Packing for Europe: Lessons from Her First Trip Abroad
I love a good packing strategy . . .
But sometimes, when you've traveled enough, you forget the little things—the questions you no longer think to ask and the lessons that have become second nature.
After returning from Europe together, I loved hearing my niece Ashley reflect on her very first trip abroad. What was she so glad she packed? What never left the suitcase? What would she do differently next time? How did she approach shopping in Europe? And what surprised her most about the realities of international travel?
Ashley had such thoughtful takeaways and learned so much from the experience that I knew you, as a listener, would enjoy hearing them, too. Whether you're planning your own European adventure or simply love a good post-trip debrief, this conversation is full of practical tips, honest reflections, and the kinds of observations that seasoned travelers often forget to mention.
Episode Notes & Resources:
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Read the full & Raw Episode transcript:
[00:00]
Natalie: Hello, welcome to another Wear Who You Are Wednesday. Today I am here with one of my most favorite guests and most favorite humans on the entire planet, my niece, Ashley Sutton. Hi, Ashley.
[00:11]
Ashley: Hello, Natalie. How are you?
Natalie: Good! Where are you tuning in from here?
Ashley: I am tuning in from San Diego, California.
Natalie: Delightful. Much better weather, typically year-round, than the rest of us, so lucky you.
So Ashley and I, as many of you know if you listened to the shoe episode or read my newsletters, went in May on this epic adventure to celebrate her birthday. It was Ashley's very first time traveling internationally, and I thought it would be really useful because, as we were on the trip, she would say things like, "I'm really glad I packed this," or, "I wish I would have packed that."
Me having traveled quite a bit, of course I can always learn, but it was so interesting for me to hear the things that she learned on this packing adventure. So I thought it'd be awesome to have her come on the podcast and share that with you. That way we can all learn from the fresh eyes of Ashley.
So Ashley, first tell us all the places that we journeyed to and how long the trip was.
[01:18]
Ashley: Yes! So our trip was about two weeks. Our first stop was in Barcelona, which was amazing. We did so many cool, beautiful, historical things. We got to see Sagrada Família, which I loved.
Then from Barcelona, we went to Menorca, which is just a tiny little island off of Spain. It was stunning. We were at the most beautiful resort, had lots of great seafood...
Natalie: Weather was so perfect. I will interject. We had beautiful weather. Apparently the week before, everyone was like, "It was so crappy," and we had like 83 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny and delightful. It was great.
Ashley: It was perfect for just laying about by the pool, relaxing. It was amazing.
Then from Menorca, we went all the way over to Berlin, which was a little bit different from coming from Spain. The architecture and the people were a lot different, but very lovely. I was surprised with how much I actually enjoyed Berlin.
Then our last stop on the trip, we went to Lisbon, which was probably my all-time favorite. It was just a great mix of being by the water, amazing food, really great nightlife. So I really loved Lisbon.
Yeah, that's how we rounded out the trip.
[02:33]
Natalie: You know I love Lisbon. It has a special place in my heart.
In Lisbon—the first part of the trip, Spain—it was just me and Ash. We were having our special birthday celebration together. Then we met our friend Haley in Berlin, which was the original plan. I know sometimes people listening are like, "Why the heck did you pop all the way over to Germany just to then go back to Lisbon?" We were here for the journey.
So we met our friend Haley in Berlin. Then we met Troy, my husband, and Ashley's friend Skylar in Lisbon. So we just kept collecting a squad, which was really fun too.
So Ash, on packing then—let's get to it. What did you pack that you were so glad you packed? How did you approach packing? What were the things where you were like, "A-plus-plus. I crushed this"?
[03:21]
Ashley: Yeah. So when I first started packing, my main concern at first was just space. There's no way to possibly pack a different outfit for every single day for two weeks in one suitcase.
So I kind of laid everything out and packed my bare minimum clothes: just a few bottoms, a few tops, a few dresses. I got everything else that I needed in my suitcase—my makeup, my hair tools, all of those things.
Then, with any extra leftover space, I kind of just started throwing in a few extra tops, maybe an extra dress, just trying to fill up the space in my suitcase.
I believe what I did well... I thought the shoes that I packed were very good. I had a pair of Adidas Sambas, which I wore the majority of the time. They were super great for walking. They went with a lot of my outfits in all of the cities that we were in, so I'm super glad I brought those.
