Travel Packing Guide for Women

Inevitably, you go on a trip and you have clothes that you don’t use. It’s called over-packing and nearly every traveler has done it. In the end, you either haul the extra clothes around with you, you mail them back home or you just abandon the clothes somewhere.

There are a variety of ‘rules’ for packing for a trip. The reality is there isn’t a single formula for all types of traveling. If you are a bare bones backpacker, you have one set of needs. If you are traveling through seasons or in colder weather, you need to pack some warmer clothing in addition to what is listed below. If you are planning on engaging in many outdoor activities, you will need to have appropriate sports clothing. If it’s important to you to have a variety of clothes, then you have yet another set of needs (and possibly a larger bag).

However, a couple rules apply to all types of packing: everything must go with everything else; everything needs to fit properly; everything should be good quality.

As a rule of thumb, here is a list of basic items that will be plenty for most women:

• 1-2 pair of pants 
• 2-3 skirts
• three shirts
• 2-3 t-shirts or summer-ish tops
• one versatile dress
• one nice outfit
• 5-7 pair of underwear
• 2 pair of tights/pantyhose
• 2-3 pair of socks
• 2 bras
• 1 pair comfortable walking, day-to-day shoes
• 1 pair of nice shoes
• 1 lightweight cardigan
• 1 light/medium-weight sweater
• 1 jacket
• 1 swimsuit
• sleeping clothes
• towel
• toiletries
• jewelry
• 1-2 scarves
• small and large Ziploc bags
• earplugs 
• eye mask
• journal and pen
• camera

If you think you need more clothes than this, think about this: every day you travel, you will be lifting that bag up and down stairs at the train station, up and down stairs at the hostel and you’ll be walking around with this bag in all kinds of weather (do you really want a heavy bag when it’s raining or particularly windy or you’re walking on uneven sidewalks or walking on unpaved roads?).