Trying To Travel Lightly During Covid.

 

I've had a great two weeks in Europe.  I managed a week in Sweden before they shut down to Americans and I'm at the end of a week in Iceland.  I left home with one check through, one backpack and space for souvenirs.  I admit, I actually packed more than I needed for the simple reason that I was afraid the United States might close down again and I'd be stuck.

So I packed additional underwear, shirts, and socks with my two pair of jeans, one light jacket, one sweater,  one windbreaker, and a pair of sneakers.  I invested in several packing cubes.  These are great in that you can stuff them full of clothing, zipper closed and voila, they take up way less space.  I even found one I could hang in the closet when I was in my hotel.  These packing cubes allowed me to squeeze so much into much smaller spaces.  I also throw in laundry soap in sheets so I can wash clothing either in the room or at a laundromat. 

Since I tend to follow the Korean beauty routine, that means I have two types of cleanser, toner, serums, essences, creams, moisturizers, eye cream, and sunscreen.  When I was getting organized for the trip, I invested in travel sized items so everything would fit in a small travel bag. Since the trip would only be two weeks long, I didn't need full sized containers of my normal products.  This worked so well. In addition, I threw in a small trial sized tube of toothpaste I get from the dentist when I see him.  It fits in my toiletries bag with my facial items.

As far as hair products. I had to make choices since normally I use a shampoo, conditioner, detangler, spray, leave-in conditioner and/or curl enhancer. These can take quite a bit of space or if you pack them incorrectly they might leak or spill and you end up with crud all over your clothing or captured inside a plastic bag.  As reviewed earlier, I discovered shampoo and conditioner in bars which are really nice.  they take up very little room and have absolutely no chance of spilling or leaking.  In addition, they do a decent job of cleaning and conditioning my hair.  The only two things I packed were a spray to help get my hair under control and a small container of curl enhancer.  I throw in my detangler comb, a few clips, elastic bands, and bobbie pins so I can style my hair.  It all fits in a small zippered cloth bag and I can style my hair as I want.

The last thing I pack is my make-up which I severely cut back on to bare minimum.  Rather than use the full routing with foundation, concealers, highlighters, etc, I rely on a tinted moisturizer, a small palette of eye shadow, a small container of eye liner, and a small mascara for the whole trip. It is what I call a light look but it doesn't take much space and I can throw it all in a small zipped cloth bag.  

This all fit in my 24 inch suitcase and it left me space so I had rooms for cups and tee shirts I wanted to get as gifts.  I usually put all my travel converters in my backpack along with all the cords I need for my electrical devices, my electrical devices, my water bottle, a sarong, and a few munchies to take on the plane.  

I think my suitcase is around 35 pounds and my backpack weighs in at about 15 pounds so it is all manageable. I do read that one shouldn't check any bags through but honestly as long as Covid is doing it's thing, I'll continue packing a bit more than normal just in case I get stuck because things are changing so fast.  Every day, countries change their regulations, requirements, and open or close their borders so I prefer to be prepared.  Let me know what you think I'd love to hear.  Have a great da.