By Hope Hoehler
Have you ever traveled to Europe? I have! Over winter break I had the opportunity to travel to Barcelona and Valencia, Spain, with the education program. If you ever get the opportunity to travel to Europe, Spain is the place to be!
As excited as I was to travel, I had absolutely no idea how to plan my outfits and how to pack them efficiently. I still believe it’s a miracle that I managed to close my suitcase! Today, I’m here to take you through a few of the outfits that I wore while in Spain. I hope that if you get the opportunity to travel abroad, your knowledge in packing will be greater than mine.
Outfit 1: Considering Barcelona is a classier city, I wanted to dress nicely for the first day out and about. Although we were farther South than windy Slippery Rock, the weather wasn’t exactly in the high 70’s in the beginning of January. To break down my outfit, I decided to go with the sweater and a cardigan look. The fuzzy pink dress with the cutout around the neckline gave just the right amount of warmth and softness while not causing heatstroke. The gray cardigan was a light material that added an extra layer that could easily be taken off throughout the day. Fun fact about the cardigan - it has a hood!
Outfit 2: You can’t go wrong with a casual, comfortable look while spending hours on your feet exploring a new city. Therefore, I decided to wear black cotton leggings, comfortable tennis shoes (in a neutral color) and of course a Slippery Rock sweatshirt because I love to rep my school! Underneath the sweatshirt I wore a light long sleeve shirt. Here’s an FYI, layering is the most amazing style option ever. It’s so useful and you can come up with all kinds of cool color and pattern combinations while you’re at it!
Outfit 3: I’m going to start off by saying that this outfit choice most likely wasn’t the best decision to wear, but hey it looked cute! I paired a light long sleeve striped dress with the gray fuzzy cardigan that I wore on the first day with black boots that had great traction. I decided to tie the cardigan secure in the front of the dress, giving a more jacket like look. Of course, the one bad thing about this outfit was the I constantly had to hold down the dress as I was walking. Stay away from any loose material that could cause a possible flashing situation!
Outfit 4: This outfit was by far my favorite outfit that I wore on the trip. Once again, I wore my black boots - they match with everything! I decided to wear high-waisted jeans; they are super comfortable, provide warmth, and are great for tucking shirts or sweaters into. I live for neutral colors, which is why I chose a gray ribbed light sweater that I tucked into my jeans. This day was particularly windy as we were sailing on the Mediterranean, so I decided to bring a scarf just in case. I’m so glad I did. The scarf I wore was light blue, white, and gray; I bought it in Valencia on the trip! One more article of clothing that I always believe to be a staple item is a light jacket. I brought a black rain jacket which I currently was not wearing, but you can never be too sure when it’s going to rain. Better to be safe than sorry!
If I were to give my packing skills a rate on a scale from 1-10, I would say 6. There were clothes I wish I brought and others I wished I hadn’t. If you’re planning to pack for an overseas trip, pack light and pack clothes than can worn multiple times. I wore articles of clothing at least twice while I was in Spain! Bring a pair of comfortable shoes but also a pair of fancier shoes that you can still walk in. I ended up wearing my black boots most of the time.
I hope that all you reading this get the opportunity to travel. If you do, CDR would love to see your style abroad!
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Photo credit
Hope Hoehler (@hope_marie22)