Spring break is a fun time for a lot of people — especially students — and a lot of us like to travel to warm places with white beaches and clear water. If you’re traveling somewhere for spring break, you are probably already thinking about what to pack, and sometimes it gets a little stressful. I’m going to share with you some of my tips for packing for a fun break, so hopefully some of these will make packing a little easier! Keep in mind that I’m heading off to Mexico, so what I pack may not be what you should be packing if you were going somewhere colder, so be sure to adjust accordingly. Good luck!
1. Make a list!
As spring break is getting closer and closer, I’m getting way too excited. I want to start packing, but I also want to go shopping for new clothes. But before I go shopping, I need to see what I already have and what I actually need. I’m a college student so I really don’t have much money, and I don’t want to be spending money on clothes I already own.
Because I live in the Pacific North West, it’s too cold for me to wear the clothes I plan on bringing on my trip. I’ve already made a pile of clothes I want to bring with me on the trip and put it in my suitcase, which helps give me an idea of what clothes I have and what clothes I should be looking for when I go shopping.
When you have an idea of the things you may want, jot them down on a piece of paper and keep it with you just in case you are out shopping and see something you might want to buy for your trip.
2. Pack Light!
I have a connecting flight to and from Mexico, and my mom keeps scaring me that if I check a bag there might be a chance that they lose it. It would also be nice if I could save $50 and not check a bag, so my goal this break is to pack all of my things into a carryon suitcase or in my backpack. This might be difficult, but I’m going to have to make sure that I pack only what I need, instead of packing everything I want. I’m going to plan out all of the outfits that I plan on wearing on my trip, and maybe one extra outfit, just in case. Because I’m flying somewhere warm, the clothes I pack are going to be smaller, so if you’re traveling somewhere cold, you might have to check an extra bag so you have more space.
3. Clothes
Now on to the fun stuff — clothes! Like I stated earlier, I only plan on bringing a travel-sized suitcase and a backpack. So in order to be able to pack all my clothes in those bags, I want to bring just the necessities. To make sure I don’t over-pack, I usually lay out all my clothes based on the day. Since I’m going to be in Mexico for seven days, I will lay out seven different outfits, plus a travel day outfit. For most of the days on my trip, I’ll most likely be wearing a swimsuit, shorts and a top. For other days, I’ll need to pack an extra outfit for a formal dinner, or an outfit to go hiking in, so it’s helpful to know what kinds of activities you will be doing on your trip so you can pack accordingly.
Also, while you have your outfits all lined out, you can see what jewelry, accessories and shoes you want to bring. Again, since I’m trying to pack light and shoes take up a lot of space, I’m trying to only pack the shoes I absolutely need. For my trip, I will probably bring running shoes for hiking, converse for the days we want to walk into town, flip flops for everyday use, and wedges for formal nights.
Once I have all the clothes I want to pack, I’m going to roll them up and place them in my suitcase. Rolling up your clothes saves a lot more space than folding them!
As for my shoes, I’ll pack those into my backpack because there’s a lot more room in there for those to fit.
4. Hair
My hair can be a pain sometimes, but I don’t want to spend a lot of my vacation time trying to fix it, especially when I’m going to be by the beach where it’s going to get messy anyways, so I’m not planning on bringing a lot of hair products. For this trip, I plan on bringing a travel size bottle of shampoo and conditioner. I also plan on bringing a travel size bottle of texturizing sea salt spray. This sea salt spray will be great for everyday use just to give my hair a little something before heading out. And, because I know there will be a couple of formal nights, I plan on bringing my curling iron and a travel size bottle of hairspray.
5. Makeup
I’m a makeup hoarder but I know I can’t bring it all with me, so for this trip I plan on bringing just my basics. I will bring a foundation I can sweep across my face everyday, and some bronzer because I’ll be in the sun and I’ll need to add some color so my foundation matches my skin tone. I will also plan on bringing some lip balm, a lip gloss, waterproof mascara, and one small eye shadow palette for the formal nights when I want to do a little more to my eyes.
6. EXTRA
- Sunscreen
- Lotion
- Sunglasses
- Hat
- Across-the-body bag
- Entertainment for traveling – a music player, a tablet/ipad, a book, and cards
- Chargers for electronics
That’s what I plan on bringing for my spring break vacation, so hopefully this helps you out. I hope you all have a great time over the break!