The ROAMies Podcast

Packing Light Recap Episode and Travel-Light Must-Haves You Can Win! Part 2

• The ROAMies • Season 6 • Episode 231

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Her Packing List: Join Brooke’s next class!
GoPatch: Use code THEROAMIES10 for $10 off (exp. Jan 31, 2024). Great for motion sickness and nausea. Drug-free, waterproof, lasts 12–24+ hours, discreet, and easy to pack.
Dr. Plotka’s Mouth Watchers: Toothpaste: Fluoride-free, TSA-approved, strengthens enamel. Toothbrush: Silver-infused bristles that self-clean, ideal for sensitive gums, ultra-thin bristles for deep clean.
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Speaker 1:

Hi, I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, and together we are.

Speaker 2:

The.

Speaker 1:

Romies, we are married To each other. Right, we are a touring musical duo.

Speaker 2:

And our music has taken us to all kinds of places all around the world and keeps us always on the go.

Speaker 1:

So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while running around working to keep all your plates spinning.

Speaker 2:

And we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle and feed your inner travel bug.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to part two of the Packing Light Recap episode and the introduction to our Big Brand Bundle Giveaway, our B3G Get it Big Brand Bundle Giveaway. So, of course, if you haven't heard part one, since this is part two, you got to hear that one too. No pun intended. It is episode 230. And don't forget, enter the giveaway. There's a link in the show notes you can follow, and we also have a pinned post in Instagram with instructions so you can enter through Instagram and or the link in our show notes.

Speaker 2:

Now, don't change that dial. If you happen to be listening outside of our giveaway entry window, this content is still relevant to you. These brands and products are still relevant to you. So, whether you are catching the episode in time for the giveaway or not, you are going to enjoy this episode and the information and inspiration that we will be sending your way about packing light.

Speaker 3:

It's attached to your main thing. So, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So that's the way I would cheat on your class, stop cheating. That's just a little snippet of where we left off, with part one talking about a little. I would cheat on your class, stop cheating. That's just a little snippet of where we left off, with part one talking about a little packing cheat, as I like to call it, and that's our jumping point. That continues my conversation with Brooke Shineman and her packing list.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so here's what I did. If you want to say cheated, these are two ways that I cheated on this trip. One of the things that I did is I mailed myself a package halfway through the trip. I knew an address where I was going to be staying in Switzerland, and I got that little package like three weeks into the trip and what I had in that package was another toothpaste. I just took a normal travel size of toothpaste and I also tried toothpaste tablets and I had sent myself a toothpaste paste. It was like a toothpaste in a little jar. I kind of just had a little bit of samples and different things that I was trying along the way. That kind of helped give me enough quantity.

Speaker 2:

I shipped some dry shampoo and I actually only use dry shampoo. I had dry bar style my hair before I left, which is a salon. It's a chain salon, but you can go to many salons around the US and they wash and style your hair for you and so I started the trip with that and I just tried to be really careful and I kept that hairstyle as long as I could with dry shampoo and dry conditioner, and I had found travel size versions of these. They're aerosols and so they're much harder to convert to a different like pump or anything like that, and I knew I would not be able to buy that in Europe. So I shipped myself in my little package, shipped myself a second shampoo and dry conditioner to use for my hair, and I shipped myself some other like additional prescriptions.

Speaker 2:

So I sent a couple things to myself for three weeks into the trip that I knew I couldn't buy in Europe the way that I that it would still be a light thing. So that's one thing I did I mailed myself that package. However, unfortunately I ended up leaving those things at a friend's house, like just the next week or two later. I ended up leaving them there on accident instead of having them with me on the trip. So some of that stuff I shipped for no reason at the end of the day, so that was a little frustrating, but anyway. So that's why I was out of some of the things at the end of the trip.

