August 14, 2021

What I Packed for a Week-Long Trip to San Diego

At the end of July, we drove down to San Diego for a week. It was awesome to visit family and get some solid surfing in! Being a minimalist who’s obsessed with efficiency, I love seeing how little I can pack for a trip. If I’m flying, I can usually go 2 weeks with just a carry on and a purse. I HATE checking my bags, so I avoid it like the plague!

So, for this trip, I fit everything I needed into two tote bags:

The tote bag is from Aloha Collection. I love their Hawaiian-inspired prints and their splash-proof designs. The don’t sell the bag I have anymore, but this one below is nearly the same but just a hair larger:

Onto what’s inside the bags.

You encounter way more plastics when you’re on-the-go and traveling. Everything is about convenience and usually packaged to be thrown away. So, I have some key items with me when on the road or in the air:

reusable water bottle
reusable coffee cup
utensil roll with cloth napkin, fork, and spoon

These items will get me to my destination without having to use any single-use plastics. And here’s the rest of what’s inside my bag:

Here’s the image with some labels:

Here’s the list of everything else I packed:

sunglasses & case
purse
wallet & keys
jewerly
laptop, case, chargers
book
glasses & case
Altoids Tin with dry toiletries (see below)
exercise bands
8 pairs of underwear
2 pairs of socks
2 bathing suits
sports bra
workout clothes
PJs
5 dresses
Toiletries (see below)
makeup
laundry bag
wet bag
sandals
heels
running shoes

I realize that bringing running shoes and workout clothes was aspirational–especially since I knew I would be surfing everyday. But I figured my husband might want to go hiking, so those clothes and shoes could double for that purpose. Of course, I didn’t end up using them. 😛

In general, I try to repeat an outfit while traveling so I don’t bring an outfit for each day. I do the same thing at home in that I wouldn’t wash my clothes after one use. I do, however, bring one pair of underwear for each day and then an extra.

While I’m flying or in the car, I usually wear jeans, a tank top, jacket and flip flops or a dress with a jacket and flip flops.

As for what’s in my toiletries, here’s a breakdown:

sunflower or olive oil for moisturizer
deodorant in paper tube by Meow Meow Tweet
refillable leave-in conditioner spray
Burt’s Bees lip balm
extra contacts
contact solution
contact case
tongue scraper
silk floss
toothpaste in metal tube (when you get low on toothpaste, throw it in your travel bag!)
bamboo toothbrush with boar hair bristles

For toiletries, instead of buying travel-sized toiletries, buy small refillable bottles and fill them up with the stuff you already use. As noted above, when I get down to the end of my toothpaste, I throw it in my travel bag instead of buying tiny tube of toothpaste.

And here are the details of my dry toiletries: