Packing Priorities | Interrail - Plan, Pack & Go!

I'm quite a light packer at the best of times but I still think I over-packed when I went Interrailing. So rather than tell you what I did bring, I'll tell you what I WISH I'd brought instead. You can learn from my mistakes, as there are some things you might take but never need, and there might be some things you don't even realise you need until you get out of the shower at a hostel and realise your tiny face towel won't shield your dignity at all.

The Bag:
I bought a rucksack from Milletts before we left, as did Sam. Mine's a 35 Litre Pathfinder by Eurohike (Sam's was the same but 45 litre). It's not completely necessary to go buy a bag or a suitcase, one you've got lying around the house will likely do just fine, These were perfect as they were just within the boundaries for hand-luggage. Small enough to carry daily (and save money!), but large enough to wedge in enough clothing for a month.

Makeup:
This is where I could have saved myself a lot of space (and saved my poor aching shoulders a bit of effort too). Strip it back to basics with your makeup, that's all you're probably going to have the time and effort for when you want to get out there and see Europe! Not to mention, you don't want to be THAT girl in the hostel that hogs the entire bathroom for an hour to do her eyeliner. That totally wasn't me. I brought enough makeup to fill up a huge toiletries bag, but all I *used* was...
1 mascara
1 eyeshadow palette (multi purpose init)
1 eyebrow pallette/pomade/pencil
1 BB cream (I brought foundation too and used it approximately 0 times)
1 eyeliner
1 nude and 1 coloured lipstick/pencil/etc
1 bronzer
And then I'd bring one brush for each of the above things. It's easier to wash them a couple of times than lug around your entire collection.

Toiletries:
I did the travel mini thing. Those tiny 100ml bottles of Tresemme that cost the same as 900ml? Yeah, you don't want to do that. If you're like me and rely on having toiletries as soon as you arrive, maybe decant some shampoo/shower gel you already have into little bottles (I did this with my micellar water). Other than that, you'll get much better value buying larger bottles while you're travelling (or doing a Ross Geller and rinsing the hotels for all the mini shampoos you can).

I know that skincare regimes can vary a lot depending on your needs, but as mine was quite low-maintenance while travelling, here's what I did:
1 facial moisturizer (that you can use day and night)
1 eye cream or gel (maybe not a must-have you you're going to love yourself the morning after sleepless train journeys)

Other than that, keep it basic. Shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, toothpaste. I wish I'd discovered the moisurising benefits of coconut oil before we'd gone. I didn't want to carry around lotion and hair oil which left my skin and hair feeling dry and damaged. A little pot of coconut oil would have fixed all these problems and wouldn't have taken up too much space. GET IT!

Clothing-wise, I don't know where I'd begin, as everyone has different needs when travelling. Depends how often you're going out-out, doing some trekking, going for dinner, I can't really tell you. The only thing I will say is: lay out all of the clothes that you think will do you for you travelling time. Then HALF IT. Trust me, you'll be fine!



Miscellaneous:
(Did anyone else only learn this word from incessant Sim-playing? Just me?)
I couldn't find dry shampoo until we arrived in Paris. Sam will tell you, I was a nightmare without it. Nearly cried. If this is something you use, then locate it before it's too late.
Towels. A microfibre towel is perfect for hostels, they dry quickly and don't take up too much space. Also, bring a seperate towel/cloth for your face. You can get anti-bacterial ones, but if you wash them well, a regular one should be fine.

Although this isn't an extensive checklist for what to pack, hopefully you can get an idea of what I found essential and use it to help with your own. Packing.

This is the last of my Plan, Pack and Go series, and the last of my blog posts about Interrailing! If you read the whole guide than I hope you found some gems to keep with you while travelling. If you have any questions, just comment or email me! Thanks for reading. If you want to recap:

Interrail: Plan, Pack & Go Masterpost

Interrail: Video Guide

Here are some other links personal to my own Interrail journey:

Short & Sweet Cities Series (Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Milan & Como, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen)