Packing For Travel As if You Actually Know What You’re Doing
Written by Alicia April 4, 2016
Roman ruins in Croatia!
Croatia was filled with beautiful Roman ruins!
Transformed from a Roman Military fort, to an attraction with a wonderful view of Pula!
Enjoying the warm sunshine and clear water.
Sorry, I really like the Ruins...
Well, eight hours on a train was a strange way to spend a holiday, but I got a chocolate chick so life was good!
The fountain was beautifully lit.
Also, one of the two days I wore those boots!
Lol, when you travel with one person so everything becomes a selfie.
Just a casual lunch overlooking the Colosseum.
Alright folks, let’s get down to business and the less glamorous side of traveling, specifically: cloths packing.
Let me first say that I thought I had it down pat! I showed up with my one giant suitcase and had significantly less luggage than many girls and a good amount of guys. I was attempting to follow the very sound advice I had been given: pack your suitcase once, then take half of those clothes and twice the money. I packed a range of nice but casual clothes and thought I must be killing it! It took me less than a week to realize that I had made some egregious errors! While my lean wardrobe packing had allowed me quite a bit of space for other items like school supplies and shampoo, it also left me also with the need to go shopping for new clothes.
After nearly 82 days living out of a single suitcase, here is my grand and sage advice: when packing, don’t be afraid to go extreme. Now, I’m not saying to bring an Armani suit, a prom dress, your rattiest shorts, and holey t-shirts. There simply aren’t as many times to dress neutrally—not fancy but not like a bum—as you might think. If this is still a little confusing I have some general guidelines that may help.
Nice dress shoes: despite what it might say online, there will be plenty of opportunities to wear cute but not so comfy shoes. For gourmet dinners, the company tour, class presentations, and a few other various activities you will have to dress nicely but walk less than a mile. In addition, make sure you pack shoes that you can definitely walk at least ten miles in. Tennis shoes, comfortable flats, and boots are my best suggestion. Also, don’t be like me and forget your flip flops! Those are useful both on campus and for hostel stays.
In short, I would advise against bringing cute but slightly uncomfortable shoes. Example: the short heeled brown boots that I dragged all the way to Italy—yeah, they have been worn a grand total of 2 days. Typically, you will either be walking all day or barely walking at all.
And now, moving on up to apparel.
First on the list is: Comfy clothes. College sweatshirts, sweatpants, leggings, and t-shirts. You are going to be on campus five days a week, seeing no one but your professors and classmates. This is not really a place for dark jeans and fancy tops. Sometimes it’s also in your best interest to dress down for really long travel days. When you spend 3 hours on a train, 1 in airport, and 2 on a plane, only to arrive at 2am, it’s hard to be too concerned about your outward appearance.
And on the flip side, don’t be afraid to bring a nice suit or fancier dress. You can certainly get away with business casual (I certainly have) but if you have a fear of being under-dressed it might be in your best interest to kick it up a few notches.
And that brings us to outerwear and the struggle to try to accommodate weird weather.
If you are traveling in the spring semester, you just might want to bring your winter coat. I’m still not exactly sure how I convinced myself out of this one. Somehow I thought that my Midwestern blood would protect me through the mild Italian winter on its own. And it might have if it weren’t for two reasons. The first is that when Italians go out at night they sit or stand outside, no matter the temperature (one of the quickest ways to be spotted as a tourists is to request a table inside). The second is that I wasn’t in Italy the whole time. I spent weekends in Switzerland, Poland, Germany, and Slovenia. Be sure to bear in mind while packing that if you are planning on traveling north at all, a coat is not a bad idea! This same rule applies to rain jackets (though it is completely feasible to survive with just an umbrella).
In the same respect, if you, like many of the CIMBians here, consider 55 degrees warm, a pair of shorts would not be a bad idea. However, do use discretion with this because Europeans are almost guaranteed to still be in pants for the duration of your stay.
Now I’m not trying to tell you to take your whole wardrobe and you can definitely buy clothes along the way. However, it might just be one less thing on your mind to be prepared for a multitude of situations.
Good luck and happy packing!
Ciao, Ali
Blogger: Alicia, Western Michigan University
