Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Illinois chapter.

Packing for a beach vacation tends to be stressful. Deciding what to bring such as: outfits, shoes, makeup, jewelry, and the list keeps going. Not even mentioning that constant worry that you forgot something you really wanted. They can make your vacation way better and without them, certain things become hard to do.  

The essentials

Majority of a beach vacation is spent laying out by the ocean or pool. However, that is hard to do if the sun is in your eyes all day. Two essentials that solve this problem are sunglasses and floppy hats. There are many different versions of floppy hats; they are so cute! They help you stand out when everyone is wearing swim suits and laying out. Be sure to get a hat and remember to pack it! 

Between the floppy hat and sunglasses, they will prevent you from having squinty eyes in all your vacation pictures. Also, an easy way to hid your face a little if you do not have make up on. Pack your hat and favorite sunglasses so you can soak up the sun all vacation. 

And of course the most important clothing item to pack are swim suits. Mix and match bikinis are the way to go. Bring three solid color bottoms; personally, I think black bottoms are a must. They go with any top. You can then pack three pattern of solid tops. This way instead of only have three swim suits you now can have up to nine different suits. You can avoid wearing the same suit each day and not packing 18 pieces of swim suits in order to have 9 different matching sets. One piece swim suits are so in right now. You should ensure to pack one of those. You can even put a pair of shorts over, and it becomes a cute top.   

Make sure you don’t forget your flip flops! Walking around on hot sand is never fun. You will wear this pair of shoes every day while you are lounging around on the beach. Light and comfortable flip flops are highly recommended. Now that you packed your floppy hat, sunglasses, swim suits, and flip flops, the only thing left is a beach cover up. A thin, sun dress type would be perfect. You can throw it on to walk from your hotel room to the pool or beach. Its super convenient to put on to go eat lunch, instead of having to change out of your swim suit. Once you packed all these you will be completely set for a week on the beach.

There are other things you should pack, but these items are what you are going to spend most of your time in.  

Photo 1  |  Photo 2  |  Photo 3: C/O Shalyn Culloton  | Photo 4  

 

The official page for the University of Illinois Her Campus chapter.