I posted on our Facebook page this picture of my packing process. My clothes were strewn about all over my bed, and the inside of my brain looked even more messy! I just couldn’t decide what I wanted to bring!!
My aim was to pack in a carry-on (to avoid a fee) for an 8-day vacation that included 2 days of seeing the city of Seattle, and 4 days on an Oregon mountain top walking trails and riding 4-wheelers. So obviously I needed to pack a variety of things that were appropriate for the occasions.
Once I started narrowing things down, it became so obvious how easy and simple this “packing light” thing could be!
I started with the things I knew I would need weather-wise (a sweater, a scarf) and the things I really wanted to bring to wear (my new maxi skirt). Next I wrote down what type of outfits I would need and began to pick out items that could be worn multiple ways. “I can wear my chambray shirt with my leggings AND my maxi skirt…”, “those tanks can go with my skinnies OR my cutoffs…” and “this tee can go with every pair of bottoms I have here…” are the right trains of thought to get that suitcase packed!
Another thing that I found to be helpful was to stick within a color scheme. This might happen naturally, as it did for me, but if not here’s what to do:
- Pick out your basics/base colors. (Mine were denim, black & white, and grey.)
- Then pick out accent colors (Mine were lavender and mint green)
- Then pick jewelry and accesories that go within that color family (I chose all cool toned, silver pieces)
This way you’ll have items that can all be mixed and matched, literally everything will coordinate nicely. And BONUS is you’ll end up packing waaaaay less. Take it from me, (I like to have loads of options and would relocate my closet when I travel if I could), THIS WORKS.
After my hours of deliberating and packing, I snapped a quick pic so that you could see how easy it is! Here’s what you need to pack to travel “light” but still be in style!
That’s it, folks! Here it is in list form 
- SHOES: dressy heels, dressy flats, comfy flats, sandals
- TOPS: chambray shirt, long sleeve tee, several tanks (I pack 3 ), slouchy tee
- BOTTOMS: maxi skirt or dress, colored skinnies, denim jeans, denim cutoffs, leggings
- OTHER: sweater, scarf, accessories
- Also, DON”T FORGET: plenty of underthings, travel size toiletries and cosmetics, hair needs, and chargers for your phone and computer!
xo from Seattle, WA…keepin’ it thrifty, stylish, and “light”,