Speaker 2:

I also mailed stuff home. So if I wanted to buy a souvenir, we go to Switzerland every year and their food is so amazing they have the best food in our opinion and so I want to buy like their canned beans or their cheese or their seasonings or their tea. I'll buy things like that and ship it home. So we we did a couple shipping throughout the trip. So that is another way that I was able to keep things light. Is I cheated, quote unquote cheated that way, so I could keep the stuff out of my bag but I could get it home and I could still have my versions of souvenirs, which are practical things that get eaten or worn.

Speaker 3:

Right, so that's totally fine, like shipping stuff home. I recommend that, especially if you're going to buy, you know, art or something like that. That is just terrible to carry around yeah.

Speaker 2:

So you know it costs a little extra money here and there, but for us it's worth it. So the other way that I sort of cheated is Rory said we are taking a bag for merchandise. This was a concert tour and so we're at concerts and people don't really buy CDs anymore, but we can make music available or t-shirts or caps or whatever. So the way that I cheated for that is that, because this was just in Europe, I found a European manufacturing for our merch and I had them ship it to our very first venue. That way the merchandise came from Europe, stayed in Europe, we shipped it there. So we bought a $10 wheeled duffel bag and I said, okay, rory, but I'm not checking a bag because I am packing light and I'm doing Brooks course and I am not checking a bag. And he's like we are taking a bag so on the way there and plus it costs more money, like we weren't flying Southwest overseas. You don't get two free check bags.

Speaker 2:

What we did is I got straps and Rory figured out a way to put the wheels of the duffel bag around. Now he cause he took a pillow, so that's like his. He normally takes a rolled suitcase and I think he saw me get get in a backpack and we were going to take the train on this trip. We don't normally take the train but I'm like, let's just like, for a few things let's take the train. We love being on the train. It's just not practical for a tour.

Speaker 2:

So we took it on times where we thought, okay, we can get away with the train. So we did the Eurail pass and that whole thing. So we'll probably do an episode for y'all at some point about trains in Europe. He took a backpack because of the trains and because I think he was inspired a little bit to pack, like, but he still decided he was going to take his big pillow, so that took up most of his luggage. So he checked his bag, wrapped the wheeled duffel onto his backpack, so, and then he was able to pull his backpack with wheels.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Wow, that's how, that's how we creative and that's how we took that bag. Then we got the merch and the bag was full. Then we had these two extra bags, so that even on the train we had to lug around and things like that. So again, I was really glad that I had packed light.

Speaker 3:

Well, I guess what you're saying after talking about your trip and the packing for that is that you and Rory were more creative in your packing when getting ready to go on that two month trip, right?

Speaker 2:

For sure, and in all these years it never occurred to me to take part of an exercise mat, and I'm positive the idea came from working on your class and just trying to think differently, challenging us to think smaller and lighter.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and you wouldn't have figured out a way to make the rolling duffel bag part of, like another bag beforehand, right Before taking the course, right, right, and that's one of the points that I try to drive home to all of my students, it's that you know, there's always another way. There's always another way to do something, but if you're not asking the question, you're never going to find that solution. You're never going to find it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and if you're not open to changing maybe how you think about things, you're definitely not going to get creative about it. And you know we were talking earlier about our essentials and some things I chose that you might say, hey, these don't belong here at this stage of the packing process, like a lip balm. But what I included on my essentials picture I will need sunglasses, I will need sunscreen. I am so super pale, I'm a redhead I have certain spots that we've got to be careful about, so sunscreen is an essential. My prescriptions those are essential. Some of those things are in my picture that I submitted for my final exam in your class.

Speaker 2:

