With our school holiday break finally here, it’s time to start thinking about packing for my upcoming trip to Spain! This February, over our school vacation, 22 educators including myself will travel to Spain as part of a professional development trip. We will sightsee, visit schools, talk with educators and take in as much as we can to bring back to our classrooms and communities. This is my fifth educator tour run through Education First (EF) and I couldn’t be more thrilled to go.
Before taking off for Spain all educators on the trip attend 4 meetings to learn about Spain from experts, collaborate with one another and gain some background knowledge before the trip.
At our first trip I presented to the group some general packing tips to get the group thinking about some things they might need or want as they start packing. It didn’t sink in how many bags, containers and other packing gadgets I have accumulated over my years of travel until I was pulling them out one after another to share with the group. It became a joke how many bags I have, but I wouldn’t travel any other way!
Here are a few of my favorite bags I use while I travel.
1.Patagonia Backpack- I finally caved in and bought a backpack before my trip to Thailand a few years ago to use as my day pack. No more cheap free bags for me! I upgraded for the padded shoulder straps, multi pockets, laptop/iPad padded pocket and a bag that wasn’t too large. If there is space I will fill it! My Patagonia Violeta 25L backpack has been a staple in my packing ever since.
2. Technology Case- Perfect for all my tech wires and chargers, this Mixed-Bag is actually suppose to be a cosmetic bag. The lightweight design and zipper opening makes it perfect to manage my many tech accessories. Mine is an old style, but you can find a new style here at Mixed Bags.
3. Longchamp– This lightweight, long handled bag has been just about everywhere. It is great because it can fold up small and tuck right into my backpack. I know what your thinking, wait you pack a bag inside another bag? Yep! On our tours I jam pack my backpack with anything and everything I might need. Then as we stop along the tour, I grab this smaller bag, throw in just what I need and leave my backpack on the bus.
4. Packing Cubes- These changed my travel life! Packing with eBags Packing Cubes makes life so much easier and organized. It is hard to imagine going anywhere without them!
5. Baggallini Crossbody– Another perfect small purse to throw inside my backpack. I love this bag because it has a zippered pocket just the right size to hold my passport and keep it safe. When I am not planning to bring my Nikon 5100 DSLR camera where we have stopped, this is a perfect bag for all my essentials minus the bulk of a big bag.
This is just the tip of my bag iceberg but you get the idea, you can never have too many bags!
TravelTeachLove,
Katy
