I'm slowly getting down a system for packing that I think will work for me!! Of course depending on the trip destination and length changes that.
I'm still an over packer by nature ( good thing we drive to most places..lol) but that's only because I'm kind of wishy washy when it comes to my wardrobe. And I always put extras in because you never know when you will have to change clothes because of weather, malfunctions or accidents ( with the pizza sauce from your dinner)!
I love the luggage I got around Christmas time at Macy's. I do wish now I had gotten Marc his own set! lol
I know this seems like a crazy amount of bags but you will see the method to my madness real soon...I promise! lol
This was my "carry-on" bag! It holds most everything you could ever need on a plane or car! These tend to change based on where I'm going. I have several Disney ones as well! It holds my blanket, my neck roll, iPad, iPod, headphones, several books and magazines, snacks, note pad, pens/pencils/highlighter bag, travel folder, etc! You name it and it can hold it. I could even get my purse in there when we hauled the luggage to the hotel rooms ( we stayed in three different hotels this trip).
On a road trip I also carry snacks, my own pillow for the hotel bed, my purse of choice, and extra bags for bringing back souvenirs!
We had a suite during our stay at the Buena Vista Suites hotel. We actually got upgraded to a King Suite with a jacuzzi ( a first for us). The Buena Vista suites come standard with mini fridge, microwave, a separate seating area, and bedroom. So the cabinet where the fridge was had ample drawer space for snacks!
My collection of garbage bags, zip lock bags, paper bags ( I had these crazy idea I would have time to pop popcorn in the microwave) and cloth grocery/shipping bags. We used these to store snacks and food in. And we had to insulated bags for water and perishables while traveling.
I took a few "cooking" supplies just in case we stayed in any of the days we were there.
The fridge ended up holding mostly our water, some fruit and some leftovers from dinner.
We kept the bananas out on the cabinet. One of my goals was to stay away from as much junk food as I could.
The hotel also provided the standard coffee pot but they also offered a full breakfast every morning at no additional cost so most of the time Marc would get his coffee downstairs during breakfast. We did use our "insulated" cups a lot during this trip. Iced coffee for Marc. Tea or water for me.
I try to unpack the moment we get to a hotel, and most of the time I repack the night before we leave. Because this trip required a stay at three separate hotels I tried to pack accordingly by using garment bags for our "travel" part of the journey and our smaller rolling case (filled with our toiletry bags) for the first half of the trip and thereby allowing us to leave the larger rolling case in the car until we arrived in Orlando.
I also got to use our new Ikea travel accessory/packing cube bags on this trip for the first time. I could probably even use one more additional sets. The bag at the top is an old bags from years ago that I used on this trip to hold swimsuit clothing. Unfortunately we got a lot if rain especially during our downtime so sadly I did not make it to the pool on this trip. Probably a good thing since I never found my favorite swimsuit and never found one on the trip I liked as well! This shelf also held Marc's pajamas.
Marc had a cube filled with his socks, t-shirts and underwear. I really want to have an additional set of these cubes!
These "cubes" held his outer garments which were mostly shorts and polo shirts. He had one pair of tennis shoes and a couple pair of dress shoes (he had class that Friday and Saturday before our trip and I traveled with him so we could leave directly after class for Orlando). My sister who lives where the school is located actually found us a really good deal at the Omni. But you will have to check out the trip report to see that! lol
We each had four drawers. The last drawer on Marc's side held our shopping purchases (minus jewelry which we locked in the hotel safe). My first drawer held my nightclothes, slippers and cover up for the swim suit I never had! lol
The two smaller bags hold my underwear and bras. The larger one had my socks and t-shirts.
I also had two packing cubes with all of my dresses, shorts and tops.
The bottom drawer held my shoes and purse. Yes, that's a lot of purse and shoes. But most were flats so they took up little space. The three bags laid flat on the outside pocket of the large suitcase.
All of these items fit inside my large suitcase!
This ikea large toiletry bag held all of Marc's toiletry items including his own toothbrush, toothpaste, shaver, shower gel, aftershave gel, cologne hair brush and deodorant. Marc is pretty low maintenance when it comes to this stuff.
The smaller blue bag in front held my meds, and the larger bag holds our electronic cords.
I on the other hand tend to take a lot of stuff!!! I got most of the red plaid bags you see here on clearance at Target last fall. They are all Sonia Kashuk bags with the exception of the black bags. The top one holds manicure tools, polish and a travel size nail polish. I'm doing a separate post on my toiletry bag contents. Just thought I would give you a small glimpse here.
Facial and hair accessory bags.
Make-up bags and supplies. By the way my Mary Kay make-up brush bag was perfect for this trip!!!
Main toiletry bag!
And lastly My jewelry pouch from the Container Store. More details on that as well later. All of these items (along with our pajama's and a change of shoes for me) fit in our smaller rolling bag. I will talk about some of the things that I found unnecessary to bring on a future trip when I do my more detailed toiletry bag post.
So there you have it!!! My long awaited Packing post! LOL