Then I also brought just a good, comfortable pair of flat sandals that went with a lot of my nicer outfits. They dressed things up, but I could still walk on a lot of the cobblestone streets without worrying. They again were super comfortable, so that was a good pick as well.
And I'm very glad I did not pack any heels. I definitely thought about it, especially for nighttime, but you steered me away from that, and I'm very glad you did because I cannot think of one time that we were there that I wished I would have brought a pair of heels.
[05:08]
Natalie: Not in that terrain.
I mean, then it's like you have this pair of heels. Unless, to me, it's like a good big block heel, do not bring spiky heels.
I remember I learned that even on my study abroad in London. I bought stiletto heels because that's when they were first coming in style, and the first time I went on a night out, they just ground into the cobblestone. Then all of a sudden I had metal on cobblestone, which is the worst sound ever.
So that was a good tool.
And in Lisbon, both of us, in terms of shoes, were glad we had rubber bottoms in our suitcase because Lisbon is hilly and sli—
Ashley: Those hills were gnarly. I had heard beforehand that they were going to throw me for a loop, but man, it was even steeper than I expected.
[05:36]
Natalie: Well, and not to mention the tram going up the steepest hill. So we had different hotels in Lisbon, and the tram going up to the hill where we were was out. It was under repair. So when Ashley first walked up, she's like, "I'm never doing that again." And we bamboozled her into doing it again a few times. Sorry.
Ashley: Yes. No, it's okay.
Natalie: Awesome. So that was great. I was super proud of her shoes because everyone knows that I say, "Start with the shoes," and you totally nailed it.
There were some times where I heard you say, "I wish I had packed this." What did you wish you had done differently in terms of your packing strategy?
[06:09]
Ashley: Yeah. So the main thing that I wish I had more of were just more basic tops.
I think that I was kind of focused on packing really cool pieces, things that would photograph well, tops that I just really loved. But when it came down to it, at the end of the day, I found myself just kind of wishing I had more things to mix and match.
Then also, I didn't really think of the times that we would be just going down to the hotel breakfast or maybe just walking out to grab a quick coffee. I had kind of focused on more our big dinner outfits, big event outfits—things that I would probably only wear once or twice—and not as many things that I could mix and match throughout the trip.
[06:59]
Natalie: Yeah. That was the one thing. If I may share, the first night, when we were first pulling out your things, you were like, "But when am I gonna wear this? Wait, this outfit is for this..."
So you had a few very select evening outfits, and that was what I noticed you say most: "I wish I just had more basics"—things that were cute but you could mix and match. Maybe a dressier pant with the basic top, but then put the basic top with the more casual pant during the day.
Ashley: Yeah, I definitely think I missed the mark there.
Another thing was outerwear. Thankfully, the majority of our trip was very warm. I actually didn't end up needing a lot of jackets or sweaters or anything, but those first few nights in Barcelona, it did get a little chilly.
I really only had one sweater that I had brought, and it didn't go great with any of my outfits. I found myself kind of trying to adjust my outfits to the one sweater that I brought, as opposed to if I would have had better options, I could have just stuck with the original plan and then brought the jacket as extra.
[08:01]
Natalie: Yeah, that was sort of where the breakdown happened. You'd have an outfit planned, and then the sweater that you had didn't go over it. Those two things kind of went hand in hand. Whereas, if you'd had different basics to mix and match that the jacket went over, you probably could have just slightly tweaked your outfit.
But we all learn, and that's a great thing for you to learn—that just throwing basics in that you know you can mix and match means you can flex based on temperature or vibe, even if you've never been somewhere before.
I think part of it was that the vibes were so different from Barcelona to Berlin to Lisbon. I know one mistake I made was over-indexing for Berlin in the summer because the weather changed kind of midway through, and I brought a pair of boots that I absolutely didn't need.
Ashley and I made ourselves wear our boots one night for dinner, even though it was hot, because we were like, "We're not having something in our suitcase that we're not wearing."
[09:03]
Ashley: Yeah, no, that was very funny.
I definitely agree on the Berlin packing too. I feel like I focused a little too much on fitting what I thought the vibe of Berlin was. It was much more kind of relaxed, and I really had a lot of things in my closet that I think would have been great for Berlin. But in my mind, just never having been there, I did not think that I was going to wear them.
