Traveling Light--Summer trip to Europe

I just got back from 8 days in Paris and Prague with my brother.  I'm a fan of packing light, and have done posts on packing light before.  I thought I'd share what I took with me for a July trip. It was hot and we walked everywhere.

While I was only gone for 8 days, the things I had with me I could have done 2-3 weeks if I did laundry more often.  I only washed underwear on this short trip, but I was down to my last clean shirt on the last day. 

Bags

Osprey Porter 46
This is a great backpack.  Its slightly larger than my regular backpack, but it isn't in the category of "backpacking through Europe" either.  Its main draw is that it unzips and opens up like a suitcase, so its easy to get in and out of.  Its comfortable enough for wearing from the airport, on the subway etc...but you do get tired of it--it doesn't have hip belts to distribute weight.  But you don't want roller bags in Europe--too many cobble stone sidewalks and stairs.  This bag also has some cinch straps, so if you need to smash it in order to make it fit as a carry on, you can (It easily fit in the overhead on my Delta and Air France flights, but I don't know about the budget European carriers).

Keen travel purse
I love this purse.  It is heavy duty nylon with lots of zippers and pockets. 

 


Packing cubes

I had 2 long rectangle and 2 small rectangle cubes.  (Try eBags or Amazon Basic for some inexpensive ones).  The long rectangles were great for the backpack.  I used them for my clothes.  The small rectangles I used for socks, underwear and electronics. 



What I took

Clothes
1 Pair travel pants
1 pair leggings
2 skirts (these were reversible, found them at Costco)
1 knit dress (Banana Republic)
4 black t shirts
1 stripe short sleeve top
1 stripe long sleeve top
1 gray long sleeve thin sweater
1 pink thin cardigan
2 scarves
4 pairs of socks
4 pairs of underwear
1 sun hat
1 rain jacket (that folds into its own pocket)

Shoes
black sandals
black Sketcher mary janes
running shoes

Toiletries
sunscreen
minimal make up
medicine
ear plugs
band aids
laundry soap (Tide liquid travel packs)


Other
small guidebooks
umbrella
sunglasses
back up battery
phone
mini ipad (I could have left at home...plane had plenty of in seat entertainment)
noise cancelling headphones
power converter/adapter



I could have gotten by with 1 less black shirt and I wore the dress once--but could have worn a skirt another time.  I am so glad I took the running shoes.  Everyone says that Paris needs to be dressier, that you'll stand out as an American if you wear tennis shoes.  Guess what, you'll look like an American no matter what.  Its your trip and your feet--wear the tennis shoes.  I wore my black sandals on the first day (landed at 11:15 am and powered through the day until about 8:00 and with the hot, sweaty weather, I ended up with a large blister on the bottom of my foot.  These sandals have never given me trouble any other time and I've had them for years).  Wear the tennis shoes--don't put fashion over function, not even for Paris.  I do love my Sketcher Mary Janes--and wore them all last year on my Europe trip, but I know I walked WAY more on this trip (at a minimum of 12 miles per day)--and with the blister from day one, I needed to wear socks, so the Mary Janes didn't get the wear that I thought they would.    

Blister help:  I had a big blister on the bottom of my heel by the end of day one.  It had not popped and I had 7 more days of walking to do.  Blisters happen because of friction--so you want to reduce friction and add support.  I didn't take my body glide that I use when I run (should have, for my feet but also other places that got sweaty and chafed with all the walking and sweating)--so I pulled out my stick deodorant and used my fingernail to dig out a dollop and put it on top of the blister, then covered it with a good bandage.  Then I smeared some deodorant on top of the bandage.  I then put on my socks (luckily, I took my double knit running socks, which help reduce friction).  By wearing the bandage with the deodorant, socks and my tennis shoes I was able to walk all day on day 2 without being miserable and by day three the blister had receded on its own.  My brother had a similar problem, so we did the same fix for him.