Warm Weather Travel Essentials for Women 50+

We are coming on “tourist season” here in Florida, which means that many of you will be packing up and heading to a warm weather location, maybe even here! So today I thought we should talk about warm weather travel essentials.

I am here to help you pack exactly what you need. So, if you are planning a warm weather trip and are looking for some packing ideas, this post is for you.

Since we travel several times a year, I am always on the hunt for the perfect items to take on my trips.  I’ve added some new items to my collection and thought it would be great to share them with you.  Oh, and if you have something really great to share with us, please drop a comment below!  We learn from each other.

Luggage:

My dad was an avid traveler, and liked to travel in style. For my high school graduation gift, he gave me a set of Hartman luggage. Oh, it was beautiful and lasted a good twenty years. I still have the shoe tote, but alas, the suit cases have been replaced.

After a fair amount of research, I settled on Briggs and Riley and have used my Briggs and Riley suitcases ever since, though I am eyeing up an Arlo Sky carry on since Brooke absconded with my smaller Briggs and Riley bag. If you are a full on luxury traveler, the Rimowa is a great way to go; and if we start doing more travel, I am likely to invest…

Basic Warm Weather Travel Planning:

When I’m planning a trip, I like to map out what we plan to do each day, what the weather looks like, what I am going to wear and anything else I think I am going to need that day. I use a free downloadable time blocking calendar so I can see how the days are likely to play out. 

I also write in the weather forecast for each day on my calendar.  This helps inform outfit choices; I write in what we are going to do and what I think I want to wear, and I know as I’m packing, whether I will need sweaters, or swimsuits, casual or evening wear or whether I will need rain gear or not.  

(The last time my mother visited, she didn’t check the weather and didn’t bring any cool weather clothes to Florida.  It happened to be much cooler than she expected so she ended up having to shop for some more comfortable clothes—we get our coolest weather in January).

Next, I start laying out clothing options, and build my outfits around two bottoms, six tops, a jacket or sweater and a couple of dresses.   I look for things that can do double duty, like a dress that can be worn more than one way, (see an idea here) and I build my travel outfits around a simple color palette so I take five pieces rather than five different outfits.  Depending on what we are going, I sometimes take a photo of the outfit I put together for reference on the trip. 

Warm Weather Essentials Packing:

When it comes to packing, I am a huge packing cube devotee and I’ve gotten Roger hooked on packing cubes as well.  

They are a great way to organize your clothes, making it easier to pack and find things in your suit case.  There are several great packing cube strategies; I prefer to put like things together, so all sleep wear in one cube, all undergarments in another.  Bottoms such as pants and skirts in one, and tops in another.  

When I have a special outfit, or outfits in general planned, I will often pack the whole outfit in one cube so everything with that outfit is all together.  For example, I put my workout outfit in a cube and can just grab the whole cube, put it in my gym bag and head for the gym rather than having to dig through my suit cases or cubes looking for leggings and a top.  

If I am going to a formal event, I put the whole outfit with accessories together, so I don’t forget to put on the accessories and can easily find all the pieces.  If the trip is going to be casual and I am going to wear pants and a top most of the time and everything goes together, then I tend to put all the tops in one cube and the bottoms in another.

So, depending on what you are going to be doing, you can decide which packing strategy will work best for your situation. The verdict:  Packing Cubes are a good thing.

Your Warm Weather Essential Beauty:

We all know the airline’s rules regarding liquids;  all your liquids need to go into a quart sized, clear pouch which is pretty straight forward.  While I don’t use facial wipes regularly, I do like them for travel, and pack a hand full of individually wrapped facial wipes in my hand bag and in my suitcase.  

What about makeup?  

I love getting an all in one makeup palette like the Charlotte Tilbury Glow Palette or the Cali Contour palettes I use on the regular when I travel.  I’ve found that while I do wear a lot of makeup at home, I don’t like to spend as much time doing makeup while traveling; I want to get out and see the world, so I often lay out a number of things I think I might want, then subtract down to what I think I will really use.  I usually try to stick to an all in one palette, primer, foundation, concealer, eye liner and mascara.  Oh, and lip color.  

You can be a little extra though:

You can make your own travel palette, using the Riki Loves Riki Colorful Makeup Mirror and palette.  Simply decant your favorite makeup into the base creating your own palette, and, best of all it has a lighted mirror as it’s cover.  You can also get Z-palettes, which are similar but don’t have the great lighted makeup mirror on top.  That way, you have a custom palette with your favorite makeup in it rather than possibly having to make do with a palette that doesn’t meet all your needs.

Skincare can be so custom, depending on how you roll, I know mine is!  I am experimenting with a few serums right now, but always pack the basics:  Make up remover, cleanser, and moisturizers.  I order travel sized of my favorite products or decant them into travel containers.  That’s pretty straight forward.  I usually use a few shampoo/conditioner samples that come in packets along with travel size hair styling elixirs and hair ties.  Some days the best you can do is put your hair up and go.

Skin and hair care:

Sunscreen:

I have had a love hate relationship with sunscreen.  I’ve tried all sorts, from high end too low.  My main complaints are that I don’t like the smell, or it doesn’t work well under my makeup.  But since I’ve been working on improving my skin this year and use Retin A and AHAs on the regular, sunscreen is a must.  My favorite sunscreen is DRMTLGY Anti Aging Clear Face Sunscreen SPF 45.

Lately, I’ve been experimenting with the It Cosmetics CC+ Airbrush Powder, SPF 50+ which comes in a compact with a mirror.  It’s just as convenient and a little more dependable when it comes to the application process, so I’m sticking with that to touch up my sunscreen every few hours, but stay tuned, if I find something better, I will definitely let you know.

A few thoughts about clothes:

I love packing Tankinis because the top can be used for swim or as a regular top.

Wraps are also great, I always bring a cashmere wrap for evening, and they are great to use on the plane.

A classic oversized button down can be worn multiple ways including as a swim suit cover up, or as a duster over a camisole.  It is also great over gym clothes.  

I also love to pack a clutch and a tote.  I use the clutch for evening and any time I want something small.  The clutch can be used inside the tote when you want to carry more or need to carry your gym clothes or for shopping.  

Let me know where you plan to take your winter break and if you have any favorite packing tips or items to share.  If you’d like to shop some of these suggestions, I’ve put links below!

Mature Style: Summer Shapewear for Women Over 50

Spring Dresses for Women Over 50