Travel Packing List - Amsterdam, Scotland, and Ireland in Spring

Ok, I've talked before about packing light and really really thought I was doing good this time around...and yet I still took too much! Ugh. When will I learn...? We were very lucky with the weather this trip - I thought we would have lots of rain and it'd be chilly so everything I packed was thin and lightweight to be able to layer as needed, but it only rained a couple times! It was still nice to have the multiple light layering pieces so I did good there, but I just took more than I needed. Nothing like getting up to the baggage drop counter and having them put a "heavy" tag on your bag (I was a little offended on behalf of my bag, that's kind of a rude label if you ask me LOL!). In my defense I didn't have to use the extender zipper to fit it all tho, so there's that.

We were gone 16 days - I googled, researched, and studied other people's suggested packing lists for the areas we were going and they basically all said the same things...layers layers layers and lots of black/gray/white. I pretty much followed suit and took the following (I don't have the fancy app that lets you take organized nice clean pictures of everything you are packing like everyone on Pinterest does, so just use your imagination - "gray long sleeved t-shirt" is not hard to figure out without a photo). I kept the pieces basic so I could wear them multiple ways:

2 jeans (dark-wash straight leg, light-wash skinny)
1 black stretchy jeggings (a cross between black jeans and leggings - they look like jeans though)
1 black leggings
3 button up long sleeved tops (white, jean, black)
2 long sleeved t-shirts (gray, black/white stripe)
2 lightweight hoodies (cream, gray)
2 short sleeved shirts (cream, black)
red pullover light sweater with hood
black pullover light sweater
gray pullover light sweater
black cardigan
multi colored (brown/blue/cream/gray) cardigan
flowy dressy tank
short sleeve black button up dress with a little collar and tie belt
2 thin down vests (silver, cream)
2 scarves (both matched everything)
tall brown boots
black ankle high combat boots
brown/black ballet shoes
hiking tennis shoes
a couple tight tanks for layering
pajamas
swimsuit and coverup shorts
hip length black jacket
long black light rain coat/shell with a hood
knit hat, lightweight gloves

That equals 4 bottoms, 12 outer shirts (not counting short sleeve and tanks that I never wore alone), 1 dress, 1 flowy dressy tank in case we went somewhere "nice". All of the places we went are super casual, or if they were a little nicer no one cared what we wore so we still wore casual clothes. I wore the dress one time under the black pullover top with tights and tall boots - totally didn't need to take it. I wore the dark straight jeans with ballet flats one time, didn't need either of those pieces either. Only wore the multi-colored cardigan once, didn't need it. Did not wear the flowy tank or the short sleeve black t-shirt. The tall brown boots were an extra that I debated packing but I wore them all the time and am so glad I decided to bring. A couple of the hotels had pools but there was never time to swim so didn't need the swimsuit.  I didn't pack anything that was bulky or heavier-weight and didn't need them so that's good. Now that I've been I would pack a little differently if I ever go back to these places around this time of year:

dark wash skinny jeans
black stretchy jeans
black leggings
2 button up long sleeve tops (either white, jean, or black - didn't need all 3)
1 or 2 long sleeved t-shirts in neutral color (I never wore this without a shirt overtop, it's just for layering)
2 lightweight pullovers
1 long cardigan
2 lightweight hoodie/shirts (I wore these a lot!)
2 thin vests (1 down and 1 fleece)
1 lightweight fleece either pullover or zip up
scarves and jewelry to jazz up the neutrals
1 coat that has a hood and is water repellant that can be worn with everything. I took 2 different ones and layered them but one light- to mid-weight would have done it.
tall boots, ankle boots, hiking shoes
2 tight layering tanks
pajamas
knit hat

I could probably pare down even farther, and this amount of clothes will probably still earn me a "heavy" bag tag but there would be less to deal with which would be nice and this amount of clothing would still give me lots of mix and match options - and something I should have remembered is that you are pretty much wearing a jacket or vest over every outfit every day so what you have on underneath is really not seen all that much!

Some packing tips and ideas:
-I rolled all of my shirts and laid them in a single layer in the top part of my suitcase that has a zip around cover in the lid - when I unzipped it the shirts were all in order and functioned almost like a drawer. I could see everything and didn't have to move any shirts to get to another one. That worked great.

-I used 3 cube things to keep my bag in order: 1 big one for tanks, swimsuit, pajamas, etc. 1 medium one for under things and socks. 1 smaller one for hair accessories and jewelry.

-Put a shower cap over the soles of the shoes you are packing so they aren't touching your clothes, and for my boots I put them in a large plastic bag (or a plastic grocery bag). Pack a couple extra plastic grocery bags in case your clothes or shoes get wet from the rain and you need to put them back in your suitcase before drying out.

-If you are traveling someplace that is normally rainy, spray your boots, purse, backpack, etc. with water repellant spray before you go. I did this to my shoes and boots and never had wet feet.

-Bring along a piece of bubble wrap in case you buy anything fragile (I brought home 2 coffee cups and wrapped them up in the bubble wrap and placed between the down vests).

-Print out your name and contact info on a piece of paper and include it in your suitcase in case the outer tag gets ripped off.

Here are some photos so you get an idea of what we wore:

skinny jeans, tall boots, black cardigan, blue button up shirt with tank under, scarf. 

I'm wearing a tank, jean shirt, lightweight hoodie, thin down vest
with my skinny jeans and tall leather boots...too many layers, we were
all peeling off clothes in the warm sunshine!

yep, our guide Scott wore a kilt every day - even when it was cold!

skinny jeans, hiking/tennis shoes, black pullover with long sleeve t-shirt under,  down vest

it was cold and rained pretty hard the day we went to the Cliffs of Moher -
definitely a layering day. I have on my knit hat, and put my jacket under
the hooded rainshell, and wore my waterproof hiking/tennis shoes.
Stayed warm and dry!

If there are any guys reading this post, here is Dave's packing list:

3 jeans (black, gray, blue)
1 chico/khaki dressier pants
2 plaid flannel shirts
2 plaid cotton button up shirts
2 lightweight turtlenecks (tan, black)
1 lightweight pullover (gray)
1 short sleeve polo (black)
Nike lightweight lounge/workout pants and pullover (black)
1 swim shorts
2 short sleeve t-shirts (gray)
1 mid-weight hip length jacket with hood (gray)
2 pairs shoes (hiking/tennis shoes and loafers)

He didn't wear the chinos, black jeans, swim shorts, or the polo shirt. The Nike pants and pullover he wore on travel days. He says he didn't need anything other than what he brought, wouldn't change his packing list other than not needing that many bottoms.

I'm going to do a few travel blog posts for the next couple days if you're interested - stay tuned!