• Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Espresso and Ambition

A not-so-serious gal with some serious dreams.

  • Food
  • Fitness
  • Organization
  • Productivity
  • Etc.

How to Pack for Study Abroad – Part 2: Packing Tips

December 20, 2016 by Taylor 1 Comment

How to Make it All Fit

As promised, here’s the second part of my “packing for study abroad” series: how to make the exorbitant amount of stuff I listed last post fit into a suitcase or two, without getting fined for exceeding the 50-lb. limit on most airlines.

While I may not be a master of packing light, I do consider myself somewhat of an expert in making an impossible amount of items fit into a suitcase. So, here’s some of my favorite packing tips.

1. Space-saver bags

                

Since I’m taking a lot of winter clothes that tend to be super bulky, these space-saver bags are a must – look at how much smaller my stack of sweaters is when they’ve been sucked all the way down! I’ve also used a smaller version of this bag for all of my scarves. While they may not be the cutest packing method (seriously, my sweaters remind me of an uncooked turkey still in the plastic packaging), it’s a lifesaver for bulky winter items.

The best thing about these spave-saver bags in particular is that they’re not vacuum-sealed; instead, you get all of the excess air out by literally squishing the bags down. It’s obviously not quite as effective as a vacuum, but this means you don’t have to worry about finding a vacuum in your destination to re-pack your luggage.

2. Roll your clothes

Roll Clothes in the Bottom of Your Suitcase

If you’ve so much as googled “packing tips” before, you probably know how useful it is to roll up your clothes at the bottom of your suitcase along the sections made by the suitcase handle – I find that this works best with my casual/workout clothes – in the suitcase up there, I’ve got all of my workout shirts and shorts, and in my larger suitcase, I’ve got leggings, sweatshirts, and sweatpants rolled at the bottom. This makes a flat surface for all of your other things, and while I don’t understand the physics behind it at all, somehow rolled clothes take up significantly less space in a suitcase than regularly folded clothes.

3. Stuff your shoes

Stuff Your Shoes

Once again, this is really a tip for packing cold-weather clothes. While I’m wearing my bulkiest pair of boots on the plane, I still have a large pair of Hunter rainboots that need to go with me. If I put the boots in my suitcase on their own, they take up a ton of space and don’t accomplish much. So instead, I let them serve double-duty. I stuff them with other clothes – I’ve filled them with socks, because for some reason stuffing an article of clothing that goes on your feet inside of shoes feels less gross than stuffing any other article of clothing into shoes.

4. Wear your bulkiest clothes on the plane

This is a tip that’s basically been drilled into my brain since childhood – wear the clothes that would take up the most space while you’re travelling. For me, this means I’ll be wearing a thick sweater, a blanket scarf, and riding boots, and carrying my thick coat with me. As someone who also gets unreasonably cold on airplanes, this is really a win-win for me.

With these tips and a little bit of a miracle, I’ve gotten all of my things fully packed for my trip. Whether or not I’ll be as successful on my way home remains to be seen (I’ve already prepared my parents for the very real possibility that I’ll just be shipping a box of random stuff back to them in March).

Let me know if you have any additional packing tips and tricks in the comments – happy travels!

xo, Taylor

Related Posts

Filed Under: Etc., Study Abroad, Travel

Comments

  1. Gramma says

    December 20, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    Good job, Taylor. I’m very proud o you. Even I questioned if you could get everything on that list in 2 bags!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Follow

Meet Taylor

A real-life combination of Elle Woods and Hermione Granger. Recent graduate of the University of Georgia, currently living and working in DC. New blog posts every Monday, new YouTube videos every Thursday. Subscribe by clicking the link below for post updates and exclusive content!

Instagram

tayy_kay

📍 dc
🔥 nasm certified personal trainer
✨ self-love + balance
🎥 2 new workouts per week!