But another thing that's on there is my computer. It's really difficult for me to have a trip without that because I'm self-employed. I'm always working and utilizing music or editing software that's specific to a laptop. I know a lot of folks that are in your class. They could get by with maybe leaving the laptop, or sometimes a laptop can feel like it's too heavy or too big of a thing. Thankfully my laptop is super small and portable. But the great thing is is that even if I like got out of the house and at least had my phone, there's so much that's in the cloud. We can do so much with our phones, which is great, and that's why I also have headphones as part of my essential, because if I am on a plane and I want the entertainment, or I do have to work because I'm in music and podcasting all of that being able to hear things and being able to listen is part of my job. So I did have headphones as part of my little essentials.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, some trips. It might not be the same, and I would urge anyone who works for themselves because I understand the need to be connected to our laptops, but I would urge anyone who works for themselves to really think about the trip they're going on and question whether or not they're really gonna get some work done. You know, when I went to the States last year, I could have easily brought my laptop, but I said no, I will probably use it like two or three times and do everything else on my phone. I'm just gonna leave it behind and just do the work I can do on my phone. I'm just going to leave it behind and just do the work I can do on my phone. And it actually was fine.

Speaker 2:

So you know, yeah, and if you had to, time depending, there are still internet cafes around the world and there are libraries and you have family members that would probably if you're visiting, or friends, you know, and a hotel has a business center. Friends, you know, and a hotel has a business center, so even if you needed a computer there, would be ways to get to one.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah. But I just have to be realistic, because I've done so many trips where I was like I'm going to do some work in my free time and then it's like I do two, two minutes of actual work on the laptop. I'm like I just toted this around for nothing work on the laptop.

Speaker 2:

I'm like I just toted this around for nothing, so can I tell you how many trips I have had with paperwork.

Speaker 2:

My whole life, my whole adult life, has been stacks and stacks of heavy like that has been filling a lot of my carry on is all of this paperwork. Because I go on so many trips and I come home and then there's a whole new staff to go through. I'll take some of it, thinking, yep, on this trip I'm going to get it done on the plane while Rory's driving, I'm going to do it down the road. Oh man, and then it doesn't get done.

Speaker 2:

And it's still like, and so then it's another pile and like if I had just left it it would have been in a nice place at home. And so I'm learning that I'm not going to get that done. And I'm also learning, hey, what can I automate, what can I streamline, what can I do that's electronically, where I don't need this physical paper? What can I scan, what can I? And so I'm constantly trying to rethink those things.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, you're recognizing the pattern, and that's what's important, yeah, so that's key, and now you can start figuring out how to solve.

Speaker 2:

So there you go. Now. On another note, brooke, one of the things that you talk about in your course and your is having a medical kit, and when you are going to places that maybe you don't know what to expect and you don't know exactly how you might interact with a brand new food or a new location or new activity, it is super great to have something on hand for nausea, whether that's from bad food or motion sickness. So I want to just take a moment here and talk about GoPatch. There's a lot that I love about GoPatch. Some of you might always bring along stomach or anti-nausea meds with you on a trip, and I think that's always a good idea, whether you know you will need it or not.

Speaker 2:

What's great about GoPatch? It's tiny and flat patch. It's tiny and flat Tomiopathic goodness that does not take up bulk and space like a packet of pills would. So a packet of patches is a super great item to have on hand that won't take up space in your bag. It's lightweight, it's easy to use. It is super thin. There are a few different kind of like formulas and or applications Anything from like motion sickness to anxiety, and Nicole, the founder, is going to tell us a little bit more about it. So I'm going to let her just kind of chime in and tell us a little bit more about GoPatch hey.

Speaker 4:

Romies. This is Nicole, the creator and founder of GoPatch, and I want to thank you guys so much for sharing info about GoPatch with your listeners. Gopatch for motion sickness and GoPatch for anxiety are two patches we offer that are spectacular when you're on the go. The motion sickness patch kind of speaks for itself, whether it's cars, boats, planes. You slap it on your belly. It actually covers your belly button completely, so no one sees it. You can be taking other medications, it doesn't make you drowsy, so you will enjoy all the activities at hand. And then our anxiety patches, also great for holiday travel times.

