If your dream honeymoon consists of weeks lounging by the beach in Fiji, then packing should be fairly simple – who needs much more than a bathing suit when you’re by the beach the whole time? But if your honeymoon is likely to be a bit more widespread, you might need to prepare yourself for a few different climates – and that’s where we come in.
While prepping for a trip to South America that’s likely to take in three very different environments, we thought we’d put together our very own Honeypot packing guide for a ‘honeymoon of many climates’!
Layer, layer, layer
When it comes to clothes, think multi-use clothes that you can layer to cope with differing temperatures.
Each of you should bring:
- 7 x underwear
- 7 x socks – a mix of ankle, crew cut, or warmer
- 5-6 x t-shirts or tank tops (or add another if you’re fairly sweaty!)
- 2 x long sleeve tops (merino works well)
- 1 x shorts
- 1 x jeans
- 1 x track pants or leggings (you’ll be pleased when you’re keen to relax in the evenings!)
- 1 x bathing suit/board shorts
- 1-2 x cardigan or lighter jacket
- 1 x fleece or puffer jacket (at least for those of us who get cold easily!)
- 1 x light windproof raincoat
- 1 x pair of flip flops
- 1 x sneakers/walking shoes
- 1 x nicer shoes
- Hat (preferably one that can fold up small)
Toiletries
This one’s probably the most subjective – I only use a few basic things but am very picky about which ones I use, so I hate when people say “just use the little ones from hotels” (no-one wants to see how greasy my hair gets a day after using those!)
I’d suggest getting a few cheap travel bottles (K-mart all the way!) and filling them up with your faves instead. This is what I’ve packed:
- Shampoo & conditioner
- Body wash
- Toothpaste & brush
- Contacts & solution (plus eye drops – man my eyes get dry when travelling!)
- Face wash & moisturiser (or just face wipes if you’re a little lazier)
- Razor & exfoliating glove (no-one wants an ingrown hair while travelling…)
- Laundry wash (for hand washing clothes along the way – no-one likes a stinky travel companion!)
- Sunscreen & insect repellent (especially important for those of us whose blood is apparently irresistible to mosquitos…)
- Back up pads or tampons (of course you’ll always be able to find them, but bring a couple just in case you get stuck on a flight or train!)
- Rehydration sachets, altitude sickness pills etc. (whatever your travel doctor suggests for where you’re going)
- Mini first aid kit (just some plasters, antiseptic wipes, panadol and a few other essentials)
Travel tools
I’m a bit of a sucker for awesome travel gadgets, but I try control myself to just the essentials (well, what I see as essentials anyway!) – so here are a few of my favourites:
- A good travel pillow (we just got some new ones off Kickstarter that you can use several ways and I’m very excited to actually get some sleep on this flight!)
- Your device of choice (I swear my Kindle’s the best thing that ever happened to my travelling, while my man’s Nintendo Switch is his go-to. Either way, make sure you’ve got something to keep you entertained on those long flights and train trips!)
- Universal power adaptor (it turns out it’s pretty hard to find convertors for anywhere that isn’t the US, UK, or Europe, so a universal convertor can be pretty damn handy!)
- Headphone splitter (for some reason I seem to have collected a few of these for free, but they’re super handy. It means you can watch stuff on your phone or tablet together – without having to live with only one headphone each!)
- Packing cubes (these are my new favourite things and mean you don’t have to pack and unpack constantly to find what you’re looking for)
- Money belts (I know, they feel weird and look lame, but I feel so much more comfortable knowing that my passport and most of my money is safely held against my body and I can cover it up so no-one sees it’s there)
The official stuff
Of course, then there’s the boring but necessary stuff:
- Passports
- Tickets/itinerary
- Travel insurance details & contact number
- Local currency (or a lot of US dollars in places like South America – they’re just as useful)
- Credit card or back up monetary access (preferably with an RFID envelope to protect scanning – whoever thought paywave was a secure way of transacting is slightly crazy in my mind)
Pro tip: Make sure you’ve got scans of all your details saved in Google Drive/Dropbox or your email so you can access them wherever you are in case anything goes missing.
So that’s it – my packing list for a trip around South America with my man. Should be helpful for any honeymoon or couples trip taking in a few different climates, or for anyone who is a bit of a nerd like me and likes to make a checklist of everything well in advance (yes, I did start packing weeks beforehand).
Keen to go on your dream honeymoon? Why not ask for parts of it in your Honeypot registry? Get started here.