// ON TOUR: Packing for Chicago

Hello Internet!

It‘s me, ya girl. 

I‘m currently sitting in a Starbucks in my town having breakfast after getting a few of my travel essentials at a drugstore and thought: why not blog about my travel preparations and the trip itself? 

So here I am, taking you from Germany to the USA and back!

The first thing I did was setting up a packing list in my bullet journal. I never know what to pack and once I‘ve left the house, I keep wondering whether I packed everything I‘ll need. To take that fear away from me, I checked some blogs, Pinterest and my own list that I made last year. Since I always include whole travel spreads in the journals I use at that moment, that’s exactly what I did this time as well!

Here‘s the one I came up with. Feel free to use it for yourself as well. :)

I‘ll be in Chicago for 11 nights so I‘m traveling with two suitcases. Like, a big one and a smaller carry on and I‘m always kind of struggling when it comes to that because I usually travel alone and I‘m quite short so I needed something to help me handling two suitcases that often like to just roll away on public transportation. On Amazon, I found a set of belts that will let me put the carry on on top of the suitcase. That way, I can walk and just care about not letting go of the bigger case and it will also save some space on trains and busses. The set included two straps and two additional belts and I thank god for that because I should’ve checked my suitcase before ordering blindly. The carry on doesn’t fit right on top of the other because of its height and without the belt, I wouldn’t know how to make the straps work.

So all in all, the „construction“ would look like this:

Now to the „fun“ part: actual packing.

When it comes to packing, I figured it helped me to put everything I want to take with me on a pile. One pile for each piece of luggage I‘m taking. So for this specific trip, I‘ll have three piles:

1. Suitcase

2. Carry On

3. Backpack

Then, I work myself from smallest to biggest luggage. Just because that way I can still sort out stuff from one pile to another. And I‘ll be able to put stuff that didn‘t fit in the carry on and backpack in the suitcase as well as making last minute decisions to not take specific items with me.

So, the first thing I‘ll pack is my backpack.

Did I get it specifically for this trip? Yes.

Do I regret it? HELL NO.

This Seventeen London backpack is amazing! It‘s waterproof, which my beloved Kanken isn‘t and that was pretty much the most important point why I bought it. You never know what the weather will be like in Chicago so having a durable backpack was important to me. Plus, it‘s not much bigger than the Kanken which makes it perfect to take on a plane with you. Another thing that I liked about it was that there’s a zipper on the back of it so you can access it with the top still folded and people can‘t put their stinky fingers in it to grab your wallet. Another thing that surprised me was the padded notebook compartment. It‘s soooo soft! 

And no, I‘m not sponsored by them, I had to pay for it. I‘m just really in love!

As I only pack stuff I‘ll need fast access to in my backpack, I‘m packing the following:

• Passport
• Important documents + copies (booking confirmations, healthcare card, ID, vaccination record)
• Wallet with cash and cards
• Liquid bag
• Charger + adapter
• iPad, iPhone and AirPods 
• Bullet Journal and pencil case/pen
• My meds
• Water bottle
• Brolly
• Tissues
• Wet wipes/deo wipes (which do NOT have to go into the liquids bag)
• Stuff to do on the flight (colouring book? Book? Maybe Netflix downloads?)
• Hairbrush
• Some toiletries

Now onto the carry on. I do have two of them so I‘ll decide last minute which one I want to take with me. I really want to take the Steve Madden one this time but the Harry Potter case does hold a bit more stuff.

As for my carry on, I like to pack a few outfits. So for like 2-4 days just in case something happens to the suitcase i dropped off at the check in. I’m a bit paranoid about this but when my brother and dad went on a trip a few years ago, their luggage got lost and whereas my dad had his after about 4 days, my brother only got his a few days AFTER he returned home.

What I pack:

• Shirts
• Jeans
• Leggings
• Pjs
• Socks
• Underwear
• Makeup bag + brushes
• Chicago Guide
• Hair accessories 

It‘s really not a lot but as I said: it‘s like an emergency packing. 

Nearly done now! Onto the final piece: the suitcase!

I don’t know what else to say than: Just put everything else you want to take in here.

This includes (but is not limited to):

• Shirts
• Cardigans
• Jeans
• Leggings
• Underwear
• Socks
• Curling iron
• Shampoo
• Shower gel
• Face creams/moisturizer 
• Earrings
• Laundry bag
• Jumpers
• Toiletries

And we D O N E :)

I could end right here but I won‘t. When it comes to putting together lists for toiletries and the liquids bag, I always felt like something was missing when taking inspiration from different websites. So since I listed everything else beautifully, I‘ll do that for toiletries, my makeup bag and the liquids bag as well.

Let‘s start with the toiletries:

• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Dental floss
• Tweezers
• Eyelash curler
• Face wash
• Face scrub
• Creams and moisturizers 
• Toner
• Cottonpads
• Curling iron
• Deo
• Perfume/body spray
• Makeup remover
• Razor
• Wet wipes
• Hair ties and bows
• Headband
• Bandaids
• Shampoo 
• Showergel
• Hairspray

Liquids

• Foundation
• Concealer
• Browgel
• Small shampoo/showergel
• Mascara
• Sanitizer (Hi corona, how are ya?)
• Moisturizer
• Toothpaste
• Inhaler
• Primer

Makeup Bag:

• Brushes: powder, blush, contour, highlight, eyeshadow
• Sponges
• Foundation
• Concealer
• Primer
• Fix+
• Eyeshadow
• Eyeshadow base
• Highlighter
• Contouring powder
• Blush
• Mascara
• Browgel
• Eyeliner
• Lipbalm
• Lipscrub
• Lipstick
• Mirror

I‘m aware that I listed a few things twice but that‘s where you have to decide what you‘re taking with you and if you can live without stuff like foundation for a few days if your suitcase may take some time to get to your hotel. I can‘t, that’s why I‘m taking mine in the liquids bag.

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