Take a Trip Thursday: Packing tips and Hawaii Pics

Napali Coast Kauai

You know how some people have the most gorgeous, coordinated, well put together outfits when they travel?  I am not one of those people.  At all.  I have made a lot of packing blunders in the past.  I'm still not the perfect packer, but I thought I could share what I have learned so far. :)

1.  Plan ahead:  Waiting until the last minute results in grabbing many miscellaneous items that may or may not go well together.  I have learned this the hard way.  Also it is hard to pack the right amount when you are in a hurry.
2.  Plan multiple outfits with your pieces:  As you decide what pieces you want to take lay them all out and start putting together potential outfits.  You want clothes that you feel comfortable in and that work well together.  I am very bad at grabbing a bunch of my favorites and then finding out on the trip that I only can make a few outfits and that some pieces don't match with anything :(
3.  Dress for your activities:  Take your itinerary and decide, based on what you are doing each day, what you should plan on wearing.  You don't have to plan everything out to a T, but if you are going to be doing a ton of hiking (like we did in HI), you will want multiple outfits that work for that activity and less outfits for other activities.  

We brought old shoes for hiking.  Thank goodness!

Our trip consisted mainly of hiking with a side of driving and beaching :)

Waimea Canyon

4.  Bring at least one "fancy" outfit:  It is nice on vacation to go out to a nice dinner or do some shopping at least once.  It isn't as much fun when you feel like the frumpy tourist.
5.  Don't under or over pack:  I have decided that slightly over packing is better than under packing.  I tend to under pack, but I am getting better :)  Once again look at your activities and then how many days you will be gone.  Plan maybe one extra just in case outfit, but not three. :)

You can't tell from the picture but there is a nice swimming hole right here...

see we're actually standing up in this pic.

We hiked, waded, and kayaked to get to the swimming hole.

Maliuhi Road

Poipu Beach 

I bet you want to go to Kauai now ;)  It was a fun trip!

Thanks so much for reading!!  Comment if I should do a post about traveling cheaply.  Also if you have any packing tips I would love to hear them!

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