Last week my family and I attended an outside light festival, which was beautiful but freezing. Well, not literally freezing but this California girl gets cold really easily and I was completely unprepared. Usually when I leave the house in the winter, I have a beanie or headband to cover my ears, a scarf, and a coat. But this time, I totally forgot about myself in the rush to get out of the house while making sure that the babies were all bundled up. And while I was shivering and waiting for my fingers to go numb, I was dreaming about all of my cold weather clothes that I forgot to put on for this particular outing. And it dawned on my just how useful a packing for cold weather travel would be to anyone else who just can’t stand the cold.
Shopping for Cold Weather Travel
We became intrigued about the store Uniqlo a few years ago when we learned about how travel perfect their down jackets were. They are thin but warm and fold really well for packing. A Korean company, Uniqlo has super affordable cold weather clothes like underpants, tops, socks, etc. for the whole family. For our December trip to Amsterdam, we loaded up on all kinds of thin but warm layers to add to our regular wardrobe. And because their clothes are perfect for traveling, we weren’t bothered with lugging heavy clothes in our suitcases.
Below are the items that we bought from Uniqlo and loved:
- Neck Warmer (loved this, albeit probably not necessary haha)
- Long Parka for myself and baby boy. My husband already had a light down jacket.
- A couple pairs each of Heat Tech “innerwear” for under our clothes (tops and pants for myself, husband, and baby)
- Beanies for everyone
What We Did Not Need for Cold Weather Travel
When first realizing how cold it would be for this trip, I thought that I would need to pack with the assumption that we would be spending all of our time outdoors. Luckily, this was not the case. Except for our walking tour with Sandeman’s New Europe, we were mostly indoors and when we weren’t, we were walking and warm enough not to notice the cold so much. For this reason, I am grateful that I didn’t pack some things that would have seemed pretty unnecessary in hindsight.
I brought along some wool socks to keep my feet warm and decided to just bring one pair of boots. And I am super grateful that I bought my long parka from Uniqlo because it was lightweight and never got in the way. I could even roll it up and pack it away when we traveled from Amsterdam to Madrid. Lastly, I’m glad that I didn’t buy/bring more than one coat. I’ve made that mistake before and I won’t make it again. One coat is absolutely enough.
Packing List for Cold Weather Travel
Above were the specifics but below is the list!
- Long, warm coat. Preferably long enough to go past your knees at least.
- Warm socks to keep your feet (and ankles) warm.
- Scarves, beanies, and gloves/mittens.
- Under wear like long johns to layer under your tops and bottoms .
Short and sweet. The one thing that I think made all the difference were the innerwear/under wear/long johns. Although they were thin, they kept my body heat and let me enjoy my time out in the cold.
Add this supplemental packing list for cold weather travel to your own list and you’ll have everything you need!
What would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments!
