Greece Girl's Trip: The Packing List

We're going on vacation! Yes, yes, I know it's not exactly unusual for someone who writes a travel blog to be going on a trip. But. This is a girls' vacation, and I am thrilled. There are a couple of us going who don't travel regularly, so a few weeks ago, they asked me what I would be packing.

 For this trip, swimsuits and a sun hat are a must! (I don't typically bring a hat like this with me unless I'm going to be beaching. Also, I'm bringing two swim suits, because I've been to humid climates where suits don't dry overnight, and there's very little more annoying than putting on a wet bathing suit!)

Now, that's sort of a loaded question. I'm a firm believer that what you pack is pretty personal and varied, so this list is what I would bring with me. In addition to that, what you pack is also pretty dependent on where you're going, and when. Perfect case in point: I'm packing for a spring trip to the Greek Islands. If I were packing for a fall trip to London, my bag would be drastically different! My best advice is to take your itinerary (even if it's rough!) and try to figure out what you'd be comfortable in for each day/adventure.

Ireland & Italy Trip "to get" list!

Things I need to get for my trip:

- A new point & shoot camera. I'm a camera gal. I have a Nikon dSLR, and I'll be borrowing a friend's Kodak Playsport video camera. But I need a new point & shoot camera. I always stress having a point & shoot camera for the times you don't want to carry around the bulkier dSLR - and my Canon Powershot has served me well for the last 5 years. But the time has come to get a new one, and I believe I've found the one I want: the Canon Powershot Elph 300 HS.

Travel accessories, LL Bean style.

BF and I both received gift certificates for LL Bean this past Christmas. It was an incredibly nice gesture, but our first thoughts were 1) we've never, ever shopped at an LL Bean before, and 2) where the heck can you find a LL Bean store? Turns out, we'd never shopped there before because there are no stores in California!

Fortunately for us, LL Bean has an extensive, easy to use website, and while checking it out, we discovered several things that could come in quite handy on our impending trip!

Here is my current wish list of travel accessories from LL Bean.

Balanzza Luggage Scale - $25


With all of the charges associated with luggage these days, it seems like this would be super useful! (Especially as a woman who has had to pay "heavy luggage fees!")

Travel accessory: Reinforced camera strap.

For my last birthday, my boyfriend gave me a Nikon D-60 Digital SLR camera. It has since become my most prized possession, and I have been dying to take more trips so I can use it more.

However, traveling with a camera like that can make people targets for theft. In fact, though they are coming increasingly common, dSLR cameras are a prime subject for theft.

The easy solution? This awesome camera strap. The strap is reinforced with steel wire to prevent "cut-and-run" theft. Check out the video below!