certainly lightweight. We had irons everywhere except Stresa and Bacharach, so I could iron what I needed. Most of my travel clothes are from the Gap (I adore their crinkle knit fabric) or Old Navy. I’m guessing the shirts weigh about 4 oz, but I’d have to weigh them when I get home.

Here are some of the items:
https://www.costco.com/three-dots-ladies'-wide-leg-pant.product.4000067520.html?sh=true&nf=true&qaTestID=ios7.3

This one in navy:
https://www.gapfactory.com/browse/product.do?pid=659678001&vid=1&&searchText=Crinkle#pdp-page-content

These in black and olive:
https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=561177012&vid=1#pdp-page-content

Lucky Brand Women's Short Sleeve Pintuck Top https://a.co/d/1nQus6f

Between my husband and I, we packed a 20” bag and a 26” bag, plus two backpacks. We checked both the 20” and 26” due to Condor Air’s ridiculous carry on size limits, so we split our clothes between our bags in case one was lost. My 3 packing cubes fit perfectly in my carryon, with room for my sandals, and a few misc items (umbrella, etc). Big cube for my bottoms, medium cube for my tops, narrow cube for my socks & undies.

Some of the misc stuff was added to the bigger checked bag: liquids, jackets, extra shoes, hiking poles (which we never used).

In my backpack on the plane, I had my liquids, my electronics, my in flight essentials, a plastic envelope with all our itineraries, and some snacks. I wore linen pants, a t shirts, a long sleeve linen shirt, a sweatshirt and hiking boots on the plane.

Oh, you went to some of our favorite locations - Venice, Dolomites, Stresa & Wengen! I hope your weather was clear & perfect for the mountain views!

Good job in keeping track of what you brought and how many times you wore it! While it’s fresh in your mind, go through your list and mentally remove 4-5 clothing items. And then re-tally how many times you would have worn each of the remaining items on your list, considering what you were doing each day. (Repeat, if desired.) It’s one way that’s helpful for me to reduce what I’m taking on the next trip (if that’s a goal).

Sometimes I wear something on the trip “just because it’s in my suitcase”. That was the case for the four scarves I brought. Otherwise, 1-2 would have been plenty for the month. You might have some of those situations, too.

Jean, yes, the weather has been glorious. Only two afternoons of brief rain (in the alps) in 3 weeks. Other than that, just gorgeous!

My goal is always to pack lighter. Then I just start adding more and more. This is why I wanted to actually keep track and really force myself to whittle it down next time. I like the idea of imagining what I would have worn had I left a few things behind. There are definitely items that I only wore once, that could be cut in the future.

Thanks travel4fun. Time to go shopping. :-)

Thanks for sharing! It's always interesting to see what other women pack! That's great you kept track of how many times you wore something, so you know if you want to take it again. Special mention for only 3 pairs of shoes and realizing you could have used better alternatives to hiking boots (which take up a lot of space); great job! One of my "secrets" to footwear is taking an older pair of running shoes which I can use for running OR walking OR hiking/sightseeing (great for traipsing through castles!) and then I throw them out before I go home, after they've served their purpose. I personally would not take any item that I wore only once in 3 weeks unless it was something special (or I dumped it after wearing, haha). An added benefit to taking fewer clothing items that no one has mentioned is that you don't have to spend much time thinking about what to wear every day. Just put on whatever you have and GO. There is actually a lot of freedom in that. I do realize there can be a learning curve to wearing the same things over and over; it takes some time for it to really sink in that no one notices or cares what you're wearing (unless it's inappropriate) and no one in Germany is going to know that you wore that same skirt in Paris. This is not directed at the OP but for the forum in general!

“ it takes some time for it to really sink in that no one notices or cares what you're wearing”

About the only time people notice that you’re repeating an outfit several times is during a tour where we see each other for a few weeks; otherwise, locals only see you for a few days. I was rotating the same three dresses during my entire time of the Croatia hot weather part of the RS Adriatic tour, so I had purposely chosen three very cute washable dresses. Some of the ladies commented during the trip that they loved the look of the dresses (two asked for the brand name), and I only cared that my clothes washed easily overnight in the sink of my hotel room. A couple of scarves & a pair of statement earrings gave me a little variety, but really, it didn’t matter.

@Jean, you are so right, people don't care. For our first trip to Europe, I was worried that my "always hot" husband would stick out as American in his shorts. A friend said, people we know we are American, anyway, and it will not matter. (Of course, he dresses appropriately for churches)

So often, even when people are warned, they persist in wearing inappropriate footwear. I've seen so many flip flops on steep hiking trails, and heels when sightseeing, etc. I was a little surprised when I noticed how sensible people in Portugal were, locals and travelers alike. I rarely saw someone in heels and most often folks were wearing athletic shoes and sandals.