Vacation Packing List - Pack it Perfect!

Hawaii Bound!!

But first, gotta pack!

Packing for a beach Vacay?! I got you covered…

I feel like packing for a beach vacay is harder than a winter vacay because there are soo many moving parts, clothes and accessories that don’t fold or lay nice and of course HATS… it can be so hard to pack hats without squishing them etc.

So when packing for Hawaii I wanted to try and figure out how to make sure every item had a place or a home… bikinis were tucked away, outfits were organized by style, and hats were packed to insure they wouldn’t be smooshed or bent.

I had never been a fan of the “roll up” method for packing because:

1. I thought it would wrinkle the clothes too much

2. I loved seeing everything I had in the suitcase laid out.

However, I figured it was time to switch it up.

*If you roll your clothes up properly it shouldn’t wrinkle and it for sure makes more room…also portable STEAMER! You can always pack one or the hotel usually has one.

Although I love the new rolling my clothes method and my portable steamer, my new favorite packing obsession is actually….

PACKING CUBES!

Not only do these babes really keep my items organized, it keeps my suitcase organized and even better keeps my suitcase looking CUTE! They come in so many different styles and colors you can customize it to your liking.

So… first things first,

Order the packing cubes.

I ordered 2 sets on Amazon to see which I liked more and I ended up loving both. I figured the more packing cubes the better because sometimes you need a lot of big sizes or small sizes etc., and one of the sets came with a bag for laundry which I love because I will use that for the dirty swimsuits on the way home.

Vacation Packing List – How I Pack

Left side of the luggage: Hats, Bags, Shoes and Accessories/ Make up Bags

Step 1:

Stack all your beach hats on top of one another. Make sure your sturdiest hat is on top.

Step 2:

Put the hats in the center of bag because this way you can pack around the brim of the hats to keep them from bending and then moving.

Step 3:

Pack and lay bags around the brim. They are heavy enough to keep the brim lying flat. If you can leave all your bags in a duster, they will lay nicer.

Step 4:

Make up bags lay on either side of the hat as it will fit in between the shoes and bags.

Step 5:

Shoes: in the remaining corners. So basically, I pack by working from the center out and then this way I can fit 4 shoes, 1 pair in each corner. (I try not to pack too many shoes because 1. They are heavy and you don’t want to be over the weight limit when checking your bag, 2. They take up a lot of room, and 3. Because you will already be wearing shoes to the airport you are technically you are bringing 5 total). I try to pack shoes that will go with multiple outfits

*another side note; If you are going to take pictures and get content for your blog and are trying to get a ton of outfits in you can always throw some shoes in your carry on. Sandals and flats work best for that, and then wear your running shoes on the plane and all your nicer shoes or heels can be in the suitcase.

Then zip this side up and start working on the right side!

Right side of the luggage: Clothes/Packing Cubes

Step 1:

Map out your cubes. With stickie notes label each cube.

My Labels: (this is how I like to map everything out and how I organized my cubes, but of course you may like to organize it differently). Either way you organize what goes in each thing, this is when rolling your clothes comes in handy!

1. Dresses:

Rolled each dress up nicely in my packing cube and then lined each up. I packed casual dresses to nice dresses all in the same cube.

2. Matching Sets:

Shorts, pants, shirts etc. I’m all about matching sets especially in summer so I always have a lot of those. However I also think that jeans and a white tee is a matching set so that gets thrown in there as well. I love bringing a casual basic and always need jeans and a white tee if I am not feeling anything else. It is my go to.

3. Pajamas and sweats (airplane outfits) and workout wear.

Yes, I have airplane outfits, I like to be cute and comfy when traveling so I always plan ahead and make sure I am either wearing the same thing there and back or changing.

4. Bathing suits

5. Underwear and Bras

6. Sunglasses: 3 -4 pairs

7. Jewelry, hair care and skin care

8. Cover ups

Once organized… this is where it’s like a game of Tetris!

Step 2:

Get creative! All the cubes should fit you just gotta work a little bit on which cubes go where. Good thing is you can create two layers with the cubes if you pack the base perfectly, you’ll just stack the rest on top.