I have been getting better and better every year about not over-packing for my travels, be they for work or pleasure. That trend continued with this trip. I wore all of the pieces that I packed, and had only a couple of regrets which I’ll share in a moment. The nice thing about Palm Springs, and what made choosing a travel capsule a cinch, is the weather; in June, you know exactly what you’re going to get every day: hot, hot weather. I took one jacket, one pair of jeans, and one light sweater with me for the flight, because I get cold easily on airplanes; the rest of the “capsule” was otherwise made up of the most summery clothes I could muster. Light layers pack easily, so I left home with a half-empty suitcase (which included some of my husband’s stuff as well). Were it not for my toiletries (and space for potential vacation shopping), I could have done this 4-day vacation out of a carry on.

Let’s have a look at my vacation OOTDs.

This was my plane outfit #1. White jeans on a plane? You may well wonder; my husband did. But here’s the thing; I was traveling without kids, which is half the battle. Also, I really wanted to wear my new Frame skinnies, and they go well with this Joie tank which is light and airy and perfect for hot weather. I figured that white would be better than regular denim or black jeans once I landed in the desert. I layered a black sweater over the top on the plane, because I don’t mess around.

I brought along these AGL loafers because my feet also get cold on the plane; I didn’t expect to wear them during my vacation, and I was right, but they were a good choice for the flight.

Rather than pack a regular purse plus a carry-on, I used this funky carpet bag-like holdall. It’s bigger than a tote, and smaller than my usual carry-on suitcase. It fits a ton of stuff in there; the downside is that it can easily turn into a “black hole” which is not great when you’re fishing for your passport. I don’t know what brand it is because it doesn’t have a visible logo, and I bought it from my fave consignment store. It was something like $35 and it looks like it’s going to hold up really well. Definitely a keeper.

I wore this outfit on our first evening in Palm Springs, for dinner and a trip to the Night Market. Of all the dresses I packed, this one was best suited to the climate. It’s the most lightweight silk, which is perfect when the temperature is 100 degrees Fahrenheit at 10PM. The sandals are my trusty pair I take on every “hot” vacation; they are indestructible and super comfortable. I wore them every single day.

This was my “day” outfit for Day #2, when we hit the Joshua Tree National Park. Not a great outfit for hiking or outdoor adventures, but I knew that we would be doing most of our sightseeing from the car so I just wanted to be comfortable and as cool as possible. And by “cool”, I mean “not hot” of course. I’m not sure that acid washed denim cut-offs are cool by any other definition. They were actually a last minute addition to my suitcase (as an alternative to wearing the white jeans from the plane), but I’m glad they came with me. Palm Springs is too hot for pants. Hashtag: kidding not kidding.

I wore this on the evening of Day #2, when we went for a stroll in Old Town La Quinta. The dress is one of my faves, and its vibe suited the location, but it was a wrong pick for sure. The dress itself is silk, but the lining is polyester. Black polyester. I might as well have been wearing a garbage bag for all of the sweating that I did. No bueno. The sandals were also a mistake. One, they are too high to be comfortable for extended walking. Two, they were too dressy.

Palm Springs is hella casual. I had never been to California before, so this was something of a revelation to me. Like, it makes sense because of the climate, but still — so, so casual. I stood out a mile away in this outfit. And that is even *after* I took off all of my accessories. That’s the other thing I learned: no need to bring accessories like necklaces, etc. Didn’t end up wearing most of the ones I brought, because no one else was wearing any.

Day #3 outfit. I wore this when we went to see the Salton Sea, and it was perfect for a long car ride.

Day #3 evening outfit. Yes, this dress has sleeves, but it’s made from cotton, so it was OK for the weather. Being a loose fit, it’s pretty airy. Let’s close in on the bag for a moment because …

… how cute is that key chain/bag charm thingie? I bought it at the Anthropologie store on El Paseo (the fancy shopping strip in the Palm Springs area) and had to immediately attach it to my trusty Coach bag (the only bag I brought with me). I’m not a huge fan of bag charms but I couldn’t resist this one.

Last we have my second plane outfit. Again, I wore a black sweater over the top during the flight itself and after landing at home. The weather in Edmonton was nice, but +26 feels a little on the chilly side after +45. It’s all relative, you know? I added the necklace only because I had brought it with me all that way and had not worn it yet. The Palm Springs airport was pretty deserted so my accessorizing did not draw any attention, hah.

