What to Pack for a Week in the Florida Keys

What to pack for the Florida Keys | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair

To celebrate my step mom's 50th birthday, my whole family flew down to the Florida Keys for a week relaxing and adventuring in paradise. It was also my last vacation before I start my new job, so I took extra care to enjoy my last taste of freedom for a while. ;)

What to Pack for a Week in the Florida Keys

For the trip, I packed a carry-on suitcase and also had my personal item. All of my clothes, shoes, and most accessories fit into my carry-on. I had my computer, camera, bucket bag (with wallet, external hard drive, camera lens), beach blanket, and book in my personal item (I use my Longchamp 'Le Pliage Neo' bag—the best).

As far as clothing goes, I tried to stick to a relatively cohesive color palette. I brought a lot of white (or patterned pieces with white included) and also chose some blues, bright reds, and gold. I focused mostly on items that were loose and lightweight. This is what I ended up bringing with me:

Two tank tops
Two linen t-shirts
Two pairs of shorts
One skirt
Two dresses
Two crossbody bags
Two pairs of sandals (plus two other pairs for the water)
A sun hat
A necklace and a pair of earrings
Leggings for the plane
Four bikinis and my rash guard
Two swimsuit cover-ups
Workout gear (a tank, two sports bras, two pairs of shorts)
Sleepwear and undergarments

I used everything EXCEPT my jewelry (we were constantly between land and water so I didn't want to deal with it) and my workout gear. Whomp, whomp. Good thing I got some kind of exercise in almost every day whether it be paddle boarding, kayaking, or walking all around Key West. ;)

I wore everything at least one time, and it actually worked out really well. I don't normally wear things only once before washing, but I make an exception when I'm sweating basically nonstop all day! The humidity was no joke. Not to mention, everything got doused in a healthy amount of sunscreen and bug spray, haha.

I ended up purchasing a linen sweater from Lilly Pulitzer and a pair of flip-flop sandals from Kino Sandals, both located in Key West. The sandals fit in my bag on the way home (but I gave my straw bag and beach blanket to my boyfriend to carry in his bag since he had a ton of room) and I wore the sweater on the plane.

As always, I used the packing list feature on Stylebook to keep myself organized, especially since I shot a few blog outfits while there. We were there for six full days, but I only put together five outfits. On the first day, we kept it easy and I only put on a top and a pair of shorts to eat dinner but was otherwise wearing a swimsuit all day!

Take me back? I miss the Keys already!