Italy is amazing...it's also a huge country. I spent about a week in mostly northern Italy; from Rome, to Venice, and found out very quickly that the country has its own set of rules when it comes to clothing.

It was summertime, and especially in Rome, it was pretty hot, so I did what any good natured American girl would do, I threw on shorts and a t-shirt. Ladies. Rules number one. Do not wear shorts. Maybe bermuda shorts would be alright, but I was wearing typical denim shorts, and apparently this was synonymous with...well a lady of the night at the least. I got multiple innapropriate touches and jeers at me. Outside of Rome I wore shorts and was fine, but kept it to longer shorts or skirts.

I did find it ok to wear shorts in northernmost Italy, especially when balancing it out with a long sleeve shirt.

Besides thinking about the possibility of minor sexual assault in the street, it is important to have clothing with you that covers your shoulders and knees, male or female, so you can enter all the beautiful churches around Italy. This is obviously especially enforced in the Vatican, and I found it best to always have a scarf on hand if I ran into a particularly beautiful church and needed to wrap my shoulders.

With Italy being so walkable, and so many things to see, I found myself wearing a good pair of sneakers every day. Sure Adidas might have fit more into the European vibe, but I found my Nikes to blend in just fine. Most days I paired Nikes with a capped sleeve tee and jeans or black leggings. It also made for an easy transition to a night out, swap out the sneakers for booties and throw on a jacket or some jewelry, and bam -- perfect dinner outfit. For me, the priority of travel was to see where I was, not look like a supermodel, so everything I did was efficient, check out how I kept my beauty regimen on the go.


Speaking of dinner, if you're a foodie like me, you might want to be wary of wearing white or other light colors to eat in. Gotta love that pasta sauce...and apparently I can't feed myself better than a toddler.


With Italy, or anywhere else, you can never go wrong with black. Wear layers, bring plain pieces that can easily be mixed and matched (and worn a few times over before needing a wash), and research the local customs of what area you're going to. Know that in general, Italy becomes more conservative and traditional as you go south, and more accepting and progressive as you go north.

When traveling, I was told so many things of what to bring, or how to act, and while it is important to respect the local customs, you have to find a balance of what you are comfortable with, and what keeps you safe.

I just got back from a three week trip to Italy and Eastern Europe, and it was amazing; I can never emphasize the importance of travel enough. But as I'm back and adjust to the jetlag, and think of all the things in my luggage that was lost (sigh, never again Berlin Air...), I also think of everything I packed that I never actually needed or used. These items I saw frequently on packing lists or in YouTuber's "must have travel items" videos, but I found to just take up space.

I always try to maintain, less is more, when traveling, and have a bunch of DIY's if you ever find you've forgotten something.

Water bottle - Seriously I saw this every where... "I always ask my flight attendants to fill it up for me!" Well for starters, it's totally weird to ask that, usually my flight attendants are told they can only give one cup of water at a time, and the space it took up wasn't worth saving $2 to buy a bottle at the airport. Throughout the cities I traveled I found myself forgetting to use it, or not want to carry it around, and opted to reuse my smaller recyclable bottle, and if I had to, I could ditch it (or as I sometimes did, forgot it in a restaurant).

Towel - Yes some hostels don't have towels for free, but about half of mine did, and the others had towels available for rent, again I would've preferred the space over the couple of euros. OR you can always use a t shirt that's already dirty as a towel.

Portable charger - I only used my phone for photos and when I had WiFi, and I never had a time where I ran out of battery. Some times I did get close and had to find an outlet, but overall I'm glad I didn't bring a back up charger and have to lug that around.

Fuzzy socks - Trust me I love fuzzy socks, but I never had a place that was so cold that I felt the need for them, I definitely never took these out of my bag, and certainly didn't need them for the plane as so many travel sites suggested.

Some things I brought that I'm really glad I did:

• Sunscreen
• Shawl that doubles as a plane blanket
• Travel sized shampoo/conditioner
• Variety of pants and shorts
• Ear plugs and eye mask
• Vaseline (so many uses)

I love to travel, and I'm traveling all the time. Throughout all these travels I've come up with quite a few good little hacks should you get into a pinch, or just want to pack fewer beauty items like me.

Forgot a toothbrush, paste, razor, shampoo... ask the front desk of your hotel, they usually have extra basic toilitries for free.

Chapped lips? Dry legs? Go to the hotel lobby or local Starbucks and grab a packet of honey along with a packet of sugar (many packets of honey and sugar if it's for your legs) and you have a DIY exfloliator when mixed. Scrub where needed and rinse off. You should use enough sugar to honey that it makes a thick paste like in the photo below.

Eye makeup remover can be made from the free lotion bottle given in your hotel bathroom. Just use a dab and be sure to wash it off after.

