I'm still planning on posting a recap of each city we visited on our 10 day trip to Germany and Austria. There is so much I want to share that it has taken me a bit longer to write those posts than expected. I don't want to leave anything out! In the meantime, I thought I would post a little travel tip for those of you starting to plan a trip overseas.
I learned a lot from our trip last month regarding what to pack. This is geared more towards a longer trip that is focused on sightseeing. I knew that I needed to bring some clothes and shoes that were light weight and easy to wear since we would be doing a lot of walking and repacking and switching hotels every few days. The weight limit for a checked bag on the airline we used was 50 lbs. However, the
travel company we used recommended no more than 30 lbs per bag in order to not weigh down the tour bus.
I felt as though I packed pretty well for the week. There were a few items I ended up not really needing (like 8 pairs of sandals. I only used about 3). There were also a few items I wish I would have packed that would have come in handy. Here's my short list of what to pack for a trip to Europe:
Obviously, you are going to want to take a lot (if you're like me, a million) photos of scenery, landmarks and food. You may also want to take a few snaps of yourself with your travel buddies. The
selfie stick really came in handy for us. Best $12 I ever spent!
The
Tide Stick was a life saver for me after I spilled a bit of coffee on one of my white shirts. Yes, it actually got the stain out! I had to wet the shirt a bit and let it dry, but it worked and I was able to continue wearing it. Those few clothes you bring become precious!
I wish I would have brought this
laundry bag along with us. After walking around all day, especially in the summer, your clothes may start to feel a bit damp. It would have been nice to have a nylon bag like this one to throw dirty clothes in and to keep the smell out of the clean clothes.
The
neck pillow is a must on a long flight. Ours was 10 hours from Houston to Munich. I was able to sleep about half of the flight and I attribute that to this pillow!
One thing that is very important is making sure to bring along enough plug adapters. You may have to do some research if you are planning to bring a hairdryer (which I don't recommend. If you are staying in hotels, they usually provide them) or other hair electronics to see if you need a
voltage converter.
This one that one of our travel mates brought has all the bells and whistles you will need. We got by with just using
a small one, but we had to take turns charging our phones. If you plan to bring multiple phones and electronics I would recommend
this multiple plug adapter.
Earbuds are a must on the flight, unless you want to use the ones they provide on the plane (which are pretty low quality). What's nice about international flights is that there is typically a screen for each seat and lots of options on TV shows and movies.
If you are hoping to do a lot of sightseeing, you will want to bring a
comfortable pair of sandals. I actually got away with wearing my
Old Navy flip flops most days, but I wish I would have brought a better pair
like these.
One thing that we didn't think about was bringing an
aluminum water bottle. It would have been nice to have something to fill up before each day instead of trying to find a vendor to buy bottles of water.
Sunglasses are a must. It's also sunny in Europe...
I used my
Kate Spade crossbody pretty much every day. It is small enough and light enough that it was not bothersome to wear around all day while sight seeing.
I used a tote bag for my carry on, but it would have been nice to have one that zipped and had a shoulder strap (like
this one) just for easier transportation.
Some honorable mentions:
a light weight weather proof jacket (it did rain a little one day),
tennis shoes for longer hikes/walks,
dry shampoo and
sunscreen.
Things that I ended up not needing: my hair dryer (all the hotels provided one), heavier coat (it was hot the entire time) and heels (maybe just bring a dressier pair of sandals for a nice dinner).
For those of you planning to travel to Europe soon, I hope this was helpful!
