Happy Holiday weekend, friends! I hope you guys are already enjoying the long weekend! Our weekend is filled with pool time, BBQs with friends, and little house projects. It’s been awesome so far! We all know with holiday weekends usually comes amazing sales, too, so if you are a sale shopper like me, scroll to the bottom of today’s post to see all the big sales taking place this weekend!
Now onto today’s topic – my “must have” travel accessories. As you all know, we traveled to Italy a week ago and spent 10 days traveling all throughout Tuscany drinking wine, meeting new people, and enjoying the beautiful scenery and history. Every couple of days we moved to a new location, so we were able to get the experience of several different types of villas and hotels and really soak in the whole Tuscany vibe. Because we were moving from place to place so often though and only living out of a carryon bag, I had to think pretty seriously about my accessories for the trip.
Last week I shared with you guys all of the outfits I wore in Italy, and today I’m sharing all of my “must have” traveling accessories when going abroad. I listed them all out below so that you can read a bit more as to why I think you need each item. As always, shoot me a quick email or leave a comment if you have a question!
Must Have Items for Traveling Abroad:
- straw hat – I didn’t end up wearing my hat every day, but it was a necessity for the days we were outside visiting towns or walking through vineyards. This one is under $40 and worth every dollar because you can wear it poolside, too!
- crossbody bag – I thought this might be too small, but it ended up being perfect. It held my wallet, sunnies, phone, lip gloss, and still had room left to fill. I love that because it was smaller it never got really heavy and I never got tired of carrying it. NOTE: my hubby carried our camera every day so I didn’t have to worry about having a bag big enough to hold it.
- structured make-up bag – Oh man, y’all, this bag is legit. I have never owned a structured make-up bag before, but I am obsessed. Since we were constantly shifting locations I never really unpacked fully. So, having a make-up bag that was structured and would stay open really helped me to see everything I brought with me. I love that this one is nylon too, so it’s incredibly easy to clean.
- sunscreen – Y’all have probably heard me talk about Supergoop before, but in case you haven’t, it’s amazing! We started using it this Spring and have been so pleased with it. It doesn’t have a strong scent, goes on super smoothly (especially if you get the foam), and they have a 50SPF lip gloss. We use it on our girls, too, and none of us have gotten burned using it; not even close. My hubby and I wore the sunscreen and I used the lipgloss daily and it kept our skin protected!
- selfie stick – Elaine Turner was sweet enough to send us a selfie stick for our trip and even though my husband made fun of me initially, we ended up using it quite a bit. You definitely feel like a tourist when you pull it out, but it really does allow you to get some good group shots!
- texturizing hair dust – this is the hair dust I use daily on my roots to help give my hair some volume, but because it actually keeps your hair from getting super oily, too. So, I found that if I wash, dry, and style my hair with this then it fuller and easier to work with the next day.
- journal – I love bringing a journal with me when I travel because I love writing down the places we visit, the restaurants we eat at, and then the fun little things like how the sun hit the vineyards at sunrise or the smell of the air, or nerdy things like that.
- luggage tags – Again, this is another thing Trav pretends to roll his eyes at, but secretly loves because having fun luggage tags really does help you locate your bag when you’re in a hurry to get out of baggage claim.
- wireless phone charger – Because we all use our smart phones so much for the camera aspect, especially on a trip like this, having a wireless charger at all times proved to be more than helpful.
- lipstick/blush duo – This was and is my favorite accessory ever! You guys – this little stick doubles as a lipstick AND blush, which ends up being a major space saver. I kept thinking it would make my cheeks break out or look oily, but it never did. I am a big, big fan!
- texturizing hair spray – I always have this in my purse no matter where I’m going – a girl can never have too much volume!
- wallet – this is my new wallet for spring/summer and I’m obsessed. It has so many pockets inside and still manages to lay flat.
- water bottle – Okay, so I go back and forth about this one. The water bottle ended up being a huge asset on the plane, when we were driving in our car, and at the hotel. However, we didn’t really carry it as much during the day when we were touristing around, which was very counter to what we originally thought. The reason for this is that these metal water bottles are actually quite heavy, so it ended up being easier to just buy a plastic water bottle and toss it when we were done and therefore not have extra wait to haul around.
- travel size perfume – I think this one is a must, too, because after going to wineries or little towns all day, we typically just had time to stop back by the hotel for a brief moment before heading out to dinner. Having a little perfume ended up being an easy way to freshen up and the travel sizes are so small that they barely take up any space in your make-up bag!
photography: fort lion studio
BEST OF 4TH OF JULY SALES!!!
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