Time away:
21 days
Where to:
Italy; primarily Tuscany and the Amalfi coast, a few days in Copenhagen, one day in Singapore
Season:
early summer.
Hot in Italy, in fact everyone commented on how unseasonably warm it was! with daily temps of 17-34C. Then cold, wintery conditions (for us) in Copenhagen, 8-16C. Singapore; hot and very humid; 27-32C
Expected activities:
Lots of medium to heavy duty hiking, with evenings spent hanging out in small villages. Some city sightseeing and shopping.
Colour scheme:
cheerful primaries, in solids and in fun gingham, stripes and florals.
Hmmm, I must've been in a rather whimsical party/holiday mood when I selected this lot!
What I packed:
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each garment made by me is linked to its original construction post:
2 cardigans;
turquoise Metalicus cardigan rtw
ivory CR cardigan rtw
2 prs shorts;
greige corduroy shorts
green gingham shorts
2 dresses;
red gingham dress; casual
floral dress bit more dressy
6 tops;
cream blouse with black velvet tie
royal blue velvet top
ivory LS shirt
green gingham top
orange/cream stripe top
brown Tshirt
1 red scarf rtw
2 skirts;
blue corduroy skirt
yellow corduroy skirt
1 olive green cap; my husband's, rtw
2 prs pants;
burnt brown jeans
olive green hiking pants
4 prs shoes;
turquoise sandals, , hiking boots, white thongs, black sandshoes
green floral bathers
blue raincoat (under)
black tights
3 prs socks; handknitted ginger socks + 2 prs thick hiking socks rtw
chocolate brown leather handbag
also, obviously I took my nightie, toiletries bag and a selection of underwear :)
My daily outfits:
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Thoughts:
I think I'm actually getting better at minimising my packing, since this is a far smaller selection that the last time we went to Italy. True, this was a shorter trip by 6 days, but I felt as though I had plenty of options and probably could have happily eked another week's worth of outfits out of this lot pretty easily!
I did make one ginormous packing boo boo; I neglected to bring a hat, DOH! You can imagine how hard I was kicking myself when I discovered this, getting dressed for our first day out hiking!! I had intended to bring my white, wide-brimmed hat, which is fantabulous for keeping off the sun and I thought it would complement all my outfits just perfectly but just forgot to put it in somehow!... oh well, all the best-laid plans and all that. Very fortunately my husband had brought two hats so he allowed me to use one of his on our holiday. Of course I could have bought a new one if need be; but you know how weird I am about not buying clothes, right?
Weather appropriateness: it was very hot hiking in Italy, and to be honest there were times I found myself pining for a few more warm weather options; but really I made do with what I had just fine. Happily our schedule was such that we could do a bit of hand-washing in our room every few nights and could put something fresh and clean on every morning.
During our time in Italy, we both felt like the cooler weather options we'd brought were a complete waste of suitcase space. But of course then we got to Copenhagen and it was freezing! and then I leapt upon my tights and cardigans and my raincoat, rugging up with relief and joy. Weather! You just can never tell!
Likewise, I packed the floral dress just in case, and while we were hiking and hanging out in rural and seaside areas with a downbeat, casual vibe, it languished uselessly in the suitcase, bugging me. However, obviously we did eventually get to cities, with restaurants and cocktail bars where there were beautiful people dressed very smartly indeed; and I was happy I could sashay out looking just that little bit glamorous!
Other, non-sartorial thoughts:
I took my fitbit and was super chuffed that I set two new personal bests! on two separate days.
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We did a huge amount of hiking and mountain/hill/stair climbing, and averaged 25,000 steps and 150 floors per day. Phew! We sure earned our gelati each day! or sometimes *blush* even two gelati, ahem.
Another "thing" I did was keep a diary. I always have good intentions to keep travel journals but rarely do I actually manage to keep it going for the whole trip. This time I gave myself extra motivation by buying for myself a really beautiful book. It worked! I loved my book so much it was an absolute pleasure to write in it, and I found myself looking forward each day to summarising the events of the day, recalling funny anecdotes, little thoughts I had, conversations we had, and general stooff like that.
