184kg Allowance I'll give it a go :-) - March 2015 What's In My Bag

[debidee]

So I can't believe the countdown is nearly over and I'm pleased to say I'm all packed and ready to go - I thought it would be fun to share my packing and travel bag with everyone! (Well all my lovely fellow shopaholic dibbers anyway!)
So I've been picking up a few Primark / Disney inspirations over the months which will be coming along and hopefully some of these are still in store for you to pick up!

I'm trying to pack light just because now I know I'm not going to need too much as we stay casual most of the time and also... well I'm sure you know I need to keep the space for shopping lol! Breaking news - I also realised we get 4 x 32kg and not 4 x 23kg each - it just gets better and better (but I can't be bothered to change the report title now!) I think it's because I'm silver status but who cares it's more space ;-)

I'm only take a couple of pairs of shorts, my new floaty Abercrombie skirt and a pair of 3/4 length leggings. It's seriously pointless taking more and I can wash anything mid way through! I'm travelling in jeans so these will also be handy just incase we get a few cold days... to be expected in March but it can rain everyday if it must - we will be is the most magical place in the world and in true British style will carry on (which reminds me I picked up a really lightweight superdry rain jacket instead of a poncho this year) only slightly more stylish - if it must rain at least I'll look semi decent!

I always try to keep tops simple and colours that mix and match so for me it's normally navy and cream! I did a little Primark visit and picked up these 4 for only £6 each (the HP one is men's in an XS). I like to wear Disney ones to the parks and to go with these I've a couple of vest tops which I will probably wear under the t-shirts to layer up if colder in the morning and evening and then strip off in the sunshine!

I learnt the hard way years ago by taking tons of shoes and never wearing them! This time I'm going light, I've got my new Nikes from October that literally feel like air and after lots of dibber recommendations I picked up the memory foam sketchers in a lovely navy waffle print, I can't believe how light these 2 pairs are. I also love to wear flip flops but again learnt it is really worth investing in these and my favourite are the Havanans - they aren't cheap at around £20 a pair but you can seriously wear them all day without blisters unlike the cheapy Primark ones (imo) And finally I am taking a little pair of sandals as well for evening... I'm sure I will be purchasing more out there so pointless packing more :-)

It will be definitely be colder in the morning and evening so I've got a couple of disney sweatshirts - the mickey head one I got last year from Primark and love it!

I've also picked up this grey one from George at Asda - I got it from eBay for 99p and it still has the tag on! I like to search for Disney clothes on eBay often you can get some right bargains (I search by price descending on auction items only and often put maximum bid in of £1.04 and end up winning)
In addition to hoodies in my travel bag I'll have a wrap / pashmina which is great for the evenings or wrapping up in on the flight - my ears get cold and when that happens I can't then sleep so I wrap it round my head lol (no I won't be posting a photo of this!)

Can't wait to put on my 3 new bikinis I picked up in October from my favourite store Victoria Secret! I've had bikinis from them before and they wash really well and they are seriously reduced at the outlet (like $6 or less for each and the great thing is tops and bottoms are separate so you can mix and match sizes) - I'll let you know if they have them again this trip as it's worth hanging on if you are struggling to find something before you leave!

I also picked up this lovely short jumpsuit in Primark a massive bargain at £5 and it feels really nice and silky - it will do for a pool day of shopping trip outfit!

These PJs are soooo cute and again from Primark coming in at £12 for both, nice to mooch around the villa in and I'll probably change into them for our flight home... club world sleeper bed yipppeeee

We never pack a raft of evening clothes as 99.9% of restaurants are casual. I'm only taking a couple of specific things for the evening - a lovely navy floaty dress from Zara. Love Zara's dresses so floaty and forgiving of the 'food babies' which appear in Orlando ;-)

And this jumpsuit from F21 - as I said we don't really get dressed up in the evening (takes up too much luggage allowance) and most places as mentioned are casual so this will be fine! It's not as if I can't buy something if in real need! Lol

And here is the finished article... I'm taking this large case for holiday clothes and it's only about 1/2 full. I got these packing bags from eBay and I picked them up at something like £4 a pack (I got 2 packs) they are brilliant for sorting everything and it stops everything moving around so much in the case!
I've also got a medium size case which I will have with me (as I'm in California before flying direct on day 1) I've got a work conference and believe me will be packing ultra light for that!

1 thing to consider is day bags when in the park, not so much the case in Disney but in Universal / IOA and seaworld you will need to use lockers for your bags for any of the main rides. You don't need to pay for the lockers but they will be busy and its a pain queuing both to put in and take out your stuff! You can get away with a bum bag under your top if it's secure and I like this as it's handy to keep your hands free! In the day I only need my money, sunglasses and phone with a mini hand sanitizer and lip balm so this is fine (we lotion up before we get to the parks and as we never spend all day there don't need to lug lotion with us!)

