Have you ever gone on a trip and had no idea what to pack? That used to happen to me all the time. Which is why I decided to make this ultimate weekend packing guide. You need to know what to pack for your adventures. You do not want to make the same mistakes I did and forget to pack something important!

The Ultimate Weekend Packing Essentials

Meet the perfect carry-on for the ultimate weekend! The Away carry on is unbreakable, and designed for travelers. The bags come with a lifetime guarantee. This may just be your bag ever purchased! You will save yourself money over the years and cause less waste. My away carry on bag is my go to for all my weekend adventures.

I adore everything about my Away carry-on, from it’s amazing storage compartments to the ejectable TSA-approved (safe to fly) battery. The Away carry-on is a great bag, be sure to add it to what you need for your ultimate weekend getaway packing list.

Click HERE to get $20 off any suitcase or bag!

The ultimate weekend packing guide wouldn't be complete with out an awesome carry on bag.

Away Carry On

The best addition for any carry-on? The Away everywhere bag with laptop pouch. Its thoughtful design impressed me with features that keep what you need at hand. The bag attaches efficiently onto the Away suitcase, making airport travels effortless. I ordered mine originally to use as a “travel-laptop-under my seat bag”. I used it on one trip and it instantly became my everywhere bag. Click HERE to get $20 off any suitcase or bag!

The AWAY everything bag is my favorite bag I use to pack all my carry on items I need during flight time.

Away Weekend Bag

Stay Organized While Traveling

Osprey Weekend Travel Backpack + Daypack

Perhaps the most genius travel invention ever. These packing cubes will change the way you travel forever. The cubes keep your clothes separated, to keep your bag organized. These are a must for your ultimate weekend packing guide.

Packing Cubes

Keep your money and identify safe - learn how in my ultimate weekend packing guide.

Travel Document Holder

Travel Toiletries

Toiletries Travel Bag

My favorite part about the travel bottles is that they eliminate the need for single use travel toiletries. Give the gift of green, and help travelers contribute to sustainable travel practices.

Toiletries Bottles

Shampoo Bars

Naked bar soap will keep thousands of plastic body wash bottles out of our oceans. Bar soap is TSA friendly, plus they don’t leak like single use bottles. I use naked soap bars for all my shower needs. Pack them in a soap box and keep your bag dry!

Naked Bar Soap

For more zero waste bathroom toiletry ideas, check out my post on Zero Waste Bathroom Products

Soap Box

Snag a hemp, all natural pouf or hemp soap bag to give your skin a healthy glow. I prefer the hemp poufs to the plastic ones. They case a lot less waste and feel great on my skin! Don’t forget to get a Moon River soap to go with your hemp pouf.. They offer anti-inflammatory options that can replenish dry and sensitive skin, options to help balance troubled acne, eczema, and psoriasis.

Hemp Loofah

Hemp Soap Bag

Bites Toothpaste will change the way you think about toothpaste; you’ll never go back after you try them. Your first order will come with a full jar of the bites. After your bites are gone keep the jar. A refill for more will arrive in a biodegradable package. The best part? They travel well, without the worry of an exploding toothpaste tube. Be sure to add these to your ultimate weekend packing guide.

Bites Toothpaste

Read 13 Unique Eco Friendly Gifts for More Ideas

On average, women use between 11 and 30 tampons per cycle. Over a lifetime, that adds up to between 5,000 and 14,000 tampons per woman. The environmental impact of this is vast. It’s estimated that a woman averaging 20 tampons or pads per cycle burns through 250 to 300 pounds of products, applicators, and wrappers in a lifetime. I stopped using tampons about 3 years ago now. I made the switch to the DivaCup and never looked back. The DivaCup is zero waste, reusable, cost-effective and can be worn for up to 12 hours!

Menstrual Cup

Brushing your teeth shouldn’t be an activity that harms the environment.

Bamboo Toothbrush Kit

These sets can come with bamboo toothbrushes, dental floss, and even a bamboo toothbrush holder for safe and hygienic storage. The eco-friendly toothbrush is made from sustainably sourced bamboo wood. That way you can opt out of having to use plastic toothbrushes! The set comes in recyclable packaging, and your purchase will help save the environment in several ways.

Save Money $ Save Earth

Reusable Shopping Bag

There are 7.7 billion people on Earth. If we join together as a global community and each make small lifestyle changes towards being more eco-friendly and kindness focused – we can make a real and lasting difference. Reduce your plastic use AND carry your everyday essentials with this cute tote.

Travel Water Bottle

Never spend money on plastic water bottles again. In Michigan, Nestlé Waters has been pumping vast amounts of groundwater out of Michigan’s springs to feed growing consumer demand for freshwater in convenient plastic bottles. That’s right, your Ice Mountain gets pumped for practically NOTHING out of Michigan’s rivers and lakes. It doesn’t come from a mountain… we have no mountains in Michigan.

