West Coast road trip & how to avoid packing mistakes

I thought I had figured out that whole outfit planning and not over-packing thing. But I’ve mostly been to European countries lately, so when I travelled to North America in May, I managed to do it all wrong again.

Chilly nights

The biggest difference I forgot to take into account is obviously the climate. In Europe, hot days stay hot at night too. The weather doesn’t really cool down. On the US west coast, however, nights get chilly as soon as the sun sets. So while shorts and tops are great during the day, you need to pack a sweater for night-time. I only brought two, which was a bit annoying.

Hot days

May weather in southern States is like summer where I live. It wasn’t supposed to be that hot according to my iPhone weather app, so I packed plenty of long sleeved tops that I didn’t end up wearing. Summery clothes and thick cardigans for the evening really are the way to go.

Snow in the mountains, windy days and San Francisco

One day, we were melting in the sun and the next day, we were freezing in a snow storm in the mountains near Cedar City in Utah. The same goes for San Francisco: it’s can be really cold, even though it’s hot in the rest of California. So be sure to bring a warmer jacket (and jeans and sweaters) for those places!

Strong wind in Bryce Canyon and Death Valley

Some places can get extremely windy, even though it’s warm outside. For me, it was Bryce Canyon and Death Valley. Now I didn’t personally make the mistake of wearing a dress, but I saw girls who did and they looked pretty miserable holding on to it the entire time. Shorts are definitely the safer option!

So here’s what I actually ended up wearing on my trip, which is only about half the stuff I brought! Fortunately, you I was able to do laundry on some campgrounds. ;)