Toiletries - I never ever pack these, I literally chuck in a couple of hotel freebies (shower gel, shampoo and conditioner) and a travel deodorant. Everything else is purchased when we arrive! I love Walmart and Target beauty sections and actually I also love CVS and Walgreens while we are at it ;-) and always pick up new toiletries for the holiday and bring the rest home for keeping that holiday feeling alive a bit longer! Suntan lotion is loads better over there and the choice is huge and costs a fraction of the price you would get in boots etc
I'd also recommend dollar tree to pick up toilet rolls, cleaning stuff (washing powder etc) and plasters etc

Carry-on Bag
This trip will be my MK large shopper with Laptop compartment- only because I'm flying straight from California so will have my work-stuff with me :-( otherwise I would normally take a big spacious bag to chuck everything in!

To keep me occupied on the flight it's a combination of:
1) Inflight movies - there is normally a good choice of films and tv programmes so I don't bother to download anything in advance


2) magazines - love to flick through ok and fashion magazines to waste a bit of time (love buying the US magazines for the way home!)

3) my new 'style me up' Minnie Mouse collection - so excited about this, I picked it up in Dubai but I've seen they also do on Amazon and eBay. It's a fashion stencil, sticker and decorate set - love stuff like this, I'm not very good but it has lots of hint sheets so I'm sure it will keep me occupied for a while! Just need to pick up some colouring pencils

4) podcasts - I like to listen to either Scott Mills daily or The best of Nick Grimshaw (both radio 1) and I'll download 4-6 episodes of these.

5) apps - I really recommend 'sleep maker all in one' if you struggle with the noise when sleeping on a plane. It's background noise - waves, rain etc which is brilliant white noise to cut out the aircraft din! I also download a few free games to keep me amused - randomly pick about 10 free ones from the top charts and don't look at until on the flight, never amazing but wastes an hour or so!

6) music - I like to have a pre-set playlist of all my current favourites and then I have 'islands' by Ludovico Einaudi which is a classical album which again helps me just relax / snooze on a long flight - if you haven't heard of it is really recommend and I'm sure you will recognise a few of them!

I have a plastic zip bag for Beauty bits and my essentials are
1) Heavy moisturiser - my skin gets really dry on the flight so I reapply often
2) Hand cream - same as above, I like to smoother my hands as well
3) lip balm - boring now isn't it! But I'm loving my almond swirl lip balm at the moment
4) Mini hand anti-bac - for freshening up!
5) various hair bands
6) toothbrush for freshening up after food

I picked up these socks in Primark for £2 - my feet are always freezing on the plane and these claim to be 5 times warmer than socks... let's see!

Other than that I think I'm sorted - I set off tomorrow for Orlando via California... Jez leaves Wednesday and will pick me up Thursday at around 5pm - so my first daily report will be ready when you all wake up on Friday! Hope you all are ready and packed to come join us and agghhhhhh its holiday time!

Until next time... Debs xxx

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New Photo Added by debidee - 1 Mar 15 9:46 PM.

[Megandllsmum]

Hi debs xxx
You know I love your trippies lol and I've loved reading this, you are all organised and have some brilliant buys already but knowing you that's nothing and there will be a lot more to come .
Safe trip to California I know it's work but hey I'd rather be working there than here , will look out for your trippies towards the end of the week, have a wonderful Florida holiday and happy shopping xxx

[Guest]

Fab packing! Safe trip

[gtyrel10]

Yay debs finally your bag is up! It looks fab and so organised, I wish I was that well planned. Always try to be then never end up using my creams and things in the flight!

Hope all your work stuff goes well and Thursday will be here in no time!

Have a safe flight tomorrow and a fantastic holiday xxx

[dismamx2]

Loved this Debs, you are so organised. Appreciate you taking time to do all this. I've bought the packing cubes recently on ebay also and I was surprised with the quality, being so cheap from China. I bought the grey ones but think I want the pink ones also now after seeing yours

Safe travels and have a fantastic holiday, can't wait for your updates..

[Jedi Princess]

Great report. Love Einaudi, so nice and relaxing to listen to. Have a safe journey. Looking forward to your updates (shopping hauls). 😃

[mrsdjh]

My packing would never look that organised and neat! The packing bags are an idea I think I will be copying.

I bought the Hakuna Matata t shirt today.

Hope you and Jez both have safe flights, and look forward to reading on Friday.

Diane x

[KittyBlackDog]

Safe flight tomorrow, hope work is good and I'm looking forward to all your lovely updates.

I know you're working but if you get any time to yourself (haha) any shots of San fran (if you get into sf proper) also very welcome. I loved spending time there.

I loved kincaids at Burlingame between Palo Alto and the airport just north of San mateo. It's been a while since I've been but it used to have a good mix of surf n turf.

[misswylie]

Can't wait to read this trip report 😃 I'm away over the weekend so will have to get catching up the following Tuesday (if I can wait)

Have a fabulous holiday ❤️