Outfits for Italia
Rent the Runway // I used RTR for a bunch of outfits for the trip and even though my plan only had a max of four pieces of clothing I was able to add several more looks for a small fee which was great given I wanted lots of options!
2-3 Outfits Per Day // I always try to pack at least two outfits per day, one for the day and one for night, and add in about four to six extra looks just in case since it can be hot in Europe in the summer or sometimes you just need something lighter or fancier or less fancy.
3 Shoes // Not including my travel APL sneaker, I only packed three shoes this time, a raffia ballet flat for walking during the day, an Hermès oran sandal for the pool/day/night and The Row barely there orange kitten heel sandal for an elevated evening that happened to pair well with every single outfit on the trip. Be careful with heels in Europe, a kitten heel or wedge will suffice but anything else is a risk!
Travel Essentials
Sunscreen // This might sound redundant but choose something easy, I always wear sunscreen as my moisturizer daily under makeup or without, but I made sure to get a spray sunscreen that would be easy to apply poolside or while out walking.
Baby Wipes // Not even for Parker, I can’t live my own life without them and I always had baby wipes in my bag to clean my hands after applying and re-applying sunscreen, wiping down Parker or myself in the heat and just in general for anything messy especially being out all day before heading to a restaurant or the dripping gelato in the 90 degree temps!
Luggage Protectors + AirTags // I can’t tell you what a difference the luggage protectors make for me as I always get anxious checking a bag and even with flights these days they will often offer or insist you check your carry-on bag if the plane is full. So I have them for carry-ons as well and use AirTags for all my luggage so I can easily find them in case of any mishaps traveling with so much stuff!
Wisp // Not sponsored but when I realized my period was set to start a few days before my trip I frantically found this website that can prescribe medication to delay your cycle. Obviously I am not a medical doctor and not at all giving medical advice but I used the service and it worked for me the entire vacation and I would 100% use it again!
Parker’s Checklist
Necessary Info // I made sure my google maps were loaded with saves for nearby playgrounds, toy shops and hospitals (check if your insurance covers them and if they treat children, not all do!) I already use google maps for traveling and have a separate map for every city I visit preloaded with restaurants, attractions, hotels, photo spots, etc. so naturally I included everything for Parker as well. Especially for a long car ride, having stops ready to go is great and ChatGBT can really assist in doing some of the legwork to find options. Additionally, I have photos of our passports in a separate photo album on my phone so it’s easy to retrieve that info without searching for your passport. I also saved all my canva slides to my camera roll so I could easily pull up our itinerary, screenshots of dinner reservations, hotel info, etc without requiring an internet connection. A major assist when wifi can be spotty!
Treasure Maps, Clues, Toys // This may have been overboard but I made a treasure map and relevant clues for each destination on our trip to get Parker excited to go places and assist with transitions from one spot to another. Traveling is hard for adults already, so I wanted him to have an idea of what each day would look like and give him something exciting to covet. At four years old he was able to sniff out that I had made the maps and held the treasure but it kept him excited, especially for the more difficult moments bound to come for any young kiddo traveling. We didn’t need to use them every minute of the trip but he loved waking up to treasure and especially loved my extra special clue about a pair of magical navy loafers that I knew he wouldn’t wear otherwise! ChatGBT assisted me greatly in writing clues that coordinated with our itinerary and I designed everything on Canva and printed them at Fedex, laminating the maps and putting the clues into mini envelopes.
