Recently my client, Julia, asked me to help her pack for a 5-day business trip, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity for a blog post about an unusual packing situation.
Because Julia works from home and has a very casual lifestyle, she doesn’t get many opportunities to wear her beautiful clothes. So even though she works in the uber-casual IT industry, Julia takes advantage of her business trip as an excuse to “pack heavy.”
In other words, she’s not all about packing light. She’s not interested in mix and match!
On the other hand, Julia is a bit of a minimalist, so she’s still able to pack in a carry on.
Check out the video to be inspired by Julia’s great clothes and see how we got her packed in a flash!
Here are some of my top packing tips for a business trip
Plan in advance
- After you get an idea of what the weather will be like, write out an itinerary for each day from morning until evening.
- Plan outfits for each day’s activities. This is prevents you from having an overstuffed suitcase full of random clothing. Ah, and you won’t forget anything, either!
- Write down every outfit and when/where you’ll wear it. Even if you’re only changing accessories or adding a layering piece, note it. It’ll save you tons of time getting dressed!
- Be realistic! I know I always envision myself changing clothes for dinner after a long day of meetings, but the reality is (especially if you’re in a male dominated field,) you usually only have about 15 minutes between the last meeting and dinner plans! If you really want to change your look from day to evening, consider different accessories or losing a layer instead of packing another complete outfit.
- Try on the outfits to make sure they fit and you’re happy with them. You want to feel confident, so you can make the most of your trip!
Minimize the number of shoes you pack
Try for as few pairs of shoes as possible. Yep! This is hard! Shoes are heavy in the suitcase. And make sure your shoes are comfortable…especially for traipsing through an airport! (Ha! I learned the hard way!)
Plan your airplane outfits
Most of my clients tell me they rarely have meetings on their travel days, so if you’re so lucky, plan to wear the same comfy, stylish outfit en route and traveling home.
If you have business to attend to on airplane days, plan outfits you can make simple changes to, so you’ll be most comfy on your flight, i.e. from flats to heels upon arrival or from a skirt to jeans right before boarding.
Follow all of my packing tips: planning all of your clothes in advance, keeping shoes to a minimum, and wearing comfy, stylish plane outfits will upgrade you to a packing pro in no time!
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Thanks for your help Dana! The outfits were perfect and what girl doesn’t love playing with clothes. Seriously
It was my pleasure! You have beautiful clothes, so I’m glad we were able to pack outfits you loved so you could be stylish among all those men, lol!