Speaker 4:

Travel, I think we all know, can be stressful regardless of the time of year, but tends to be a little bit more challenging around the holidays. So when you feel it coming on, or if you know you're going to be doing some activities that make you anxious travel might be one of them, or maybe seeing family that you haven't seen in a bit you just same thing. Put it on your belly. No one sees it and the calm and ease should set in within minutes. They're waterproof. They usually last for 24 plus hours. They've gone through dermatologist testing so they're real sensitive on your skin, and I think that about sums it up wishing you guys great travels, happy, fun adventures ahead and a wonderful holiday season.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, nicole, so much. This is such a fun product. A couple additional things, just little notes about go patch. If you are not wanting to put it right on your belly button like, let's say, you're a gentleman who has a hairy stomach or hairy chest you can just trim the hair. If you don't feel like shaving the hair around that area, just trim it. And or find a spot on your abdomen or chest that might have less hair and that's where you'd want to put the patch. And then, like ladies, if you want to wear a bikini, the patch is discreet anyway. But if you don't want it right on your belly button, you can even place it on your rear end. And then there is also a formula for pets.

Speaker 2:

When we do road trips, we are 90% of the time taking our cats with us. If you have a pet that isn't used to travel and or a pet that has motion sickness, there is a formula with go patch specifically for pet motion sickness and tummy relief, so it will help relieve anxiety within your pet and also help with motion sickness. So if that is something that you face with your pet, this is definitely worth trying. And there's a whole line of different products like some for menstrual cramps, etc. So make sure to check out their whole line to see what all they offer for you at the gopatchcom. And, of course, if you win the brand bundle, you're gonna get to enjoy go patch for yourself in this bundle and we will also have in the show notes how you can get your hands on some go patch. Do you have any other feedback for me? With my trip and um?

Speaker 3:

no, I mean, I feel like that was the main thing you, I mean the fact that you were able to finish your final with an 11 and a half liter bag right is very impressive and you should be very proud of yourself for that. So definitely pat yourself on the back for that.

Speaker 2:

Yes, um, but like I said, have laptop and pair of shoes in there. See there you go.

Speaker 3:

People think I could not pack that light with needing an extra pair of shoes or, uh, you know, uh, my laptop. And have you tried? That's the question. Have you? Have you put it to the test? Have you tried to figure out and solve problems? And just seeing what's possible is super important. So now you know you have a place to start from. But yeah, just the one thing that I recommend is just really continuing making improvements and going back to the basics and looking at your essentials and see if you can even mentally think about leaving that water bottle and that lip balm off that essentials list. It just helps you wrap your head around all of your decisions moving forward. And then practice, take the trip with just that bag and you know, see what's possible. And I know you, you packed for a super complicated two-month trip. You saw great success. But just starting from the basics again, I think, and and just taking those shorter trips with a tiny bag is going to help you to discover your, like, true packing light potential.

Speaker 2:

Agree a hundred percent.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

I think too. We took a trip to the Olympic Peninsula, which I think we're going to be talking about, in February we did a little bit earlier this year talking about Port Angeles and we're going to share more from that area and we had done the episode with you. We hadn't aired it yet, but we had talked with you. We had done the episode with you, we hadn't aired it yet, but we had talked with you. And so even then I was like oh so maybe I don't have to take a big giant coat, maybe.

Speaker 2:

I could just wear a ton of layers. So I was like I played with that on that trip. So that was the first one where I tried to start implementing some of the things that you talk about. One of the things that you talk about in the course that I think is also helpful is you talk about practicing or just testing some of the things. So like back with toiletries, when you practice at home, you can practice travel at home and say, okay, if I, if I only need this much toothpaste, is this much toothpaste going to get me through a week? And so you try it out and you see, can I get by with this little amount of whatever it is?

Speaker 3:

A hundred percent, and that's another reason why I recommend people come in and take my class, because it doesn't matter if you have a real trip booked or not. We will plan for a trip if it's not fully real yet, and you will practice, you will see how it works and then the next time you're going away you're going to have so much hard work done and out of the way for sure, and it's going to feel so much easier. So it does? Practice is important, it is.

Speaker 3:

And you can watch all the packing videos out there. You can collect all of the packing lists out there, all of the capsule wardrobes out there. You can collect them. I've had many people join my class who have watched thousands of videos. They told me, or collected dozens of packing lists and it won't make any sense until you try and do it for yourself, right? Because only then you'll be able to understand okay, that's how that could work for me. That would not work for me. It doesn't matter, until you do the work.

