Last week I
did a 4-day trip to Paris to visit a friend of mine. As I have been traveling
carry-on only for the past few years I obviously did it this time too. It was a
short trip so not too challenging, but since it was March and the weather was
unpredictable it requires some good planning.
When
planning for what to pack for a trip I always start following the weather
reports as soon as they get published. The week before my trip it had been
sunny and close to 20 degrees Celsius for a while but with my bad weather luck
it was of course about to change for my stay. The predictions were really
unpredictable and changed from rain to sun to windy every hour.
This made it a bit complicated for me to chose what to bring since I had
limited space. In the end I am quite happy with what I brought with me. If
anyone else wonders how to pack light for unpredictable spring weather in Paris,
or any other European city, here is what I packed:
1. The bags.
The past two years I’ve been traveling with an
Osprey Farpoint 40L travel backpack and it is simply amazing. It does fit the hand
luggage requirements of the airlines I mostly use. However, it can get bulky if
I stuff it too full so I always look at the airline restrictions on how thick
it can be, just to avoid any unnecessary problems. I also avoid stuffing too
much stuff in the front since that would make it look bulkier.
As the Scandinavian I am, I also have a
Fjällräven Kånken backpack as a day pack. This classical bag I have used pretty
much daily for the past four years and it is super practical also for traveling.
Sometimes I pack it inside the big bag just because it doesn’t take much space
and is very light weight. That way I also have extra space in the bag, plus the
extra bag, for shopping on the way. This time I used the Kånken as my personal
item in the flight. I packed all the stuff I need to access at the airport or
at the flight in this bag and store it underneath the seat in front of me
during the flight while I put the bigger bag in the overhead compartment.
2. Packing cubes and pouches.
I’m sure you have heard of packing cubes, and
if you haven’t: go and get some. They are great to organize your stuff which
just makes you life so much easier. I use the small black one for underwear,
the bigger black one for clothes, the pink one for dirty clothes and some
pouches for small travel essentials.
3. Clothes.
Now to what I guess most people are interested
of: what clothes to pack for Paris in spring. As I am packing for carry-on I
always plan ahead and make sure the items I pack goes well together and are
easy to combine different ways. As you can see I did go for a lot of black
simply because black goes with everything and I happen to like black. Anyway, what
I packed for my four days Paris trip are:
-
One
pair of blue jeans (which I wore on the flight)
-
One
black thicker sweater (also wore this)
-
One
long sleeved t-shirt (wore it on the flight), two short sleeved t-shirts and
one black tank top.
-
One
pair of black pants.
-
A
black cardigan.
-
A
nicer looking top in case we would go out.
-
One
pair of leggings to sleep in as well as a pyjama t-shirt.
-
Four
days of underwear and socks
As you can see I went for quite basic clothes
which is what I normally wear too (I’m not a super fashionable person). The
clothes I packed also work for layering which is essential with unpredictable
weather, and in my case when there is still winter in my home country. I knew
it would be -10 Celsius when I landed back in Finland so I put the leggings
under my jeans and had several layers underneath my sweater.
4. Shoes and jacket.
This was my biggest dilemma when packing for
Paris and the unpredictable weather. As I knew we would walk a lot it was
important to me to have comfortable shoes and normally my go-to-pick would be
my beloved Nikes. However, the problem with the ones I have is that they get
wet immediately when it starts raining and walking around in wet shoes are
never fun. So, when I saw there would most likely be rain during my Paris stay I
went for a shopping spree to try to find a good water-proof option. I live in a
small town so finding what I wanted was basically impossible. In the end I
found some really cheap fake leather (aka plastic) sneakers that were
surprisingly comfortable. In the end it didn’t really rain except for once so I
ended up not needing them that much but it still felt good to know I had the
option to change. Both pair of shoes I brought were really light weight and
didn’t take up much space in the bag.
For a jacket I Went for my faux leather jacket.
Again, since faux leather is basically plastic, it is kind of waterproof, and I
also like how wearing it makes me feel almost stylish. I could have gone for a
more practical jacket and I did miss having a hoodie but in this case style won
over practicality…
I also have a gigantic scarf that double as a
blanket. This is one of my top travel essentials!
5. Electronics and entertainment.
I sometimes travel with my laptop but for this
trip I decided to stick with my iPad mini. I ended up not even using it so it
was kind of unnecessary to bring. I also brought a book to read on the plane,
my bullet journal since I am very in to it at the moment and my pencil case.
And obviously my smartphone. I also did bring a small camera but since my
smartphone is almost as good I ended up using my phone for photos instead of
the camera.
6. Toiletries.
Traveling carry-on only you can only bring a
restricted amount of fluids so you need to plan carefully what toiletries to
bring. Honestly, I don’t use that much even at home so all I bring is
toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, moisturizer and some concealer and mascara.
Non-fluid toiletries I bring are a lip balm, razor, tweezers, tooth brush and
an eye lash curler. I really don’t need more than this.
7. Other travel essentials.
Other essentials include different pills,
sunglasses, a lock for my bag and other miscellaneous stuff. I will probably
write another post on my travel essentials in the future.
So, this is
what I packed for four days in Paris in March. As I said in the beginning this
time I stayed at a friend’s house so I didn’t have to think about bringing
towels and flip flops etc. which would be essentials for me if I would have
stayed in a Hostel. Instead I brought gifts for my friend which also gave me
room to shop while in Paris!
I am curious
if you would do anything differently and if you have some travel essentials you
think I need to try? Comment below if I missed anything!
Until next
time,
Ida
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