How to Travel Like a BOSS Lady 

I get asked, quite often, about travel. Most commonly, people want to know how I travel, how I pack, and what I bring. I have learned some tricks that make traveling effortless and enjoyable. Here we go… 

Start with a list.

First, list out the days you're going to be gone and name the note using your destination as the name. Second, before you take anything out of your closet, type or write down what your outfits are going to be. Base them on what's going to go on each day. Is it a casual day? Is it a Sunday? Is it a winter day? Is it an evening excursion? Are you working? Then decide what your outfits are going to be and type them all in.

Once you've done that, grab those outfits, and shoes and put them on your bed. Lay them out by outfit, day by day. Next, step back and look at all of it and take some things away. Be honest with yourself. Do you need four shirts? Do you need four pairs of shoes? Or can you multitask and wear two pairs, four times? The lighter you pack, the better your trip will be. 

 

Keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’.

After you have all of your outfits planned out, lay a towel or blanket on your bed. Then, put your suitcase on the towel or blanket. The suitcase I prefer is a 21-inch, Béis suitcase. I love this one because the size is perfect, it has a “wet” area to keep damp or dirty items away from the rest of your things, it's expandable, light, and has an adjustable, cushioned handle. 

Ok, so you’ve got your suitcase, now it’s time to pack your clothes by tightly rolling them. Fold them up a little bit, roll the rest of the way, and put them in the suitcase nice and neat. That is probably my number one secret…roll your clothes! 

 

What about all the other stuff?

Now that you have your clothes and shoes packed, let's talk about makeup bags, chargers, and everything else you need to pack. 

Ulta has a bag that I love. It's an 8½”x11,” clear travel bag. Love it! I put my hairspray, mouthwash, toothpaste, face cream, etc in it. When I get to security and need to take it out…it's effortless because it's clear and fits everything. 

 

(And don’t get me started about my travel essentials and “travel-sized” collection of toiletries! I have an entire cabinet devoted to them.) 

One more thing from Béis luggage that I love are the organizing bags. They're a mesh material and see-through. They’re super useful. I normally use one for my chargers and one for over-the-counter medicine, toothpaste, and  floss. I love those Béis bags. I throw them in my backpack or my purse. I can see what's in them. So that’s my tip: choose bags you can see into without opening them!

All backpacks are not created equal. 

Aside from my suitcase, my other travel go-to is a backpack. I have tried every backpack and every purse, so I feel like I've done all the research for you.

There are two backpacks that you need in your life. Maybe you could get away with one…but I think two are better: one for business and one for leisure. One should be small and the other, big. It depends on what kind of trip I’m using my backpack for but, Béis makes a great big backpack and Lululemon makes a useful small backpack.

 

 

My big Béis backpack fits my big purse, little purse, work, laptop, and all sorts of other stuff in it. If I'm going on a longer trip, trust me, that's the backpack that's coming with me. You also could pack a weekend’s worth of stuff in the Béis backpack and not bring any other luggage.

My smaller backpack is from Lululemon. She's light, soft, medium sized, and has all the right pockets. She just feels good when I don’t pack a whole lot. She's almost like my vacation backpack. If I'm not packing a ton of stuff, she's my choice.

So there are my two backpacks. The Béis and Lululemon backpacks–greatest backpacks ever! 

In my backpacks, I’ll normally have my big, daytime purse and then, across my body, is my wallet purse. I love to have my wallet purse across my body so I can easily whip out my driver's license, phone, or boarding pass. I don't have to dig through everything. In my opinion, backpack, big purse (only if you need it), and then a wallet purse across the body.

Aim to be both stylish and comfortable. 

Let's talk about outfits. I get stopped a lot when I’m traveling. People ask me where I got my outfit or what shoes am I wearing. They want to know what jacket I am wearing. I try to put a little bit of thought and effort into it what I’m wearing. I want to look good and I want to be comfortable.

