Travel with Me: What I Packed VS What I Needed When Traveling to St. Lucia
Part 1 of the St. Lucia Series
Hey there! In this St. Lucia blog series, I will share my experience traveling internationally (without our kids) for the first time since the shutdown of 2020, as well as what our time was like at a Sandals Resort. I have lots to tell, so get ready!
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Be ready for 5 days of St. Lucia on the blog! Today we are starting with what I packed versus what I needed for the trip. A Packing list freebie is included at the end of this post. I am a notorious over-packer. I truly can not help it. If there is room in the suitcase, it is coming with me. I know I'm not alone in this but Carl likes to tease me about it all the same. For this trip, I may or may not have packed 6 pairs of shoes and I don't think Carl will ever let me live it down. But momma's I DID use every single pair so I'm calling it a win ๐.
In all seriousness though, here is what I packed for the trip. Our destination was the sandy beaches of St. Lucia where we stayed 4 nights at the Sandals Halycon Beach Resort. It was absolutely beautiful btw, but I will get to that more in part 3 of this blog series, trust. So when packing I knew the first thing I needed was swimsuits, sandals, & coverups. We've known about this trip for a hot minute, so I have been collecting since last summer. I found a few cute two pieces I thought were perfect for a couples trip, and also found all of my cover-ups at Walmart believe it or not. Their selection was great!
As for clothes, I knew we would need to dress semi-formal for dinner each night so I packed my nicest flowy dresses & shoes to match. Don't forget the accessories! I didn't pack much jewelry but made sure to have a pair of earrings to match each dress. ๐ below for my husband being a total goob in the only photo I have of us dressed up ๐. Let me know in the comments if you can tell what he is doing.
I also packed 1 extra sundress for daytime wear, and some t-shirts/shorts. Personally, I think this is where I messed up big time. I packed 4 different t-shirts & wore 1 (in between swims) the entire time. I also packed 4 pairs of shorts and wore 2. This might sound weird, but the choice in fabric was a big deal here. The air is very heavy in St. Lucia and midday is HOT. Only two of my shorts were the right fabric (a lightweight canvas material) so I ended up wearing them a few times & to bed. Luckily I only wore them for short periods so they never really got dirty, but I still wish I had packed more of that material. As for sundresses, here is a picture of me in the one I packed. I loved this one! Again found it at Walmart because, why not? I wish I had grabbed a couple of different patterns because it was perfect for this vacation!
If I return to the Caribbean, I will be packing more sundresses to wear to breakfast & lunches at the resort!
Alright, I will cave. Let's talk about the 6 pairs of shoes I packed. Did I need them? No. Could I have gotten away with 1 sandal, 1 heel, and 1 tennis shoe? Sure. But did I want them & use them all? YES. So for this one, I say go for it mommas! If it makes you happy & you have room in your luggage, do it. These sandals I got for & wore on vacation though are the bomb. I wore them 90% of the time on the island & only switched when I dressed up for dinner. I will be looking for more colors in the same shoe for sure.
As for essentials, one tip I have is about sunscreen. I brought my favorite Sun Bum sunscreen in my checked bag but quickly realized the 1 bottle was not going to last us. I kid you not we used half of the bottle in 1 day. By the second we were out & due to the intensive sun, we HAD to buy more at the gift shop. A 3oz bottle cost us $33. Yes, you read that right 33-freaking-dollars. So save yourself a small fortune and pack 2-3 bottles in your bag before you leave. I will credit us one win though, we both came home sunburn free this trip, which is basically unheard of with my typical lobster of a husband ๐.
I think those are the major things that stuck out to me as far as what I packed versus what I needed. Here is a condensed list for you,
Bring a swimsuit for each day (if it's a short stay like ours) or half as many if you are staying a full week. We were getting in and out of suits all day, so the extras were needed for others to dry.
Plan clothing for expected weather & something light/casual for breakfast/lunch
Pack all the shoes, you deserve to have what you want!
Sunscreen- bring way more than you think you will need.
Attached below is my full list of what I packed. You are welcome to download & use it for your future beach getaway! If you haven't already, feel free to subscribe to my blog by clicking the button at the bottom of the page. You can also follow me on Instagram & now YouTube, for daily life updates, clean with me videos, & so much more.
I hope to see you around and stay tuned for 4 more days of St. Lucia. Up next is my list of must-dos when staying on the island!
๐๐sending love & momma to momma support,
Kaylin
Beach Vacation Packing List (1)
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