Miami-1, DeeRay-0 ...Packing Chronicles

Imagine ordering a new wardrobe for vacation, packing ahead of time, and when you go to put the final items in your luggage the night before the trip, half of your clothing is ruined. Yes, believe it or not, it happened to me. After ruining 4 brand new outfits, I vowed to never make that mistake again. If you pack the way I used to, I'm here to tell you, steer clear of my bad habits lol.

2018 a group of friends and I were traveling to Miami for a long weekend birthday vacay for two of my friends. We had so many ideas of what we wanted to do, but not many concrete plans. Of course this led to over packing. Plenty of "just in case" outfit purchases, stuffed to capacity in my suit case. I packed my toiletries in advance while going over my packing check list to insure I wouldn't leave anything behind. There's nothing I can't stand more than getting to my destination,and having to go purchase things I already purchased, and just forgot to pack. Any how,so I packed them early. I put them in a cloth make up bag, and just tossed them in the suit and closed it. Now give me the benefit of the doubt here. No I did not plan to leave them in my luggage as is. I planned to come back and put them in a plastic bag to prevent exactly what happened. However, the tragedy occurred before I could do that.

The night before travel, I go to put my final items in my luggage. Imagine my surprise when I opened it and one entire half of my suit case had clothes COVERED IN OIL SPOTS!!! I'm not talking small spots. I'm talking large, bath&body works 3-wick candle size circles. Talk about a mini heart attack. What was I supposed to do this late in the game? Again, give me the benefit of the doubt here. I did not put oil in that cloth bag. However, I did foolishly toss a can of sunscreen with a twist spray cap in there. Now how was I to know that my over packed suitcase would have things lying directly on the sprayer of the can? I made sure it was closed before I packed it, but ultimately... sun screen-1,DeeRay-0. That entire can was emptied on my clothes. So now, not only did I not have my wardrobe, I didn't have sunscreen either. You want to know the worst part? I packed my red two piece set right next to a pastel pink dress, my white lace cover up pants, and some white shorts. I wish y'all could see the agony in my face typing this for your enjoyment. lol That red two piece set bled on EVERYTHING! My heart! It was 8 p.m., and I had to take this stuff out to try and wash it! Oh, and y'all aren't even ready for the best part...THAT SH*T WOULD NOT COME OUT!!! That being said, I spent every day of my trip when we were in the house washing those items over and over until one of them literally started to unravel and I had to take it on the chin and throw half of my new items out. I almost forgot to tell y'all how I did not take EVERY THING out the suit case to make sure nothing else was ruined. So of course I found out when we got to Florida that more things had oil spots.

So, what did I learn you ask? lol first and foremost..pack your toiletries last. Make sure you secure them in plastic even if they are in proper toiletry bags. Just to be extra careful. Also, pack your reds next to your dark's; never near your whites and lights. If you don't need to over pack, DON'T! It's still going to suck if all of your toiletries leak out in your plastic bag and you have to make that annoying run to the store. Last but not least, if you just so happen to have a spill in your suit case, take out every single thing and check it. Don't be like me and have to find out when you're already at your destination.

Ultimately, I still enjoyed my trip... in some of last summers apparel. I can't wait to tell you guys about my slip and fall accident. Talk about a vacay tragedy. Stay tuned to see how Miami gave me a run for my money.