How to Pack for a Weekend Trip

 

Tomorrow, I'm hopping on a flight bright and early (5:15 AM to be exact!) back to where I co-oped last year in Seville, Spain! I'm so thrilled to go back - I'm especially looking forward to eating at all the food places I used to love and seeing my old coworkers. I've literally had dreams about croquetas the past few months!


For me, one of the best things about co-oping abroad vs. studying abroad is the lack of homework and studying on the weekends, combined with Europe's generally lax vacation policies. This makes going on quick weekend trips around Europe super doable (especially due to cheap Ryanair flights!). However, with cheap flights come limited baggage, so I've mastered the art of packing everything I'll need into one small backpack. These are a handful of things I've learned throughout two co-ops abroad:

1. Wear your heels to the airport

Sure, it’ll feel a little funny boarding your plane in your 5-inch clubby stilettos, but these shoes are the worst offenders when it comes to backpack real estate. You’ll save a ton of room if you switch out your flip flops for your heels (and look good while doing it too).

2. Bring minimal makeup and toiletries

A few crucial makeup products, deodorant, and perhaps travel-sized shower stuff is all you’ll need. Don’t waste room packing a thousand different hair sprays, lotions, perfumes etc.—they’ll definitely weigh you down!

3. Print out your flights, Airbnb, etc.! 

This is super helpful for when you don’t have access to an outlet and your phone dies, leaving you hopeless and confused in a foreign city. Printing out your flight number and times as well as the address of your Airbnb or hotel will save you in a pinch. Itineraries are your friend!

img_2717 

4. Plan out your outfits ahead of time

Again, with very limited space in your bag, you’re going to need to get crafty and strategic. Weekend trips are the time to bring your tried-and-true clothing that you know you’ll be comfortable in. Knowing what you’re wearing on which days will reduce the amount of clothes you need to bring as well as avoid any clothing catastrophes—like accidentally packing only neon bras and see-through white shirts.

5. Snacks are VERY important

When hopping over to a new city for a weekend trip, it can be surprisingly hard to find food immediately when the hangry-ness strikes. Therefore, it’s crucial to pack some sustenance to tide you over in these trying times—granola bars, crackers, and my personal favorite Takis are all good options to keep you sane and sustained.

6. Travel-sized sunscreen is crucial

Pale people—if you’re taking a bunch of beach-y weekend trips, you’re not going to want to spend 13 Euro on a bottle of sunscreen every time you go somewhere only to use it once or twice and then chuck it. Have a solid bottle of sunscreen at home and pack some in a small travel tube for hitting the beach.

7. Skip the reusable water bottle (sorry environment!)

I love me a good Camelbak, but for weekend trips, it’s the move to leave the reusable water bottle behind. They take up a huge amount of space in your backpack, and you can just buy a plastic one once you get to the city you’re visiting and use that for the weekend.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All the Airbnbs I've Ever Stayed in, Ranked

Image
Oh, Airbnb—you gotta love it. It's my go-to for finding cheap yet comfortable places to stay when traveling. Hosts are usually willing to spill all their local secrets and seem to always jump at the chance to help you in any way they can. To me, Airbnbs offer a much more authentic way to experience a city you're visiting. Here's a ranking of all of the Airbnbs that are in my login (some others were booked by my friends—I've unfortunately lost those!) 9. Gran Canaria, Canary Islands This Airbnb was pretty overpriced and under-furnished—my bed had only one thin sheet without any blankets on top of it. That paired with the rainy weather and freezing cold shower made it a pretty uncomfortable stay! Plus, the kitchen was weirdly separated from the living room on the other end of the apartment.  8. Ibiza, Spain This apartment was in a pretty convenient location, close to the water, Ibiza's old town, and famous nightclub Pacha. However, it wasn't the th
Read more

Halle's Visit to Slovakia

Image
This past week, my best friend Halle hopped on over to Slovakia for a visit! She's a true trip buddy of mine —we've been to Puerto Rico, Spain, and Greece together already. Hal is always a fun person to hang out with, dancing and acting goofy at all times, so I was super stoked to have her visit me here in Slovakia. We'd been preparing for this week for months, chatting almost daily about the fun things we wanted to do and see! We started off with a spontaneous trip to Budapest because she's always dreamt of seeing the famous Szechenyi Baths (which she was right to, they're soooo  relaxing). It was a fun two days gallivanting around the city, tasting traditional Hungarian goulash and taking a boat cruise of the Danube. This was already my third time in Budapest, and I think it's safe to say that it's my favorite city I've ever been to. The streets have an unexplainable atmosphere of grandeur and weirdly feel like home to me. I think I'll return i
Read more

“Sooo...how did you end up in Slovakia?”

Image
  This is the classic question that I get greeted with by nearly every person I meet in Slovakia. For some reason, they can’t fathom why I’d choose to come here from the U.S. “But you’re from New York! You can do anything there!” is a line that I hear a lot. The truth is (besides the fact that I'm from Connecticut, not New York), there’s not one straightforward answer as to how I ended up co-oping here in Slovakia. It’s sort of a combination of factors that ultimately got me here in the land of goat cheese dumplings. My great-grandparents are from here!     A big reason why I was drawn to Slovakia is the fact that ¼ of my heritage is from here (well, it was Czechoslovakia back in the day). My great-grandparents immigrated to the U.S. way back in the 1880s, so I thought it’d be cool to come back here and “get in touch with my roots”. It was a cool feeling the day I arrived knowing that I was the first person to step foot on Slovak ground in my family in generations. 2.
Read more