Speaker 2:

Right, yeah, so I highly recommend that folks join your course. Brooke, if someone hasn't yet listened to part one, give us a quick recap on your next course.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I will open it up several times a year.

Speaker 2:

Right now.

Speaker 3:

I don't have the next class scheduled in. I feel like November, december is just kind of a crazy time for people. So I'm thinking the next class will be very early in January. So in the meantime, if you're interested, you can get on the wait list at herpackinglistcom. Slash freedom. That way you don't miss out, okay great.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, another great offering that you have is the membership, and people can have a monthly membership to the world that you have to offer. So is that something that's available after they take the initial course or is it something that people can join right now?

Speaker 3:

I have it available after you've taken the initial course, because everything we do inside the membership is based off of the trainings. Like you come into the membership without having done the class, I don't think you're gonna fully understand a lot of what we're doing. You know you would probably benefit, but I feel like everything builds off of that initial HPL packing method training. And yeah, so I have it. We do the live class and then you are given an offer to join us inside of the membership after, and then you get to partake, you know, in everything we have going on every month.

Speaker 2:

Okay, great, and I highly recommend that because the things that I've experienced for example, you have other class members or other other folks who have done the course and understand the process right. So, for example, when I was getting ready for this trip, I had a question about nail polish and I had no idea that they had. They sold empty little tiny nail polish containers. I said, hey, anyone have recommendations for nail polish? And I kind of just outlined why I was asking and I got feedback from other students and it was super helpful and it was just in time for my trip and so that was really great.

Speaker 2:

So, when you have like actual hey, I'm in the middle of this decision right now, I'm packing, right now, there are people in the community that can chime in and help you with something. You are in the community as well, so there's access to you, which is great. Are in the community as well, so there's access to you, which is great. But also, you know you have other teachings and trainings within things that you have done over the years and there are a lot of resources that are available and reinforce not only your class but also maybe just delve into something a little more specific, like winter or they might be specific about. Hey, this is if you're having a work trip, this is maybe a little bit more specific to that and so there's a lot of really one wonderful tools that are available. So once you take the course, then you can have that. That's great, I love that.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah yeah. There's so much going on in there really, so join us in the initial class If you like it and you want more. You join us in the membership after.

Speaker 2:

Love it, love it. Brooke's course will also be in the show notes. The link to that, as well as links to all of the brands, products that are going to help you travel light travel well that are great for on the go, brooke, I want to just quickly jump to your first question that we started with in part one. Brooke, I want to just quickly jump to your first question that we started with in part one, and that was how did I feel about my packing before the course? I answered that I felt generally okay with what I was doing, but at the same time, I wouldn't have connected with you had I felt like I had my act all together. I could still feel there was room for improvement, and the question I'd really like to answer is how I feel differently after the course, and I feel smarter, I feel savvy, I feel more confident, I feel more willing and open-minded to continue to work in the process because of the difference I've experienced so far.

Speaker 3:

Yes, that is something that a lot of my students also experience after they have learned how to pack light. It's kind of a fun challenge for them to make improvements every time they go away, and it's no longer that super stressful experience that they used to have, so that's great. I want to ask you a few more questions about your trip to Europe, okay, so first I'd love to know did you feel like you had enough clothing and enough outfit combinations from that?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I would say I did. I can get bored easily. I like to dress according to my mood for the day, and so I like having options available to me. One thing about when you do pack you have to make those decisions prior to the trip, of course. Right For me, it took a lot of thought of thinking through what would my moods be, what would the days be like, what would the weather be like, what types of concerts would we be doing, what type of teaching opportunities would we be doing, and what type of clothing would I need to support all of the different activities that we would be doing?