In 2018 Nestlé requested to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to increase pump amounts to 576,000 gallons of water EACH DAY. Draining fresh water fields from the White Pine Springs well in the Great Lakes Basin. The Michigan public communities opposed the increase, with 80,945 against and only 75 in favor. The request was approved by the agency.

Travel Mug

Airplane Travel Wear

There’s something about airplanes that just lulls me right to sleep. My body immediately goes into airplane mode. Sleep masks, ear plugs, and comfortable clothing help me stay cozy & rested. Great for time change from overseas or long summer nights in Iceland where it doesn’t get dark at night. Check out my 8 Day itinerary to Iceland HERE!

Get Comfy & Relax

Airplane Mode Eye Mask

Travel Shoes

Airplane Pillow

Airplane Mode Sweatshirt

Cord Earplugs

Scarf Camera Strap

Weekend Electronics

If you want to know what to pack for electronics, this packing guide will help!

Keep your electronics organized with this storage bag. It has enough space to hold your cables, USB drive, chargers, tablet + other electronic accessories.

Electronics Organizer

Fuji Film X-T20

I have been shooting with my DSLR for years now. Logan recently purchased this Fuji Film X-T20 mirrorless camera. I fell in love after our first trip using it. This is the perfect weekend camera for optimal space and maximum quality photos.

Spare SD Card

Be sure to ALWAYS pack a spare SD card and extra camera batteries to capture your whole adventure. You will be very sad and disappointed if you go to capture that perfect shot and your camera won’t turn on. Trust me – I’ve been there several times and I can tell you that it’s the worst.

Extra Camera Batteries + Charger

The ultraportable Mavic Air drone will open doors to a whole new world. Exploring the world from a limitless aerial view perspective has never been easier. The drone is installed with a 3-axis gimbal & 4k camera with up to 21 minute flight time, consistently providing crystal clear shots.

DJI Mavic Air Drone

Beats Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones

Never miss an action shot again. This small compact adventure camera is great for any traveler, and takes up minimal packing space.

Go Pro Hero 8

Favorite Apple Products to Pack

Apple Watch With GPS

The watch that does it all – and one of the best travel gadgets. For your health, it monitors your heart rate, high noise DB, cycle tracking, and it motivates you to move, exercise, and stand. The watch syncs directly to your phone, which gives you easy access to your phone. Plus it plays your music, and helps you to not get lost with it’s GPS.

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro is my favorite Mac I’ve owned. The drive speed is incredibly fast, and logging in takes almost no time. The Touch ID Bar is my favorite part – and makes blogging, editing, and running multiple apps easy and fluid. My MackBook Pro came with 250 GB of space available. I love that I don’t have to worry about large video or RAW files.

Travel Entertainment

Nintendo Switch Game Console

Play your way through flights with the Nintendo Switch gaming system. It’s perfect for on the go entertainment. At home it’s great for playing solo or with friends. The switch is great for your weekend entertainment.

Nintendo Carry Case

Stream movies, watch videos, or play games with the enhanced Wi-Fi. Enjoy downloaded content on the go with up to 12 hours of mixed-use battery life.

Fire HD 10 Tablet

This travel journal is the perfect companion for your next weekend trip. The inside pocket can hold your tickets, stubs, notes, photos, receipts, and other travel papers. I like to use a travel journal to write down notes or I will forget what I wanted to write. I’ll make notes about places and write down the names of trails, campgrounds, or other important names I want to remember.

Travel Journal

Challenge Yourself!

Wish you could travel more? Listen to this audio book that you can use to inspire your own travel challenge! Important steps to start a travel fund, the importance of travel conferences + communities, and travel hacks for FREE FLIGHTS around the world.

30 Day Travel Challenge Audio Book

Take a journey throughout the world to see beautiful pictures of over 230 countries. Your travel inspiration will be through the roof, and you’ll be adding more places to your bucket list.

The Travel Book

Global Career: How to Work Anywhere and Travel Forever is a step-by-step guide to have a career of traveling the world. Build a successful career doing the thing you lost most – traveling. Get empowered to buy a one-way ticket to your dream destination, and your global career.

Global Career

This travel coloring book has 47 different cityscapes and scenes from across the world. Most importantly, the illustrations are from pictures that were taken on the authors travels.

Adult Travel Coloring Book

Crossword Puzzle Book

Is this the best packing list or what?! I hope you found a piece of travel gear in my post to add to your own ultimate weekend packing guide!

Don’t forget to PIN IT for later!

Travel Essentials Weekend Packing Guide. Use this list so you know what to pack for a weekend getaway. This also make great travel gift ideas! | Her Life Adventures |

The Ultimate Weekend Packing Guide. Use this list so you know what to pack for a weekend getaway. This list will also provide you great travel gift ideas! | Her Life Adventures | #travelgifts #travelgiftideas #packingguide #weekendgetaway #whattopack #packinglist

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Being outside in nature, soaking up the sunshine and fresh air is one of my favorite things to do. Camping is one of the best ways to experience the outdoors in all it’s natural beauty. My budget travel enthusiasts will appreciate the cash they’ll save by instead of staying in hotels. My packing guide for camping is perfect for when visiting National Parks, or other backpack camping destinations.

