Packing.
Packing is usually the thing I dread the most about a trip – however, the excitement of the nearing adventure usually outweighs the unpleasantness of the mind-frying dance of logic required for trying to dress for all kinds of events, activities, weather, etc.
Turns out, all the careful research, planning, folding, rolling, stuffing and shoving and I did was for nothing. In a very ironic non-luck-of-the-Irish turn of events, we found out our luggage – though on a very direct flight from Chicago to Dublin – got lost and was missing for 3 days. Apparently, we were one of about 6 or 7 very unlucky people whose bags didn’t end up making it onto the flight because the conveyor belt broke down at O’Hare.
I’m a very type A person – so all that planning about packing I did… needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper when we first arrived. But duh, we were in Ireland – so I made a conscious decision to shut the perfectionist voice in my head up and make the most of it.
Lessons Learned
What did I learn? A lot about experience vs material things. That it’s absolutely possible to wear the same pair of jeans through a whole day of work, a whole day of travel and 2 full days of sightseeing - including hiking and cartwheeling through the Cliffs of Moher and navigating through narrow, cobwebbed turrets in Blarney Castle. And your pictures and Instagram posts still turn out great. And that when it comes down to it, clothes are literally just clothes. They’re more of a necessity – they allow you to see the beautiful sites the world has to offer and not get arrested for doing it in your birthday suit.
So after a taxing three days of trying to track our luggage (because in another twist of irony, the first 3 days of our lost luggage were also all 3 single-night stays in 3 different cities) and wondering if we should just start buying some new stuff (in addition to the socks and undies we obviously had to get… okay - maybe I did buy a new pair of maroon chucks too) we felt a little silly when our gigantic, behemoth bags showed up at the Dingle Skellig Hotel. We’d gotten used to traveling pretty light – which actually came in handy moving from place to place on the first leg of our trip.
It was a stressful lesson, but I found out I didn’t need to pack nearly as much stuff as I’d brought – and I swore off checking a bag for the rest of eternity. Below is a list of the things I brought that I actually used for 9 days in Ireland in May!
Outerwear/accessories
- Light zip up rain jacket
- Leather jacket
- Light olive jacket
- Light spring scarf
- Kimono for layering
Tops
- Light long-sleeve sweater
- Light long sleeve knit sweater
- Light mid-sleeve light sweater
- 2 light colored shirts
- 2 short sleeve shirts in different colors
- 1 dressy short sleeve top
- 2 off-the-shoulder dressy tops
- 1 plain tank top
- 1 beaded dressy tank top
- 1 short-sleeved dress
Bottoms
- 1 pair of regular jeans
- 1 pair of gray jeans
- 1 pair of black leggings
- 1 pair of leather leggings
Shoes
- 1 pair of brown booties
- 1 pair of crappy Chucks
- 1 pair of white Chucks
- 1 pair of black heeled booties
- 1 pair of sandals
- 1 pair of rain booties
Basics & Sleepwear
- Bathing suit
- Sleeping pants
- Comfy shirts to lounge in
- Socks and undies
Packing pro tips - what I did NOT wear:
- 1 pair of light shorts
- 1 pair of workout pants
- 1 workout tank top
- 1 lace-up long sleeve shirt
- 1 sleeveless dress
- 2 plain t-shirts
- 3 colored tank tops
Summing It Up
In short, it was actually pretty chilly in Ireland in May. It sprinkled on and off (and the Cliffs of Moher were very saturated with sea breeze - not to mention, Dingle was extremely moist) - so I am very glad I brought that light rain coat. It also torrentially down poured one day while we were in Dublin, so I’m also glad I brought my rain booties - however I also probably didn’t need to lug them around - the crappy Chucks would’ve been okay for that. Finally, Ireland is really laid back - people dress for comfort and warmth - so no need to bring super dressy clothes. And I’m sure you could pair down the above to fit into a carryon!
Have you been to Ireland in a different season? Have you ever experienced a packing challenge? Have something I’m forgetting? Leave a note in the comments!