Speaker 2:

And so I had to take all of those things into consideration when packing my clothing, and I had a lot of things that went together with each other. But I also had a few items that I just wanted to take just because I wanted to have them, and so they didn't necessarily go with all my other things, and that turned out to be okay, because I wanted a little bit of variety. I didn't take the perfect little capsule, but I still feel like I had enough of things that went together to give me different looks. I also had enough clothing to feel like I wasn't wearing the same exact thing every day for every single event. Well, maybe, except when we went to Scotland and we wore layers of all my clothing each day to stay warm.

Speaker 3:

How often did you do laundry?

Speaker 2:

I knew my general itinerary and when I would and would not have washing machines freely available. I was able to do quite a bit of washing throughout the trip, and so it was very. Maybe once or twice I may have had to hand wash one or two items throughout the whole trip to be able to get by. So Brooke talks a lot about when you're packing light. Of course, if you take less, then you might need to hand wash some things more frequently, depending on your access to washing machines and things like that. So she gives tips on how you might hand wash or how you might handle clothing that might not get to get washed for a while, and so Brooke gave some helpful tips.

Speaker 2:

With that, I would say. Generally I had enough clothing where I needed to wash, ideally just to feel fresh, and because I had the availability to do so, I had the access to do so. I would say I probably washed every four days on average, and one of the things that I took with me that we are going to gift to you in our giveaway was a packet of true earth laundry strips and, and so those are super great. They're super compact. You just tear off part of the sheet if you want to hand wash or throw it in your wash. Super convenient, super wonderful and great for not only on the go but also your everyday life at home.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, is there anything you packed that you didn't need, that didn't get used at all, or is there anything that you didn't pack that you wish you had?

Speaker 2:

Towards the end of my trip I was culling through my bag and asking myself is there anything else I can get rid of that I'm not going to need for the rest of the trip? I ended up mailing one kind of sleeveless top home. I found that, especially because we knew we were going to be going to Scotland and it would be colder, that I would probably be okay without that one top. So I did have one top that I ended up mailing home, maybe at the last three, two to three weeks of the trip. I wish that I had packed a little bit more of my vitamins, because towards the end of the trip I was starting to have to ration them. Making sure that I saved them for performance days and it would have been nice to just keep taking everything every day, and obviously not leaving something in someone's house would help me have everything I need. At the moment. I can't think of anything else that I wish I would not have brought, but of course, anything that I can in the future reduce in any capacity, make it smaller, make it lighter just to have a little bit more breathing room in my actual suitcase would be really helpful. So I want to continue to hone my paring down skills.

Speaker 2:

One thing that I mailed home that I regretted was one of my extra bags. I actually ended up taking three extra little tote bags. They fold up very small. If I wanted to have something just in a little bag, like snacks or my laptop or something that I just wanted quickly accessible without having to dig through my backpack, it was really great to have this extra tote. Or if we were going to go to the grocery store. Most grocery stores in Europe do not provide bags, and so you know, just for your shopping, and so it's great to just have those on hand. You can do your shopping.

Speaker 2:

One of my bags was more of a nylon type fabric and that served as my umbrella, and so that was really great to have that, because we didn't have a lot of rain. But when there were rainy days I had something to put over my head and protect my hair, try to keep my hairstyle going. But kind of, maybe three weeks out, when I sent a little thing of mail home and mailed some things that I'd purchased home, I wrapped one of those items in one of my little tote bags and mailed that home, and I ended up several times throughout the trip, even though I had two other additional tote bags. I really missed that bag and wish that I had kept it, so I really utilized those bags for different things. That was something that I wish I had held on to. The size of it was great. The convenience of it was great. Yes, I did it without it. I survived with just two extra bags. I probably also could have left one or two eyeliner pencils at home.

Speaker 3:

What would you change for next time?

