Packing for Germany/London

Hello everyone!

I am only days away from embarking on my next adventure! I will be flying from DC to Chicago to Dusseldorf, Germany. From there we go to Hennef. I am taking a mini vacation after the work portion of the trip to head to London, England!

Right now I am in the final packing phase and I am trying to learn from my last trip. Namely, I need a new day pack. I used these bag for my trip to Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

The green bag is my main pack and I will be using that again this time, however the black bag, while super cute, was much too inconvenient. One of the straps is partially torn and it didn't have great strap support so by the end of the trip my shoulders HURT.

I was shopping around for a small day pack when I came across this beauty in the sale section!

(Sorry for the low quality selfie)

I know it is a little big for a traditional "day pack" BUT it has AMAZING support! Everything I need will obviously fit really easily inside and I will have plenty of room to put my jacket and scarf inside it as well. I typically carry my iPad mini, DSLR + Lens, Med Kit (I work with kids who play soccer), miscellaneous pouch, and my purse (with important documents such as my passport inside). This pack was actually cheaper than any small versions that I found (apparently its last years model... like I care! Ha!) AND as a bonus it has lime green detailing - always a plus in my book!

Now I know what you're thinking - isn't that too big to carry on along with your green pack? You might be right. I'm not sure if I would be able to get away with this being my "purse like item." So instead (mainly to avoid the hassle of airlines and for carrying convenience) I will actually be traveling with this bag INSIDE of my green pack. It fits inside just fine - even when my pack is "Full." I never actually pack my pack full in case I want to buy some awesome souvenirs and decide to stuff my bag and check it on the way home rather than carry it on.

Now, the only problem I run into is that larger items that go in my "day pack" won't fit in my green pack and keep it in an airlines carry-on friendly size. Instead I will carry my Purse, iPad mini and camera in a little sling backpack. That way when I arrive in Germany I can simply roll the sling bag up and slide it in my day pack and re pack my day pack with my med kit etc. I know that seems confusing but I think it will work for me! I will get a nice comfy day pack with plenty of room to spare AND I can still carry everything on! No problemo.

I'm so excited! Expect a lot more posts as my adventure kicks off!

Malena