What To Pack for Puerto Vallarta
I've been blessed with travel this year. In May I went to Europe with a friend and in June I spent a week in Mexico with my husband and sisters. The following is a list of the items I packed, along with tips about how I might pack better next time...
Carry On:
- Comfortable back pack
- thin picnic blanket
- Passport
- Camera + charger
- cell phone + charger
- kindle + charger
- I Pad mini + charger
- souvenir key chains from home (these are fun to hand out to people you meet)
- small purse packed with essentials: kleenex, eye drops, essential oil hand sanitizer, lip balm, lipstick, wallet
- $500 in ones, fives and twenties (great for tip money and street vendors....we stuck to credit cards when out to meals)
- tennis ball (I never travel with out a ball to help roll out the kinks in my stiff back)
- First Aid Kit including travel essential oils
- snacks: almonds, coconut candy, candied ginger
- fold up big brim hat (I honestly never leave home with out this thing)
- water bottle (we bought giant bottles when we arrived and refilled our smaller bottles)
- ear muffs. yes... I know. But if I go swimming and get my ears wet, and it's windy, I get migraines. Don't make fun....just don't pack it in YOUR bag.
Clothes:
- 4 pairs shorts
- 1 capri sweats
- 5 sun dresses
- 5 tank tops
- 1 long sleeve light weight top
- sarong
- pull up swim cover
- 2 pairs light weight pants (good for travel)
- 1 light weight sweater
- 1 fringy vest
- 1 pair leather sandles
- 1 pair chacos (hiking sandals)
- 1 pair flip flops for beach
I definitely got good use of the dresses. It seems that we spent our days in swim suits by the pool or beach and our evenings we went out to dinner wearing dresses (well, except for those of us who didn't). We did one outing where shorts were a must (zip line) and I chose the jean shorts which were horribly hot (but felt more secure for the activity than the lighter options). My capri sweats (lightweight) felt great after a day in the sun when you want to lounge back at the condo for a bit. I probably only needed 3 pairs of light weight shorts leaving the jean shorts (too hot), the cute vest and the sweater at home. It was good to have a light weight long sleeve shirt for the airplane as well as the light weight pants. I like to wear thin pants or a long skirt when I'm on an airplane forever. Puerto Vallarta was so flippin hot and humid that dresses were best. They are tiny and you can pack a bazillion into a small space. Fabrics that dry easy are recommended because you. will. sweat.
We brought a checked bag because I wouldn't have been able to pack sunscreen in my carry on, AND so that I could bring home all the stuff I never knew I couldn't live without.
Checked Bag:
- clothes
- bug spray & bug bands (bugs weren't as bad as I feared)
- 2 bottles spray sunscreen, one bottle lotion
- Imodium (just in case)
- Band-Aids
- blister Band-Aids
- mole skin (yes....I was fearing blisters from my new leather sandals)
- hair dryer
- snacks (LOVE those barefruit apple chips from costco, I also brought a handful of oatmeal packets)
- travel pillow (a contoured foam pillow cut in half.....see photo below borrowed from Europe blog post)
- big beanie hat for the crazy hair I get from the humidity...this one's my light weight summer version
- travel chair (the kind you sit in and lean back.....wait.....isn't that every kind of chair?)
- wet wipes
- typical toiletries (make-up, toothbrush, face wash, etc....)
- daily vitamin bag (see photo below borrowed from Europe blog post)
Staying in a condo, we had the option of making our own meals sometimes. This is fantastic when you have the whole family with you but we left our kids at home this time. My sister and her sister were our neighbors and we did partake in a big home made meal all together, a tasty dish of chicken enchiladas on our first night. Nothing better then being welcomed into a foreign country by family and home made food.
While in Puerto Vallarta, my sister made a list of everything she had brought and everything she WISHED she had brought so that next time she would be totally prepared.
My Sister's List:
- Toiletries: sunscreen, aloe spray, lotion, shaving cream, moisturizer, cleanser
- Medicine: advil, ear drops, anti-diarrhea, anti-itch cream, tums, repellent, afterbite, lip balm
- woolite
- vitamins
- feminine products
- wash cloth
- Rosetta Stone
- goggles
- snorkel gear
- dive logs
- rash guard
- hats/visors
- ear plugs
- kindle/books
- camera/cord/charger
- Iphone speaker
- phones/chargers
- games: cards, dice
- tip money
- passport
- ticket confirmation
- water bottles
- 2-3 swim suits
- shirts
- sundresses
- sandals
- flip flops
- keens (hiking sandals) ....personally I'm "keen" on chacos
- socks
- cover up
- sarong
- tea/coffee
- power bars
- zip lock baggies
- salt and pepper
- microwave popcorn
- cup o noodles
- small bottle of cooking oil
- paring knife
- pam spray
- travel pillow
- pool floaty
- blow up tube
- candles/lighter/incense (this was eSSENTial when it came to freshening up the condo at times if you know what I mean)
- oatmeal packets
- snacks
- nuts
- protein powder
- mac n cheese
...Stay tuned for photos from my trip!