Speaker 2:

I definitely would have to get a new rolling backpack because the one that I had did break on me within the first week and over the first two weeks kind of pulled apart in several places. Thankfully it held together enough to get me through the trip, but I would need to find a different rolling backpack for the next trip. But one thing that was super surprising was I bought some jeggings, so I brought jean leggings and they were my versatile pants. They were the only pair of pants that I bought for the entire time, and so they had to serve an exercise like hiking. If I was going to go hiking, they had to be stretchy enough for that. They had to serve as leggings. I needed to be able to pull them up and have them look like leggings that I kept at mid-calf for certain dresses, and then they also had to serve as a normal pair of jeans.

Speaker 2:

I ended up finding a pair of jeggings, so jean leggings, that were kind of like multi-purpose for those things. It would have been nice to maybe have a second pair, but this particular pair of jeggings, because I didn't have my parakeeto mosquito repellent with me. I got huge mosquito bites and one day I was just scratching away at one of my mosquito bites on the top of my thigh, and maybe five minutes later I looked down and I had scratched away most of the top of the fabric of my jeggings. So they were super non-durable and I had no idea, because in my mind they were more denim-y. But whatever fabric they were, they were not very sustainable and I ended up also sitting on a tack and the jeans ripped where I sat, on the tack of course, and I think they ripped somewhere else, you know where jeans kind of rip on your knee.

Speaker 2:

I ended up needing to patch them up while I was on the road, and so the theory of the jeggings worked well for serving multiple purposes. But the actual pair that I ended up with was not durable enough to last me two months, and I've never had a piece of clothing wear out like that. You know, I still have clothes from like high school, and so that was very eye opening to me. Thankfully, I did not spend a lot of money on them and you know, basically you're going to get what you pay for when it comes to those things. But that was an eye opener for me. I would say a second pair of pants probably would have been a good and helpful idea if I had the space. So how many clothing?

Speaker 3:

items did you actually pack and what specifically did you bring? If you care to share, For undergarments.

Speaker 2:

I took about five pairs of underwear, a couple bras and maybe like five pairs of socks, maybe six, and I had three tank tops that were more fitting, along with two tank tops that had a built-in bra, and so I was able to sometimes use those for like a bathing suit option. I took four dresses, four tank tops, slash sleeveless tops, a workout dress, an SPF zipper front long swim jacket, one t-shirt, one thick, long blazer, one pair of jeggings, my black jean jacket, two pairs of shoes One of those was like a platform sandal type shoe and the other pair of shoes was a tennis shoe, hiking shoe without laces, a cap, my workout slash sleep shorts, two long sleeve shirts One was a very loose, fitting and then one was a super tight, layering top and a scarf. Out of those items, I created my travel outfit, which you talk about in your course. I feel like, overall, I'm very happy with what I ended up taking and my outfit choices. I think they ended up working out pretty well and what's great is that I can continue to pack light, continue to kind of hone my skills, to learn. Yeah, I really don't need this. I really can live without this. I can get creative with this. Instead of having five things, I can get creative with this. Instead of having five things, I can use this one thing for these five purposes and things like that. And so sometimes, you know, a lot of times we gain confidence through experience, and so the more little trips that I have taken since your course gave me a continued confidence. Therefore, enjoy the trip much more easily.

Speaker 2:

You know, it was great hopping on the train not having an extra bag that I was responsible for that I normally would have otherwise. It was great to not have to check bags. It was great in the rental car. I had even more leg room and more space around me. When we were going into a hotel or just having to go up the stairs, all I had was my backpack and my ukulele, and so, knowing that we would be on a lot of stairs or a cobbled road and sometimes the backpack would be on my back and I would hand carry the ukulele, and sometimes it would be flipped and I would roll the backpack and have the ukulele as a backpack, it really made me more efficient on the trip, a lot less hassle, and it was just a fun challenge.

Speaker 2:

It's fun for me to feel like I'm creative and to find new ways to be creative within packing. Anytime I can find ways to be creative, that's fun, right, and so like just finding some creative ways to pack and creative ways to think about things or to rethink through things is it's fun because it's something creative, but it's also helps you grow and it helps you stretch and to put yourself out there and to try some things that may not be so comfortable on the get go, but at the end of the day, you're glad you tried it and you're glad you experienced it, and so it just makes it better for the next trip and the next experience, and hopefully we are making things better for you. We are inspiring you to think through the things you have and to also find great products that you can boost your health and take care of yourself while you're on the go, and so we hope we have encouraged and inspired you in all of these ways and hope that you will continue following us on socials. Especially Instagram is where we focus our efforts. We are at Instagram, at the romies and, of course, follow Brooke at her packing list and all of these brands that we've talked about.

