Peace of Mind Organizing

Australia packing update

24 July 2023

Before I left on my trip to Australia, I blogged about how I was able to pack everything in just a carry-on. I’m back from my trip and thought I’d give you an update on how that worked out.

As always seems to be the case, I brought more clothes than I wore. I had brought three dresses, as well as a cardigan, joggers, leggings and a sweatshirt. I didn’t wear one of the dresses at all and another dress I wore one evening only (and could have easily done without it). What ended up happening was that while I was packing my St. Louis summer self had difficulty envisioning what my Australia winter self would feel like. It felt colder than the temperatures led me to believe it would and I forgot that my family doesn’t really use heat inside the house. So I was cold most of the time. And that meant I wore the joggers, sweatshirt, a heavy cardigan, leggings and the heavier dress (along with a wool/cashmere shawl and a wool scarf) the whole trip. Sometimes I wore all those pieces at the same time!

See for yourself:

Here I am with my brother, Larry, wearing pretty much all the clothes I brought.

In hindsight, there are some things I would do differently. I had brought only a short-sleeved wool t-shirt and I wish I’d brought a long-sleeved one. And a turtleneck would have been smart too. I had brought knee-high boots to wear at the outdoor wedding party and they took up so much space that I wish I’d brought short booties instead. (That said, they helped keep my legs warm.) And I brought more jewelry than I wore.

I wish I had packed an electrical converter and my hairdryer because I didn’t have access to one while I was with family. (My family members don’t use hair dryers!) That meant I completely let go of the idea that my hair might look good, which actually brought lots of freedom. I embraced being a middle-aged woman in comfy clothes and no makeup.

I will say that traveling in merino wool Aspen joggers and Aspen crewneck sweatshirt from wool& was a great choice. I was comfy cozy on the 14-hour flights over the Pacific. I also took my doctor’s advice and wore Sockwell compression socks on the flights and they were quite comfortable.

My next trip I want to minimize what I pack AND wear everything I bring. I’ll consider if a personal achievement if I accomplish that!

Tagged with: australia, packing, simplicity, travel

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