Packing, Travel & Adventures in Ireland

At the end of September, my mom and I took our first trip to Ireland. This place has been on our bucket list for years and we had the fabulous excuse of attending a wedding in Limerick to actually go. I often help clients pack for their trips so I thought sharing insight on how I packed for my own trip, could be both fun and helpful!

When thinking about getting ready for a vacation, weather takes a major priority in your choices. We had been told that weather in Ireland was unpredictable. Rain could occur at any point and that summer really only happens for 6-8 weeks a year. This area isn't necessarily the "fun" fashion items, but rather, these are items that are utilitarian and keep you comfortable under environmental conditions.

My lightweight down jacket (mid-thigh) and wrap scarf (beige in color) came in very handy for this reason! Although they were not necessarily unique, I felt warm and still could give styling techniques to both. The jacket has a tie that emphasizes waist, while the scarf added to outfit combinations.

The next consideration in preparing your travel wardrobe is knowing your potential plans & activities. We knew we had the wedding but beyond this event, we planned on exploring nature, pubs, history, and just immersing ourselves in local scenes.

Based on some of this unknown, I needed to have multiple outfit options for each day. We'd start out, usually very casually in our athleisure attire and walk from our hotel to get coffee and breakfast. From there, we might find an activity like touring a castle or walking through local shops. The outfit might elevate to jeans, fashion sneakers, a sweater and earrings. The evenings became more dressy depending on where we were going for dinner and it was a fun excuse to doll up more than we normally would. All of this to say, packing felt a little overwhelming in the amount.

As much as weight limit is a requirement with luggage, I'm a girl who likes her options, especially not knowing my mood or fashion-feels in the future. That's the excitement upon entering your closet, is just having it at your finger tips and on a trip, you just don't have that. So we do our best to "forecast" and have options ready, but it's not always easy!

My advice in navigating this obstacle, is to pull out potential options and have them laid out in front of you. You can even utilize sticky notes to label "days", "events", etc. Start with too much, and narrow down to your favorites that you know you'll feel confident and comfortable in. You will also want to play with

combinations and see what garments will get you the most bang for your buck when putting items together.

For a 6 day trip, this was my list of items packed: