What I Packed for a Week-long Work Trip (in The South!)
Last week, I was in North Carolina for work. I flew out on Monday, had training from Tuesday through Thursday, and flew home on Friday. I stayed in the Raleigh-Durham area, which was new and exciting since I had only been to the Outer Banks area previously (though I didn't get to explore much of Raleigh or Durham, unfortunately!). I'm happy to report that I was able to accomplish my main goal: eating some delicious Carolina BBQ. ;)
As with all of my trips, I packed for this one with only my carry-on roller bag (mine is old by Kipling) and Longchamp 'Le Pliage Neo' tote: two of my air travel essentials I've written about previously. I ended up bringing along five tops, two extra layers (one cardigan, one blazer), one pair of jeans, one pair of pants, one pair of shorts, one pair of sandals, one pair of loafers, two pairs of earrings, three bags (if you count my tote and wallet), and my trench coat. This trip consisted of training with no formal conference/presentation setting, so I was able to pack fairly casually (I packed what I would wear to work normally). The temperatures ranged from the upper 70s to upper 80s/low 90s, and it was very muggy with a chance of storms almost every day. It did rain/storm on two of the days I was there.
Here's what it looked like laid out in Stylebook, and below, you'll find each outfit on me with a quick note about that day's activities, weather, and outfit breakdown! (I apologize for the wrinkly clothes; I threw them into the hamper when I got home before realizing I hadn't yet taken photos! My hotel room didn't have a full-length mirror.)
Shop exact or similar items:
MONDAY / Travel + Dinner
Activities: Flew from Boise to Raleigh-Durham, went out to dinner with co-worker (BBQ night!)
Weather: High of 93°F, humid but dry
Outfit breakdown: I wore the outfit on the left to travel. My jeans and loafers were a couple of my bulkiest items. I wore a t-shirt because I knew it was going to be hot when we landed, but I had to wear a cardigan for the chilly plane rides. Even though my trench coat is my bulkiest item, I stuffed it in my roller bag because it was far too warm to wear it! I changed into the outfit on the right to go to dinner. I brought the shorts for this day in particular since it was forecasted to be the hottest of the trip. I kept my white t-shirt on, and by some miracle I did not get any BBQ sauce on it. The sauce was, however, all over my face and hands—ha!
TUESDAY / Training + Dinner
Activities: Training all day then dinner in the evening with co-worker
Weather: High of 88°F, humid but dry
Outfit breakdown: On another warm day, I opted for a combination of a linen tee and my cotton-linen pants. It's hard to survive in humidity without linen. ;) I like wearing these pants to work when it's warm because they're loose yet still nice-looking. I added my cardigan for warmth in the chilly classroom. I don't usually wear camel and grey together; I don't like the look since camel is generally a warm neutral and grey a cool neutral, but I didn't care too much here.
WEDNESDAY / Training + Dinner + Shopping
Activities: Worked remotely from hotel room in morning, training in the afternoon, dinner out in the evening, and shopping after dinner to avoid storms
Weather: High of 85°F with intermittent showers and thunderstorms
Outfit breakdown: I wore another linen tee to beat the heat and pulled out the sandals because of the rain and to give the loafers a break. (I prefer to not wear my shoes two days in a row if possible, and I knew the loafers were going to be worn the most so I made sure to wear the sandals at least one day.) Luckily, the place I trained at is casual enough that a "nicer" pair of jeans fit the bill. This camel cardigan ended up being the best item I packed! I would have froze without it, haha. I wore my trench coat in the evening due to the threat of rain.
THURSDAY / Training + Dinner
Activities: Training all day then dinner in the evening with co-worker
Weather: High of 77°F with intermittent showers and thunderstorms
Outfit breakdown: I wore the outfit on the left to training, but it ended up being too chilly; it was fine for when I was outside, but I was in a new classroom and it was absolutely freezing. I had my trench coat with me and ended up wearing that, too, but it was still so cold! For dinner, I changed into jeans and my cashmere cardigan because they are slightly warmer than the linen blazer and cotton-linen pants, plus I didn't feel the need to keep wearing my blazer after work. I wanted to be comfortable! Luckily, I didn't get rained on, but these shoes handle rain just fine. I got caught in a downpour in Vienna a couple of years ago while wearing them and they didn't look any worse for wear after!
FRIDAY / Travel
Activities: Flew from Raleigh-Durham back to Boise
Weather: Not really applicable, but it was already pretty warm when we left in the early morning and the high in Boise was 75°F with a chance of rain (though it ended up being dry).
Outfit breakdown: This was basically a repeat of my travel outfit from Monday, but I wore a different tee because, as I expected, I sweat enough in NC to warrant wearing a different top every day. I don't like wearing grey and camel together as mentioned previously, but I didn't mind so much on a travel day. I'm not sure that I'd wear this tee for travel again because it has a side tie and I didn't realize how large the side tie hole was; it definitely needed to be tied a bit tighter. I also flashed my stomach every time I lifted my bag into or out of the overhead bin! I ended up wearing the trench coat coming home because there was a slight chance of showers in the forecast both in Raleigh and Boise, but I didn't end up needing it. Wearing it saved me some space in my roller bag, though.
