For me, road trips inspire all sorts of visions: Adventure. Excitement. Hair blowing in the breeze. Tunes blasting on the radio. Clean bathrooms in rest stops. The latter might be pushing it, I realize, but one can dream.
But first, we pack.
This particular road trip is just a quick jaunt into the Southwest. The Weather Channel was predicting highs in the mid-90s and lows in the 60s. So I wanted to pack some flirty skirts and breezy dresses. And I would need some good walking shoes. To begin packing, I laid out some of the outfits I planned to wear if I had never worn them together before to help me visualize how the clothes will look together. I use caution when bringing new clothes with me on a trip, as there is nothing worse than being uncomfortable while vacationing (it's supposed to be fun, after all) and not having any other choices for clothes. It's always good to have a few backup items, just in case of a wardrobe malfunction or something like, say, spilling ketchup all down the front of your dress. Not that that's ever happened to me.
I do harbor this idea that one day I will just hop on a plane sans luggage and fly off into the sunset. Upon arriving at my destination, I will then proceed to the nearest market or shops where I will purchase my necessities for the trip. This would not be terribly difficult because I would be somewhere warm as I am not much of one for cold weather, and I could wear mostly swimsuits and sarongs. (Speaking of sarongs, these are wonderful things to pack for a trip as they can be used as a wraparound skirt, dress, towel, blanket or whatever you'd like to fashion.)
But I would sure miss my cowboy boots. Unless I was wearing them on the plane, of course.
My sister bought me the pendant necklace when we went to the Brooklyn Flea Market during my most recent visit to the Big Apple. I think it pairs nicely with the neckline of the dress.
The enameled choker necklace came from my local thrift store for a mere $2.95. This purchase coincided nicely with a recent article in Lucky magazine about enameled jewelry. I bought the striped dress at the same time for about $5.
It is definitely possible to find some new items at a thrift or secondhand store that are both fashionable and reasonably priced. Garage sales are probably the best places to buy gently used items at rock bottom prices. But all of these places require some patience as you are never sure what is available until you get there. So if you are looking for a specific item, you may have to make multiple trips. I try to have a few things in mind that I'd like to buy when I go in there (e.g., flower pots are on my permanent list), but this time I found a dress that would be comfortable enough for riding in the car for 6 hours but also would be appropriate for dinner out on the town.
I paired the dress up with a lightweight jacket in an army green color that I already owned. The jacket was also a thrift store purchase. I think I shelled out about $10 for it. Here is my approximated total cost for this entire outfit:- Dress: $5
- Cowboy boots: $40
- Jacket: $10
- Pendant necklace: $0
- Enamel choker: $2.95
- Total: $57.95
I planned to wear the boots, jacket and jewelry with other outfits. I often make lists (more on this later) of all the outfits I plan wear on a trip, as well as the other items I need to bring (e.g., swimsuit, camera and accessories, phone charger, toiletries, socks). This is a very helpful practice to get into, especially if you have a tendancy to leave things at home. I happen to really like making lists, so I'll use any excuse to make one.
I might need to work on reining in my list-making though, as I am approaching a state where I need a list that keeps track of all my lists. And that's a little overboard, even for me.
So cute!
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