I am in the process of planning a little weekend getaway, and before I start to make outfits I already know what essentials I need. Every trip is different depending on the weather, location and the agenda, but wherever you go, you can rely on these essentials to keep you prepared for any trip!

1// Snacks I am one of those people that needs to eat throughout the day or I get hangry. I try to pack M&Ms or cookies in my bag so that I can sneak a bite and keep my sugar levels normal. My mom knows that if I we go on vacation together, she has to keep chocolate in her purse so she can shove a piece in my mouth when I get tired or cranky. Snacking through the day also saves on eating out, too! When I went to Atlanta, my friend and I went on a lot of day trips so we cookies and drinks in the car so we could always be snacking

2// Advil I rarely get headaches, but when I am on a trip with the busy schedule or a change of sleep schedules, I get these horrible headaches. Sometimes if I don’t get the chance to drink a cup of coffee in the morning, I get caffeine withdrawal and a headache can ruin a fun day. You can buy a mini Advil and then refill it in between trips or just pack a few in a plastic bag in your toiletry bag.

3// A Cozy Cardigan For the last few years, anywhere I go has warmer weather there than at home. So packing can be a bit difficult if I am in sweatpants and Uggs packing shorts and tank tops! For the plane ride for the trip, I will wear jeans and a thin long sleeve shirt. I have a cozy cardigan that I wear on planes and that can be easily folded into my carry on bag if it gets too warm. The weather also can change it get chilly at night, so it is nice to have a layering piece to keep you warm at night.

4// Cute Sneakers I have this thing where I don’t like to wear open toed shoes on a plane (germs, cold air conditioning, walking barefoot through security, etc) so I usually wear riding boots or sneakers on my flight. On my trip Florida, I needed comfortable shoes to wear during our two days at Universal and my Tory Burch flats were not gonna work! I had to dig deep into my closet, but I found an old pair of navy Keds I could wear and most importantly, they wouldn’t ruin my outfit! When I think sneakers, I usually think of clunky Nike sneakers and unless you are wearing leggings, skinny jeans and Nike sneakers don’t usually go well together! Right now cute sneakers are everywhere and they have evolved from clunky running shoes to really cute shoes!

5// A Stuffed Animal Okay, so you probably think I am crazy…. but whenever I fly I use my Puppy as a pillow and I like to have a little piece of home with me whenever I travel. Flying in the cheap seats can be very uncomfortable, so I can squish Puppy into my carry on bag and then pull him out when I need a pillow while flying. On our trip to Florida, both of my parents used Puppy as a pillow after they teased me for it for hours. If you don’t think you can pull off bringing a stuffed animal onto a plane, bring a small pillow on board.

6// Don’t Forget About Skincare I try to only bring the essentials on a trip, and even though I can make excuses to not bring it, I always bring my skincare products on trips with me. I have minis of my favorite products that don’t take up that much room in my toiletry bag. You don’t have to bring every product you own, but be sure to pack a face cream, eye cream and the other skin products you use daily.

7// Travel Sized Since college graduation, a goal of mine is to travel as often as I can. With friends now being in different states and me jumping at every opportunity to travel, I kind of have this whole packing thing down. I have two toiletry bags in my bathroom, one is filled with a toiletry bag ready to be packed in a suitcase and the other is filled with extra travel sized products. I often get free samples of beauty products in the mail or in magazines they have those little tear outs with a one day supply of a product. I always collect them to use later on trips. Remember to only pack makeup products that you will wear everyday. Instead of bringing all three Naked eyeshadow kits, just bring one or two eyeshadows.