Knowing what not to pack is just about as important as knowing what to pack. In fact, it’s arguably even more important because if you forget something you can likely buy it wherever you’re going. However, if you end up with things you don’t need and find your luggage over weight you’ll really kick yourself.
Trust me. I’ve been there.
Books
Unless you’re planning on being away for an extended amount of time, chances are you’ll be way too busy out and about enjoying yourself to find time to read. Also, books add a lot of weight.
So, what’s a bookworm to do? Bring an e-reader. While they don’t have the feel of nice thick paper found in hardcover books or the smell that comes with opening a book to read, they are light weight, thin, and you can bring a whole library with you.
A bunch of shoes
You’re not likely going to need more than one maybe two pairs of shoes. Despite my advice my friend decided to bring a bunch of shoes and only used one pair on her two week trip to Israel.
What do you need? It mostly depends on your destination. If you’re going to be touring a city walking shoes are a must. If you’re going to spend most of your vacation tanning on a beach flip flops are probably a better choice.
Dressy Clothing
Unless you’re going to a destination wedding you’re not going to need anything fancy. You also won’t need cutest pair of heals since they aren’t useful for touring a city.
A bunch of changes of clothes
You can easily put together multiple outfits using a handful of versatile pieces. From just three pants and three tops I can easily make nine outfits.
On my first trip abroad I definitely over-packed. Despite being gone over a month and having two suitcases with me (at the time they gave you two free suitcases) I only ended up using enough items to fit in a carry on.
On top of it, once I bought gifts for everyone my luggage was overweight and I had to pay the price of bring things I never ended up using. From that experience I created the carry on rule.
So, when packing instead of trying to pack every cute thing you may think you’ll need, pack the most versatile items you can use to create multiple cute outfits.
Hair Products + Tools
Chances are you will be much too buy to use these and unless you’re using travel sized products you’re bring extra weight for nothing. I have a friend who came to visit me for about a week and he brought a whole tub of gel he only ended up using once.