Speaker 2:

We're going to put all of that info in the show notes. So just dive into those show notes, use them. They are there for your reference, for your support. These products and brands are great for your daily and your traveling life. So visit the show notes and grab these items. And also keep in mind that go patch and parakeeto have both given us special offers. Their expiration dates are available in the show notes, so make sure that you check out their offer. Use that promo code if it is still valid. You'll be so glad you did so, brooke. These are the trivia questions.

Speaker 3:

Oh, my goodness, okay you ready Now.

Speaker 2:

Brooke has not had a heads up. She didn't listen to the front of the podcast yet. No, all right, brooke. Which of these is not a wonder of the modern world? A, the great wall of china to the eiffel tower. Or three, the taj mahal. Which one of those is not a wonder of the world, wonder?

Speaker 3:

of the modern world, wonder of the modern world. I'm going to go with the Great Wall of China. No, no, because modern it's not modern, it's old, true, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I don't know why they say that Maybe they just mean one of the seven wonders.

Speaker 3:

Yes, okay, because I probably yeah, you're saying the Eiffel Tower.

Speaker 2:

The Eiffel Tower.

Speaker 3:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

Okay, all right. No, that was good.

Speaker 3:

I thought you were trying to trick me there. I know right.

Speaker 2:

Shoot Okay.

Speaker 3:

Which American city is?

Speaker 2:

known as the Big Easy, new Orleans. Yes, go girl, good job. Okay, what is the name of the clay cooking pot with a conical lid often seen in Moroccan cafes and restaurants?

Speaker 3:

A tagine.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, yes, that's amazing, go girl. Okay, which country does gorgonzola cheese come from?

Speaker 3:

okay, I don't know if this is a trick question or not they're not supposed to be near Switzerland.

Speaker 2:

Oh, is it Italy. Italy, good job good job.

Speaker 3:

I thought that was too easy. Oh my gosh, I feel so silly no, I would, I was like wait. Gorgonzola, maybe that's Swiss. No, it's definitely a town. Okay, all right, I should have just went with the first thing in my head, but you know, I overthought two questions in that.

Speaker 2:

No, you're good you're good, are you up for one more? Let's, let's do it. In which country would you find the great sphinx? Egypt yes, go girl, I think you did awesome.

Speaker 3:

I get extra points for it too, Jean.

Speaker 2:

Yes, you did. I even have family that have been in that area and I still couldn't like tell you what that is, so, and I would not have known how to pronounce it. So I am very impressed you go girl. Thank you, brooke. Thank you so much. This is super, super helpful. Thank you for recapping with me, reviewing with me.

Speaker 3:

Thank you for having me. I loved getting to recap your experience after taking the class. So, yeah, thank you for allowing me to dive into that with you.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much. All right, y'all Well. Thank you so much for joining us. We hope you've enjoyed this episode. The link to part one will be in the show notes, along with all of the fun things that we have been talking about on our previous episode and on this episode. Here's to packing light and we will see you on the next one. See you next time. Bye. Win the giveaway bundle of brands. The brand bundle, yes we hope we've inspired you this episode so join us next time.

Speaker 2:

Please subscribe to rate and share our podcast with your friends or you know whomever? And please like and follow us on instagram, youtube and facebook we are also on x and on all social platforms.

Speaker 1:

We are at the romies, that's t-h-e-r-o-a-m-i-e-s, and our main hub is our website at wwwtheromiescom, that's right, that's t-h-e-r-o-a-m-i-e-scom.

Speaker 2:

We'll be there until next time. Yeah, thanks for listening. Bye.