Southern Belle in Training

Fashion, Travel & Lifestyle Blog || Est. 2012 || Virginia Beach, VA

March 6, 2015

Spring Break Packing Tips.

     I can hardly believe that a.) I have survived midterms week, b.) I am now officially on Spring Break, and c.) I leave for the Dominican Republic in less than four days!! Ahhh! Even weirder is that this is Spring Break of my junior year and that college is absolutely starting to fly by, but don't remind me of how close the real world is. :-)

     As y'all might have seen on my Instagram (@miss_alk), over the past couple of weeks I am slowly starting to plan outfits and get ideas of what I want to pack for my trip! This weekend is when the majority of packing will take place, but getting some stuff ready early has definitely broken up the past few weeks of school for me and made Spring Break seem so much closer! 


Bathing suit: Forever 21 || Make-up bag: Forever 21 || Hat: Target


Dress: Old {Used to be my mom's! :-) } || Shoes: Macy's


Sunglasses: DEB Shops || Koozie: Lilly Pulitzer || Necklace: Burlington Coat Factory


     This will be my first vacation that I have been on since getting my new DSLR camera for Christmas, and I can't wait for all of the amazing photography opportunities to come while on vacation!! I always enjoy bloggging outfits and other pictures from vacations, but with my new camera it will be even better.


     Lastly, I wanted to make a little list with some of my absolute essentials for packing with me for a tropical vacation! Since I already went to the Dominican Republic once before (this time last year), I have a general idea of some things to bring back for an international beach getaway.


  1. Sunscreen. Okay- this might seem like a giveaway. But it is necessary! Especially for me since I have skin that burns extremely easily. (During my trip last year, I zoned out in a lounge chair on the beach one afternoon for a little over an hour without any sunscreen on... my legs were fire engine red for about three weeks after that!) Even if you tend to tan instead of burn, skin cancer is still a legitimate concern for everyone, so protecting your skin is important. I have very sensitive skin to any lotion products (almost all lotion gives me bad eczema), and I also react badly to many brands of sunscreen as well, so I already made sure to stock up on Neutrogena sunscreen, which is my favorite brand and does not irritate my skin! You would not want to already be at your vacation destination and then run out of sunscreen, and have to buy a brand that you could not wear.
  2. Beach reads. I absolutely love reading for fun, but never get the time to in college anymore! In middle school and high school I loved to read in my free time. But now in college my free time is quite limited, and I have so much reading always for my classes that I don't enjoy it as much as a hobby. So school breaks are my time to rediscover my lost love! I already raided our college library's fiction section earlier in the week and checked out five books (planning to attempt a book a day!). If you are traveling internationally, it is good to keep in mind that books in English can sometimes be hard to come by once you reach your destination. Even if you are in an English speaking country, with different currency and the dollar exchange, books can be very expensive! So better to pack them ahead of time.
  3. Lots of bathing suits. For my spring break trip last year, I brought three bathing suits. Two bikinis and a one-piece. That was not nearly enough!! I was in a bathing suit way more than normal clothes during last year's Spring Break, and since both the ocean and pool water near our hotel was very warm, I swam a lot. Nobody wants to be waiting around for their wet bathing suits to dry in the hotel room, so use your suitcase space wisely and make sure that you have multiple bathing suits! I do think it's a good idea to have at least one one-piece- I found mine useful for the day that my dad and I went snorkeling and for some other more active water related things
  4. Cheap jewelry/accessories. Whether you're at a Caribbean resort, partying it up in Panama City, or on a cruise, Spring Break is not the time to break out your best designer pieces! Spring Break can be eventful, messy, and things can get lost or broken (especially if long distance travel is a factor), so this is a great time to leave your nicest things at home, and instead to bring all of your favorite bargain accessories! Last year right before Spring Break I went to Forever 21 and stocked up on some cute new jewelry and hair accessories. I loved wearing all of them on the trip, and should anything have happened to them I wouldn't have felt bad since nothing was over $8!
  5. A devotional book. During this semester, I have had so many late, late nights of staying up and finishing assignments. And since I currently have all 8 am classes M-Th (Thanks Comm department!), I haven't been getting a lot of sleep on weeknights! I like to do devotionals usually right before I go to bed, but with the type of semester that I've been having I'm ashamed to say that time with God often gets pushed to the back burner (although I do pray throughout the day every day!). Anyways, being on Spring Break is a great time to catch up with or start a devotional book. Who says that Spring Break only has to be about partying and going wild? It can also be about something more. :-) 

     I haven't decided yet if I am bringing my laptop with my on my trip yet or not, but I do know that internet access is more limited at our hotel (only available in the lobby). So even if I did bring it, I'm not sure how much blogging would be getting done! With that said, I will be scheduling a couple of blog posts for next week. Monday's post is an exciting one that you won't want to miss- tomorrow I am attending a store opening, and it's the first store opening that I was invited to attend on behalf of my blog! I can't wait!! :-) I feel so blessed to have so many great blog related opportunities coming my way lately.

     In the meantime today, I'm going to try to start tackling the three papers, four assignments, and three chapters of reading that I was assigned to do over break... I have to get it all done before Monday so wish me luck!


     xoxo Miss ALK
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1 comment

  1. Seeing all these people getting ready for spring breaks makes me so envious! I have another week of classes until mine. I'm just going home for the week, but I'm excited to have time to chill and send with my family. Have a great trip!

    Colleen | Buckeye Bliss

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