Now, you might say that this isn’t much of a “capsule” since I more or less wore something different every day, twice a day. But there was reason behind the madness. One, I used the same shoes and bag throughout the trip, which cuts down on packing substantially. As I mentioned, I wish I hadn’t bothered with the high heeled sandals; I could have done the whole trip with 2 pairs of shoes, and even that’s only because I needed closed-toe flats for the flight (damn my poor peripheral blood circulation!). Two, I packed a LOT of one-piece outfits, AKA dresses. Summer dresses take up practically no space, so packing 5 of them was no big deal. It also meant that I could wear something fresh every day and not worry about sweat and laundering. [There was one extra dress I wore on Day #2 when we drove out to the outlet malls, but I didn’t take a photo of it.]

Things I packed that are not pictured above: 2 bikinis, one cover-up (which I didn’t really need because the pools were a 2 minute walk from our room), PJs, and various unmentionables.

Come back tomorrow for my final post on Palm Springs, in which I’ll be tackling where I shopped and what I bought.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I did bring a bunch of “evening” clothes on my trip to Mexico, although I use that term very loosely. We are talking casual dresses that are no longer in my everyday rotation (and, hence, things I would not mind getting dirty and/or losing in transit) and met the necessary criteria, to wit: being lightweight and comfortable, and somewhat dressier than a cover-up. Here’s a good example:

One of the best things about traveling with friends that also have children (who are our kids’ BFFs to boot) is that we could arrange an evening trade-off. Each set of parents took the kids for a couple of hours while the other enjoyed some much-needed alone time and a quiet dinner; then, we switched. This is how my husband and I got to explore the resort a little bit without having to worry about the kids’ attention spans. One of my favourite things to do during our “adults-only time” was to walk along the beach (the appeal of which is apparently lost on 3 and 5-year olds) and relax in a hammock-swing contraption with a frothy drink in hand. Like so:

My trusty “evening” maxi dresses were perfect for these sorts of mini-excursions; casual enough for a sandy stroll, but classy enough for a grown-up (buffet, natch) dinner. I did bring a black cardigan with me in case of cooler evening temps, but I never ended up using it. In retrospect, I’m glad I nixed the denim jacket I almost packed. As it was, that left more room for dresses, which meant that I got to wear a different dress almost every night AND used up only half a suitcase. Packing win!

(On that note, I have to mention that I just discovered the magic of packing cubes and I cannot say enough good things about them. Because I am cheap, and was doing everything at the last minute, I ended up getting 4 packs of IKEA packing cubes, which were only $9 a pop. They are not very large, but can fit a decent amount of clothes, especially kids’ stuff. They also work for adult clothes, although it helps if the clothes in question are easily rollable and lightweight. Bulky sweaters, not so much. In the future, given that I am traveling for work more frequently these days, I am probably going to invest a bit more money in getting a bigger set of packing cubes on Amazon.)

During our early evening walks, I loved watching the preparations for the various events that were hosted, seemingly on the regular, at our resort; we saw 2-3 weddings, a corporate retreat, and a bar mitzvah. Funny story: I used to hate weddings, including the planning process for my own, but I’ve had a change of heart in recent years. I not only love weddings now, but I also get quite emotional at them. It’s a sign of my advancing age, I’m sure. I’m also a sucker for a good floral display, so you can bet that I stopped and smelled the roses (literally and figuratively) here:

In addition to my old maxi dresses, I did bring one new-to-me short number with me on the trip.

This thrifted Dex dress turned out to be my favourite. The ponte-like black material is hella comfortable, and the floral overlay is ideal for concealing the evidence of my buffet-loving ways. I like this dress so much, in fact, that rather than keeping it in my vacation micro-capsule going forward, I have added it to my everyday casual rotation. Surely, there will be a summer BBQ or two in my future, and this dress will come in handy.

Last but not least, I really ought to give a shoutout to my old J. Crew sandals. I had originally brought another pair of sandals with me — a recently thrifted, never worn gold BR pair — but threw these black ones into the suitcase at the last minute in case the other proved uncomfortable. Boy, was that a smart idea! Sure enough, the BR pair gave me blisters after the first wear, and the inner lining on the straps started peeling in a most peculiar fashion. Needless to say, they went straight in the garbage after that; thankfully, because they were thrifted, the damage to my wallet was minimal, but what the heck, BR! Anyway, I ended up wearing these J. Crew sandals for the rest of the trip and they were as versatile and comfortable as always. I might add that this trip was something of a milestone for my over-packing self: not counting the disastrous gold sandals, I got through a 7-day trip with only 3 pairs of shoes (and that is counting the Chucks I wore on the plane to deal with the 60 degree swing in temperature between departure and arrival). I call that a triumph of minimalism, hah.

Hasta luego, Mexico!