Imagine having a large bag with one opening at the top. Every single item that you bring goes into this bag (with an exception for the small carry-on or purse that you have on the plane/train). Each morning, in order to get your outfit for the day, you must pull out all of your clothes. Pick something to wear and stuff everything back inside your bag (since you can't exactly lay out of hang up clothing in a hostel). At night, you pull everything out and grab pajamas, then stuff everything back in. The next morning, the cycle continues. Clothing gets wrinkled, nothing gets packed up well and it's just a lot of stuff!
Packing light is also an issue. I like to be prepared for anything to come along. That means bringing tennis shoes, flip flops, and probably a couple of cute shoes that go with my outfits. I've sometimes brought up to 5 pairs on a trip! Crazy, I know. I've also packed way more shirts than I would ever wear and other items that I thought I might need and never did. All this has done is give me a very large, heavy bag to carry around on my poor shoulders - and little room for souvenirs.
My mission for this trip is to pack light and organize my bag better. First step is my pick of shoes. I like to fit in and not stand out as an American, so I generally try to stay away from athletic gear and jean shorts. My standard outfit would be a cute shirt (no logos) and khaki or black capris. Jeans are brought for cooler nights. With that kind of clothing, tennis shoes just don't look good - even though they are the best to walk around in. I would like to avoid bringing tennis shoes on this trip, while trying to stick to 2 pairs of shoes.
I searched tons of blogs about proper footwear for Europe travel. Three main criteria were brought up - comfort, style and sandals. What if I could get comfort and style into one shoe? Then bring my nicer black Teva sandals for the 2nd pair? I started to look into the specific suggestions on the sites. Most of the shoes they were recommending were between $80 and $180. I don't even spend that much on my nice tennis shoes and I certainly am not planning on spending that amount while I'm trying to save up for 2 major trips this summer. There were a couple lower cost options - TOMS/BOBS and Skechers GoWalk. A couple people raved about TOMS for travel (even though both said that the shoes were pretty much destroyed after the trip. So, I started looking into those. I've never been much of a slip-on shoe kind of person, but these were growing on me. I googled TOMS for Europe travel. There, I found that the majority of people said that they were horrible shoes for walking all over the place. While they were great for packing, they had little support and were not suitable for a long trip where walking is just about all you do. I brought this up later to a friend who has TOMS. She said that taking them to Europe would absolutely be the WORST idea. Ok, then.
Next stop was looking at GoWalk shoes. They retail between $40 and $60. I can handle that price - especially if I buy from Kohl's and get my extra discount from the charge card. Since I am expecting these shoes to go with nearly every outfit, I needed something in a relatively neutral color. Then I saw the GoWalk - Interval in gray. They looked perfect! I could pair them with khakis or black pants and of course, any shirt. Now the question was how appropriate were they for walking. They are designed for walking, but that doesn't really guarantee that they are super comfortable. That thought was quickly dismissed when I tried them on. It was like walking on a cloud! Not only did the shoes conform to my foot, but the insoles were so cushy and comfortable. To top that off, the soles were thick and had pretty good traction (good for those cobblestone streets). At a price of $47 after my discount, these shoes couldn't have been more perfect and I bought them right away.
This is the GoWalk -Interval above. The GoWalk series has a lot of different colors for both men and women. There are even a couple striped ones. They also have socks designed just for these shoes. They have gel padding in the back to prevent from slipped and don't show at all. I would highly recommend these shoes to any traveler. They are stylish and comfortable and will go with so many outfits.
Now that I have my shoes, the next step is picking outfits. Everyone has said to be able to mix and match each item that you bring. My plan is to lay a few shirts that will go with the capris and jeans I mentioned earlier and then bring only items I know I will absolutely need.
The next plan is to organize it all. I found a cute packing cube on Pinterest:
Something like this will help me to keep everything organized through the trip and keep me from stuff everything into my bag. I decided to try and make one. Once I started and got all the materials, I went to REI and found packing cubes the same size for as low as $11! I'm kind of kicking myself right now, but I know at the end, I will be proud of my project and have something that I made myself. Although, I may still go buy a couple more cubes rather than make more. We'll see when I finish this one.
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