tayy_kay
without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little c without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little challenging to really feel like i’m working at my full potential on leg days 😶 enter: single-leg movements. since all the weight is in one leg, you’re putting way more emphasis on it than you do during two-leg movements - and you’ll definitely feel that 🔥 you also get some added bonuses in the form of ensuring you’re working each side of your body equally AND a balance challenge!!
.
you can add in weights or bands to up the challenge level, or do it all bodyweight like i am here!
.
1️⃣ 15 single-leg box squats per leg (use other leg as a kickstand for an easier modification!)
.
2️⃣ 15 bulgarian split squats per leg
.
3️⃣ 15 single-leg hip thrusts per leg
.
4️⃣ 15 single-leg deadlifts per leg
.
throw on at the end of a longer leg day workout or do it 3-4 times as a workout all on its own!!
.
👚 @girlfriend 🎧 numb - neffex
🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time 🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time to be alive, and it’s more important now than ever to listen to your body and stop being so hard on yourself. motivation is a fickle thing and working out when you don’t have all the equipment you love is weird. give yourself permission to take a break when you need it. don’t beat yourself up for missing workouts - exercise should be something you do because it makes you happy, not because you feel like you have to punish yourself. if it doesn’t make you happy that day, that’s okay. give yourself a break, come back and try again tomorrow. 💪🏼
circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not kidding about how much i love this long resistance band, it’s so versatile! definitely worth getting your hands on one for home workouts 😊 (although almost all of these can be completely with dumbbells or heavy objects if that’s what you’ve got in hand)
.
also please watch to the very end of the fourth video for quality footage of greg 😂
.
1️⃣ 12 long band shoulder presses to standing chest presses
.
2️⃣ 12 upright rows to bicep curls
.
3️⃣ 12 overhead triceps extensions per arm (the one leg stance is some bonus balance work!)
.
4️⃣ 12 rear flies, featuring greg trying to fight my shadow
.
5️⃣ 12 commandos
.
6️⃣ 12 side-to-side pushups
.
repeat 4x total!!
.
👚 @underarmourwomen
🎧 best of me - neffex
giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, cra giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, crazy time in the world a little differently, and for me, it’s looked like a lot of establishing to and sticking to routines (seriously, sometimes it feels like my skincare routine and workout split are the only thing still giving meaning to days of the week, lol). my morning smoothies have been another important one - there’s a recipe in my story highlights and surprise surprise it uses this protein powder 😛
.
anyways, onto the real reason you’re here! i’m giving away 25 $20 giftcards for @310nutrition with NO STRINGS ATTACHED 🤯 you hear that? you ain’t gotta do a thing to win - the first 25 people to use the code KAYGC20 on their order automatically win. get your hands on some fire plant-based protein powder, courtesy of me and 310 😋 (p.s. if you’re still seeing this caption, there are still giftcards available!!)
.
#310gc20 #310shake
sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and hold a fake photo shoot just to prove to yourself that you’re still a real human
posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangen posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangentially topical. link in bio.
upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating towards circuit-style workouts lately, because they really work up a sweat and home workouts just don’t feel as legit to me unless i’m hardcore sweating 🤷🏼‍♀️ i don’t mind not breaking much of a sweat at the gym, but it feels weird not to when i’m working out at home - anyone else feel this or am i just weird?? 😅
.
do all exercises back to back with no rest in between!
.
1️⃣ 10 push-ups to renegade rows
.
2️⃣ 12 alternating bicep curls
.
3️⃣ 12 diamond front raises
.
4️⃣ 8 sets of 3 tricep pulses to this lil cross-body weight move that doesn’t have a name {keep your core tight to feel it on your obliques!}
.
5️⃣ 15 bent-over rear delt rows
.
6️⃣ finisher!! 🥵 10 burpees with 2 shoulder taps and 2 toe taps in the middle of each rep
.
repeat 🔁 for a total of 3 rounds!!
.
👚 top from @gymsharkwomen, shorts from @nike 🎧 dangerous - neffex
would be nice if both sides of my head could agree would be nice if both sides of my head could agree on whether my hair is wavy or straight, but apparently that’s a little too much to ask of it 😂
got a circuit-style leg workout for you today! 🥳 there are 3 sets of 3 exercises that you’ll complete back-to-back - once you’ve done those three moves, rest for 30 seconds before repeating them all over again 2 more times! rest for 1-2 minutes in between each circuit - keeping your heart rate up is the goal here, i was driiiiiiipping sweat by the end of this one 🥵
.
circuit 1️⃣: 10 step-ups to reverse lunges per leg
10 reverse lunges to curtsy lunges per leg
20 lateral lunges
.
circuit 2️⃣:
10 squats to surrenders (stop in a squat position before standing up at the end to really feel this one)
10 stagger-stance rdls
20 criss-cross squat jumps
.
circuit 3️⃣:
15 leg lifts per side
10 single-leg glute bridges per side
15 frog pumps
.
👚 top from @fabletics, joggers from @gymsharkwomen
🎧 watch me - neffex
Load More... Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Search


Disclosure

Some of the links featured in my posts may be affiliate links. The links and the products they lead to come at no additional cost to you but help this gal continue to make Espresso and Ambition happen. Your support means the world to me! <3

Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Espresso and Ambition
  • Subscribe
  • Disclosures and Privacy Policy

Blog Design by TinselPop