Heading out on your first adventure? Traveling for the first time? Or maybe you're just looking for ideas for your next trip! In this post, I'm sharing my top 5 tips on traveling so you can feel prepared, feel confidant and feel fabulous!

Dress to Impress

I'm a huge fan of dressing up to travel. I long for the days when traveling was a luxury - when men and women dressed in their finest and enjoyed the experience that traveling offered. I love dressing up for the airport. I have an outfit that I've designated "airport essential" which is a very simple clothing combination: a geometric poncho, dark skinny jeans and a blush pair of heels. This outfit not only makes me feel polished, confidant and put together, but it also is incredibly comfortable. The poncho's sleeves can be rolled down for flights that become chilly, my jeans have elastic in them so they can stretch with any uncomfortable bloating (just being real here), and my shoes have been chosen because they are incredibly comfortable to walk in. On the flight itself I take my heels off and substitute a pair of fuzzy Ugg socks to give my feet a little pampering!

At my most recent trip to the airport, I was delighted to see other passengers dressing to impress as well, and took many notes on outfits that I could incorporate into my travel wardrobe! I'm fairly certain I locked eyes with several other beautifully-dressed women and we had a moment of solidarity. Loved it!

Here are some of my favorite ideas for travel attire!

Simple Suitcase Touches

I travel with black luggage. All. The . Time. Why? because black matches everything. No matter what outfit I'm wearing, no matter where we're going, black luggage will always be our choice. The problem, of course, with black luggage is that it tends to get lost in the array of OTHER black luggage. When retrieving your luggage, you may end up standing at the luggage carousel in a drift of all black bags wondering "oh man, which bag is mine?" Solution - baggage tags. I've made our own baggage tags with a simple graphic and our last name in bold font, and then I tie that tag to each piece of luggage with a zip tag. This baggage tag goes on all of our luggage, even our hand luggage, because why not match everything? It gives me a secret delight when I see all of our luggage standing together, matching in black with our luggage tag. Weird? Maybe. But it's one of my simple joys in life.

I think these baggage tags from SEQUOIAworkshop on Etsy are classic!

Your Electronics

Everyone has been there. Frantically searching for an outlet to charge a phone, tablet or computer. And, of course, you can never find a charging station when you really REALLY need it! Make sure you plan for this inevitable occurrence when an electronic piece loses power by purchasing a small inexpensive portable charger. Ensure that all devices are fully charged the night before and do a quick check before you leave for the airport that everything is ready to go (including the charger!).

This portable charger from RAVPower is a great one!

Keep Everything Within Reach

Early on when we started traveling together as a new family, I invested in a passport and document organizer that would hold all of our documentation. Passports, nexus cards, boarding passes, cash, everything. We have multiple citizenships so it's important to be able to access documents when we needed to. This passport holder was a fantastic purchase that continues to pay for itself over and over again. It lives in my purse and I can access it quickly and easily when necessary. It truly has become a game changer. Nothing falls out, everything has a compartment and is accessible and it's black (of course) so it matches all our luggage.

Organize Your Carry On

The problem that I see with a lot of new travelers is that they feel the need to pack absolutley everything into there carry on luggage so they can access it on the plane. I totally agree with packing a small suitcase when traveling so you don't need to go to the hassle of checking a bag, but to fill not only a suitcase PLUS a small hand carry on seems a bit crazy to me. How much time do you really have on the plane? When my Husaband and I would travel before Amelia arrived, we woul bring a small bag each and have our electronics accessible (laptop for him to work, IPad for me to read) and that was about it. Maybe a snack or two to tide us over and a bottle of water. The reality of most flights is there (hopefully!) will be in flight entertainment, which you can just zone out and watch until you arrive at your destination. Traveling with babies and kids is totally different in terms of the diaper bag and small things to keep them occupied. I find that preparing small bags of activities can keep baby entertainment for longer then you think (that and consistently walking up and down the isles and saying hello to people!). When packing your carry on decide what's important for you and then pack the essentials!

I'm LOVING this carry on bag from MonogramWorks on Etsy!

I hope that some of these tips may come in handy for the next time you travel! Remember that even though you can be super organized and have everything together part of the adventure is when things don't go the way you had planned! Embrace the excitement of a new adventure and enjoy it!

Dreaming of vintage hats and leather suits cases,