Can we pull off both? Absolutely! My favorite travel shoes are Linea Paolo. I call them my “sporty spice” tennis shoes. They have a tiny bit of a heel and are one of the most comfortable things I own. 

Nine times out of 10, I'm in a pair of Lululemon black leggings with a white or denim  button-down, Frank and Eileen shirt. You can use any button-down shirt. Then, I usually wear a black travel jacket, black blazer, or my favorite Amazon black Anrabess sweater over it. 

I finish the look with a fun gold chain (by Pomina) and a cute scarf. One of my favorite chains is on Amazon. My preference for a scarf is Burberry because I've had it forever and it makes me happy to look at it. I always put a scarf in my backpack so that if I'm cold, I have it. I can put it over my lap and when we land, I can throw it around my neck. It looks amazing with my leggings and button-down shirt.

Travel with a light library, too. 

I recommend bringing a Kindle or your phone loaded with a lot of books. I'm not into heavy books and carrying them around. Don’t get me wrong, I love books, just not lugging them when I travel. You'll see me reading, but it will either be on my phone or my Kindle.  

Grab and go is the way I roll. 

If you have traveled with me, you will know there is one rule: you cannot check your luggage in my presence. It's a waste of time, energy, and space. It's exhausting. You have to wait when you land.

When I land, I want to go. I want to grab my luggage and get to wherever I'm going. You will very rarely find me checking a bag.

Plan it…plan it good.   

Remember the “notes” section on your phone that I talked about? Remember the note that’s named after the trip you have planned? Let’s go back to that–let's say you're going to Italy and you're going to be there for a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. In your “notes” section, you're going to list out all of those days in your “Italy” note and then, for each day, you're going to list your outfit(s). 

The reason I love keeping this info. in my notes, is so I can refer back to it. Let's say I go to Scottsdale more than once in a year or the next year… I just pull up my “Scottsdale” packing list and the work is already done for me. 

When I get back from a trip, I edit my packing list. What did I love having? What item can I remove because I didn’t need it? As time goes by, I am creating some amazing lists to make travel effortless! I think traveling is easy and enjoyable for me because I keep adding to and tweaking my lists. There’s no guess work any more. 

For example, I had been somewhere sunny earlier this year. I pulled up the pack list for the prior sunny location and used it. It took me five minutes to pack–five minutes!

Lists aren’t just for Santa. 

Here’s another tip for you: create a “morning-of” packing checklist. Since it should be the same every time you travel, type it out and print it each time you need it. 

I run through my list and ask myself: Do I have my backpack? Do I have my chargers? Do I have my laptop? Do I have my driver's license? Do I have my passport? Do I have my makeup? Do I have my hair products? Do I have my curling iron? Do I have my brush? (You get the idea.)

I keep my “morning-of” as a running list because I know I'm gonna have to do a final tidy-up and put everything together. 

 

* BONUS TIP *

Here’s a bonus tip! It's one of my absolute favorite things that I do. It's a game changer. It saves me time and energy.  

Every morning, I take a photo of what I'm wearing. I add it to a folder on my phone titled, “My Outfits.” I do this because I don't wanna think about what I’m going to wear every… single…morning.

I reference this folder often. It reminds me of outfits I love and when I wore them last. 

You can do the same thing when you pack. You can open your, “My Outfits” album, scroll through quickly, and say, “I'm gonna wear that one, that one, that one, and that one.” (By the way, I have a whole “vacation” section of vacation outfits that I love too!) 

I’ve reached the “pro” level of traveling over time and I want you to get there too. Life is about making better choices faster and making your life better and easier. I want the “easy” button. Usually, my outfit consists of two things–boots, and a dress. That's all I'm thinking about, folks. I don't have time for all that other stuff. 

There you have it! I’ve given you a lot. As you can tell, it's a topic I’m passionate about. I love it so much. I want you to get out there. I want you to travel wisely and effortlessly.

I want you to feel amazing, I want you to look amazing…and I want you to NOT CHECK YOUR LUGGAGE! ;)

Remember, I love you!

Be great. Be great. Be great.