I know I'm going to enjoy reading it one day when I'm old and can no longer remember that we even ever went to Italy, once upon a time, hehe :)
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21 days
Where to:
Italy; primarily Tuscany and the Amalfi coast, a few days in Copenhagen, one day in Singapore
Season:
early summer.
Hot in Italy, in fact everyone commented on how unseasonably warm it was! with daily temps of 17-34C. Then cold, wintery conditions (for us) in Copenhagen, 8-16C. Singapore; hot and very humid; 27-32C
Expected activities:
Lots of medium to heavy duty hiking, with evenings spent hanging out in small villages. Some city sightseeing and shopping.
Colour scheme:
cheerful primaries, in solids and in fun gingham, stripes and florals.
Hmmm, I must've been in a rather whimsical party/holiday mood when I selected this lot!
What I packed:
each garment made by me is linked to its original construction post:
2 cardigans;
turquoise Metalicus cardigan rtw
ivory CR cardigan rtw
2 prs shorts;
greige corduroy shorts
green gingham shorts
2 dresses;
red gingham dress; casual
floral dress bit more dressy
6 tops;
cream blouse with black velvet tie
royal blue velvet top
ivory LS shirt
green gingham top
orange/cream stripe top
brown Tshirt
1 red scarf rtw
2 skirts;
blue corduroy skirt
yellow corduroy skirt
1 olive green cap; my husband's, rtw
2 prs pants;
burnt brown jeans
olive green hiking pants
4 prs shoes;
turquoise sandals, , hiking boots, white thongs, black sandshoes
green floral bathers
blue raincoat (under)
black tights
3 prs socks; handknitted ginger socks + 2 prs thick hiking socks rtw
chocolate brown leather handbag
also, obviously I took my nightie, toiletries bag and a selection of underwear :)
My daily outfits:
Thoughts:
I think I'm actually getting better at minimising my packing, since this is a far smaller selection that the last time we went to Italy. True, this was a shorter trip by 6 days, but I felt as though I had plenty of options and probably could have happily eked another week's worth of outfits out of this lot pretty easily!
I did make one ginormous packing boo boo; I neglected to bring a hat, DOH! You can imagine how hard I was kicking myself when I discovered this, getting dressed for our first day out hiking!! I had intended to bring my white, wide-brimmed hat, which is fantabulous for keeping off the sun and I thought it would complement all my outfits just perfectly but just forgot to put it in somehow!... oh well, all the best-laid plans and all that. Very fortunately my husband had brought two hats so he allowed me to use one of his on our holiday. Of course I could have bought a new one if need be; but you know how weird I am about not buying clothes, right?
Weather appropriateness: it was very hot hiking in Italy, and to be honest there were times I found myself pining for a few more warm weather options; but really I made do with what I had just fine. Happily our schedule was such that we could do a bit of hand-washing in our room every few nights and could put something fresh and clean on every morning.
During our time in Italy, we both felt like the cooler weather options we'd brought were a complete waste of suitcase space. But of course then we got to Copenhagen and it was freezing! and then I leapt upon my tights and cardigans and my raincoat, rugging up with relief and joy. Weather! You just can never tell!
Likewise, I packed the floral dress just in case, and while we were hiking and hanging out in rural and seaside areas with a downbeat, casual vibe, it languished uselessly in the suitcase, bugging me. However, obviously we did eventually get to cities, with restaurants and cocktail bars where there were beautiful people dressed very smartly indeed; and I was happy I could sashay out looking just that little bit glamorous!
Other, non-sartorial thoughts:
I took my fitbit and was super chuffed that I set two new personal bests! on two separate days.
moment of smug self-backpatting
Another "thing" I did was keep a diary. I always have good intentions to keep travel journals but rarely do I actually manage to keep it going for the whole trip. This time I gave myself extra motivation by buying for myself a really beautiful book. It worked! I loved my book so much it was an absolute pleasure to write in it, and I found myself looking forward each day to summarising the events of the day, recalling funny anecdotes, little thoughts I had, conversations we had, and general stooff like that.
I know I'm going to enjoy reading it one day when I'm old and can no longer remember that we even ever went to Italy, once upon a time, hehe :)
