What’s Your Travel Clothing Style?
What To Wear on Travel Days?
How do you decide what to wear when you have a long travel day? What do you look for when you’re going to be traveling for 5 hours? 8 hours? 12 hours? 24 hours or more?
The clothing I pick for traveling is always about being comfortable, looking good and feeling confident. The last thing I want is to wear something that I have to re-adjust, pull down, pull up, etc. Comfort & fit is key and feeling good in what I’m wearing makes the travel day so much better! I tend to wear classic styles especially when going to Europe and more casual styles when traveling the US (as you can see by my Airport Travel Style photos).
On long trips (12 hours +) I always try to take a shower 1/2 way through the trip or when I’m at a large international airport that has an airport lounge with showers. This really elevates your mood and makes you feel so good. I will have a change of clothes ready for this too so fresh clothes also makes a big difference in how you feel!
Dressing For Your Destination
I always dress for the final destination and sometimes that means wearing my heaviest or bulkiest pieces, especially when traveling to cold weather destinations. I also take into account what the weather will be when I get there, what is appropriate for the country I’ll be landing in and if I am going to sleep along the way.
Many times I’ve seen people arrive in Hawaii in hot jeans & puffy coats and they’re instantly uncomfortable. And vice versa too! I arrived in Sweden in the cold and people we’d traveled with were FREEZING while waiting for their luggage to arrive on the carousel. It’s easy to take a few steps to make sure you are comfortable the entire way of your journey and really enjoy the entire travel experience!
In this photo I’m on my way to Costa Rica…just a 5 hour flight from LAX (Los Angeles International) so I’m quite casual and I know it will be hot when I arrive. I’m traveling with carry-on only but didn’t have anything bulky that I needed to wear. Costa Rica is a super casual place so this outfit worked perfectly and the scarf covered my shoulders if it got cold on the plane. Because I was wearing sandals, I made sure to get a pedicure the day before. I’m all for wearing comfortable shoes on the plane but am very aware that feet can be “not pretty” so I always make sure mine are!
Traveling with Carry-On Only
If you are trying to avoid those checked luggage fees or you just want to make sure you have everything with you, here are some quick tips:
- Wear your bulkiest pieces on the plane. When I go to cold weather climates, I’ll wear my tall boots and my jacket. For super long flights I may take those boots off and change into a slip-on shoe that’s more comfortable. That way I didn’t have to pack the bulky boots. And the jacket makes a great blanket when the airplane gets cold as it often does, especially on 12+ hour flights.
- Reminder to get on the plane as soon as possible. You need to get on the plane at least in the first 50% of people so that there is overhead bin space. It stinks when you do your best to do Carry-On Only and then your bag has to get put with the rest of the luggage. Yes you avoid the baggage fees but now you run the risk of your luggage being misplaced or at the very least having to wait for a long time for it to come out at the baggage carousel. That said, always assume that will happen so you don’t put your computer or other sensitive items in there. Always have those items in your personal item so that will be with you 100%!
- Make sure that in your personal item you have all of your “must haves”. Whether that be a change of clothes in case your luggage is lost, your medicines, your computer, your chargers, etc. I personally always have a cross body bag that fits into the personal item and then pull out the small purse and put that at my seat. In my small purse are my essentials such as my passport, wallet, phone, etc. I grab that and my Quick Grab Bag for those long flights and I’ve got everything I need at my seat. That way you’re covered & comfortable for your airplane adventure!
You can read more about traveling with Carry-On only by clicking here.
Funny Travel Story….this will make you laugh!
I have to tell you a funny story about what I wore for a flight several years ago in Costa Rica. I was dating my now husband and instead of making the 10 hour roundtrip of driving, I decided to take a small airplane. I started at the La Fortuna airport, only about 20 minutes from my house, then had to change planes in San Jose International. I wanted to look super cute so when Gary picked me up he would say “WOW”. I wore a pretty flowing knee length skirt, cute top and wedge sandals. When the airport bus took us to the plane, I then had to board the plane with my bag in one hand and I used the handrail to climb the steep steps. The wind took my skirt and blew it all the way up! My hands were occupied and I couldn’t grab it to pull it back down so up it went! There was an older man and his wife in back of me (the last 2 to board thankfully) and I said “Oh my gosh I am so sorry” (note that I was wearing a tan thong so he really got an eye full)! He and his wife smiled and said it was just fine, and the wife said her husband was very happy that he was the one behind me! LOL You have got to laugh at yourself! But I had to tell you about this because I had NEVER traveled on an airplane in a skirt and have never done it since! But this is a perfect example of making sure to think about the situations you’ll be in. Now, I always travel in pants….no matter what!
Hope this story made you smile. Happy travels!