Natalie: Yeah, which I think is such a lesson for us—to wear what you have and what you love, and maybe just change the color or change the shoe pairings.
But you're still you in a city, and you're still in a city where you go out and do things. So it's not really out of the realm of what your normal nightlife is.
I think sometimes we use clothing as an anxiety salve when we're traveling. When you're going somewhere new, you're kind of like, "How do I make sure I'm doing things right? I fit in. I'm respecting where I am."
I think that's just a lesson that usually, if you have things you love and you know how to mix and match them, you're good.
[10:06]
Natalie: But speaking of the outerwear thing, one thing I noticed—and I was super proud of—was that we did some shopping, particularly in Barcelona. We did some really fun shopping, and then in Menorca, in one of their cities too, Ciutadella, which was adorable. We'd been recommended to go by one of the concierges at our hotel.
So you came to Europe wanting to shop, but you shopped so well that I'd like you to share what your shopping strategy was.
[10:35]
Ashley: Yeah, definitely.
So a lot of it really just stemmed off of that first leg of the trip in Barcelona. The breakdowns with the no outerwear... I really started thinking that was one thing that, even back home in San Diego, I am always lacking. Outerwear is not something that I need a lot here, but I do need it at some point in the year, and especially on this trip.
So that was one thing that I was really looking for: just a really cute jacket, something a little bit different that maybe I wouldn't find around here, but also still versatile enough to wear with multiple things in my closet.
So I think the whole time we were shopping, I really had my eyes on looking for some good jackets.
[11:23]
Natalie: Because San Diego has beautiful weather, but even sometimes in the summer—and then all winter—the evenings get quite chilly. As soon as the sun goes down, because it's so dry, where you're in the shade... for me, when I'm there, I get quite chilly.
So you kind of need jackets year-round.
You were telling me that when you go out with, in particular, one of your friends, both of you are saying, "Man, I wish I had a jacket for this weather," because it can vary within like five degrees of needing maybe a leather jacket versus a lighter cotton jacket.
So tell us then... what did you find?
Ashley: Yeah.
[12:01]
Ashley: So I actually ended up getting two jackets, which I absolutely adore. I've actually worn one of them multiple times already.
It was kind of this beige, lighter jacket. It had a really pretty design with some orange yarn on the back. The design wasn't anything too crazy, so again, I could mix and match it with a lot of what is already in my closet.
The material I just loved because, again, it was super lightweight. The fit was really good. It wasn't too boxy or too fitted. So I just felt like it really fit my style. It was something that I would—and already have—gotten a lot of great use out of in San Diego.
Then my other find . . . we stumbled into this really great leather store, and I found the cutest kind of oversized light blue leather bomber.
Immediately, I saw it from the street and I was like, "We need to pop in there."
We had like ten minutes until dinner, and I was like, "We have to pop in here."
So I walked in, I tried it on, immediately obsessed. Again, I think it's something that goes with so many things in my closet.
Super excited to wear it come fall and wintertime.
[13:18]
Natalie: It's so cute. And the trim on it is like a light ivory, so it's just very perfect for San Diego and very good for you.
The leather was so nice, and the price points on both of them—because they were all locally made or locally sourced—they were quite a bit less than they would have been in the U.S. for what the quality and the detail of the design was.
So I was super happy with those purchases.
Then we did get one other thing, which I should have worn. We got matching rings in Barcelona that were cool, and they're made out of recycled plastic. So we got our matching cute little local jewelry, which I wore to a wedding and got so many compliments on.
[14:02]
Well, thank you for sharing all of your packing tips with us, Ash. I may ask you to send the pictures of your purchases because that would be fun to pop up and show everyone those cool jackets that you bought. But thank you. We had the best adventure.
Next time you go somewhere, you'll learn, and hopefully anyone listening can learn from Ashley's packing. I also learned more things too by hearing her comment on her first time.
So that was super great and super fun, and we literally had the best time. I hope that all of you listening are traveling somewhere fun this summer, this fall, this year, and that you can take these tips.
If you would like additional ones, we have created a packing guide for you, which I will link in the show notes. You can click on that and get a download of it to help with your next trip.
[14:52]
Thank you so much for joining this episode of Wear Who You Are with my special, most wonderful guest, Ashley. We will see you next time.