The conditioner provided next to your lotion in a hotel bathroom can be a shaving cream substitute. You can also mix conditioner with honey and any natural oils you can find around the hotel kitchen nook (olive oil usually) and leave on dry hair for 15-30 minutes for a quick deep conditioner.

If you have nail polish on hand, you can paint wet nail polish on top of old, dried, chipped nail polish to remove it. Just paint on top of the old nail polish and wipe with a cotton ball or wad of toilet paper if you don't have a cotton ball.

An oldie but a goody, use toothpaste in a pinch to dry up a zit.

Revive a dry, tired face by brewing tea (caffenated green tea is best) and wiping your face with the warm tea. Place the wet tea bags on your eyes to reduce dark circles and puffiness as well.

A little bit of hand soap or shampoo can be used as a facewash if you're really in need, but be sure to moisturize afterwards. Always try just water and gently scrubbing with your fingers first.

I hate when I forget nail clippers and really need to cut a jagged nail. To hold you over from going crazy, a pair of scissors can clean up the edge. Again check with the hotel front desk if they have a file as well.

What other things do you commonly forget on trips? Let me know in the comments and I'll see if I can't find something to DIY.

Over the holidays I was fortunate enough to visit Playa del Carmen and Cozumel in Quinta Roo, Mexico and the beautiful colors of the city mixed with the calming crash of ocean waves gave me so much inspiration for style. Traveling for almost 2 weeks meant I had to learn how to mix and match my outfits, while keeping them wearable and easy to tour the city in.



When we first got into Mexico and got set up at our AirBnB in Playa del Carmen, I immediately changed to this lightweight off the shoulder top -- it was hot even in December. The country as a whole was bolder and more carefree than what I had experienced in the U.S.; I tried to blend in with the cobalt blue purse.



Oh and I ate a cricket. Locals love them, and although they didn't have much flavor, I couldn't get over the whole 'eating a bug' idea and the little legs getting caught in my throat.



Walking the beach and keeping it casual, I found myself wearing my Lilly Pulitzer beach coverup over my bathing suit quite a few times.



...even though I didn't want to cover up my bathing suit that much. It's so cute!



One of the coolest places we had dinner was a restaurant named Alux, that was housed in a cave underground. Honestly not the greatest food we had on the trip, but it was definitely an out of this world atmosphere.






Did you like seeing my travels and fashion inspiration abroad? Leave a comment so I know if I should do more of these!

So the past couple of weeks I've been traveling the east coast with my boyfriend, and being away for a few weeks has reminded me how hard it can be to pack. Keep some of these tips in mind to avoid taking multiple or extremely heavy bags.

• See if your hotel has washers and dryers- I've totally never thought about it until I saw them in my hotel on this vacation. If your hotel has a washer/dryer (most are just the coin operated type) this is awesome, and you can plan to bring less clothes and spend just a couple bucks to wash them and therefore get more wear out of fewer items!
  

• Only bring essential makeup products- I brought my foundation, powder, two types of eyeshadow palettes, mascara, eyeliner, two lipsticks and bronzer. YOU DON'T NEED THIS MUCH. Even though I thought these were all "essentials" I honestly only used the mascara and eyeshadow on a daily basis, and the other eyeshadow and lipstick on a special night out. Think about what you will be doing and if you're going to actually spend the time getting ready. Also remember, many makeup items can be used in different ways; mascara and a small brush can make eyeliner, lip tint can also be cheek tint, etc.
  
  
• Have a mini first aid kit- While some days of my adventure I stayed with family, they (and certainly hotels) may not have all the meds you need but don't think about. For example I brought the basics; Advil, Aleve, Tums, but also some items you might not realize could be important like nose spray, extra contact cases and solution, Gas-X, and nasal decongestant. When traveling (especially in the spring and summer) you can encounter different environments and get worse allergies than you usually would at home. Also include some bandaids and chapstick!
  
  
• Plan your budget and time (but be flexible)- My boyfriend and I planned each and every day pretty much exactly as it would happen and it kept us from spending a lot of money. We knew we had to save some more money to splurge on a cool museum but didn't have to waste money on food since we bought sandwich materials at a nearby grocery. At the same time we had to be flexible, one day it rained when we were planning on going to the beach so instead we switched that days plans with the next day and did a museum. With money, too, there will be unexpected costs, fees, taxes, souvenirs, etc.
  
  
• Try to enjoy it all- As much as you will be concerned about getting to every event on time and spending the right amount of money and fitting every bit of the vacation in, be sure to sit back and enjoy all your planning and money well spent. Sometimes it's worth it to go out to that fancy restaurant and order whatever you feel like, regardless of price. It's about enjoying the area you are in, learning about the people and culture and perhaps more about you and whoever you're with.