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This blog post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one of my affiliate links and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission for referring you. This comes at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I have personally used + loved.

But what do we do for food?!? The best part about camping outdoors means cooking meals in cool places. After all, what’s better than dinner with a view? The Skys the limit on where you choose to eat your meals.

Camp Freeze Dried Food — Yosemite National Park

Last year I went on dozens of camping trips- forgetting something when you’re camping can be a huge pain in the ass (this one time we couldn’t find fuel, so our meal depended on if we could get the water boiling over a fire- not impossible, just time consuming, and after 5 days- that’s a lot of work) – most times we’re in the middle of nowhere, so you’re out of luck if you do.

I’ve brought friends with me on trips who have never camped before, and their first question is always- what do I pack? It was entertaining to watch them stumble through what they thought they might need (20 lbs of clothes, and no sleeping bag- maybe they were going to just wear lots of layers?)

I’ve created a packing guide to avoid that, broken up into camping essentials that you cant be without- down to what is nice to have if you have the packing space/weight. I usually try to fit my gear in a carry on so I don’t have to check a bag on the flight. Helping me save money!

Here’s your ultimate packing guide to camping in national parks!

Camping Essentials

Tent

My REI Half dome plus tent is the perfect size for me and my travel companion. With a door on each side it makes it easier to enter + exit without disturbing my sleeping partner.

The towel I bring is ideal for backpack camping. The light weight, compact towel comes in handy for showers, swimming, travel, or backpacking. It dries fast and is designed for multiple uses daily.

Sleeping Bag/Pad

Sleeping on the ground isn’t always the most comfortable, a good pad can make a huge difference when it comes to a good night sleep- plus it keeps you warm when the temperatures drop. The sleeping pad I use is nice because it self inflates- and after a long day of hiking, I’m lazy and need all my air. The marmot sleeping bag I use is awesome- it has a hood at the top that not only keeps your head warm- it keeps your pillow from sliding away at night.

Tip: Pack a sleeping pad repair kit just in case!

Head Lamp

It’s always ideal to set up camp during the daylight hours- however somehow I always manage to end up at camp when the sun goes down. Holding a flashlight (or your cellphone) while trying to set up your tent for the night is difficult- get a head lamp. Yes it looks silly, yes you will be extremely grateful you brought one.

Tip: its handy to study the park maps and pick out what hikes you’re going to do the day before to see if there are any restrictions before you get to the trail head.

Backpack With Daypack

The backpack I take on my trips is better classified as a travel backpack than it is a backpacking backpack. What I love about it is it opens like a suitcase/duffel. PLUS the outer small daypack is the removable- great for carrying my water bladder or camera gear on my hikes.

Camp Stove/Cookware

Food is one of the largest expenses when traveling. Cooking your meals while camping will help cut down costs tremendously ($5 usd a meal vs $15 usd eating out). I bring my stove and cookware with me on longer hikes and cook my meal with a view at the summit- just don’t forget your spork (that’s happened to me several times). The cookware kit I have comes with bowls/pots/pans/spork and a stove.

Tip: Conserve water and use the leftover water from cooking to clean your dishes.

Footwear

I have two different types of hiking footwear. My Tevas are designed specifically for a woman’s foot in order to provide unmatched comfort and performance in the water. I’ll also wear them in hot climates or sand hiking.

For more aggressive terrain such as rocky trails, I’ll wear my Salomon Women’s X Ultra hiking boots. These shoes are specifically designed for a woman’s anatomy. It holds your foot in place even during technical descents, and prevents slippage so you can enjoy more stable and safer descents.

Still Have Space?

If you are planning on backpacking and hiking to your campsite every oz of weight matters- you have to carry your bag for miles. These next items are SUPER NICE to have, but you can get by without them if you don’t have them or are trying to save space & weight.

Hammock & Slap Straps

There’s nothing better than kicking back in my hammock after a long day on the trails. I keep telling myself one night I’ll pull in my sleeping bag/pad and sleep under the stars (But then things like coyote’s howling at all hours of the night prevent that from happening- imagine that.) The slap straps I have are easy to use and make set up happen in seconds.

Pillow & Chair

I’m not gonna lie… camping without a pillow or camp chair can make for an uncomfortable night. I use my pillow on the airplanes (and sleep the entire flight 99% of the time). Sometimes I’ll forget the pillow, and I have to get creative for an alternative. Most times I make a ball out of clothes or the sweatshirt I’m wearing (I don’t recommend that). This lightweight camping chair takes up minimal space, and makes those nights around the campfire that much more enjoyable.

Tip: Some campsites don’t have picnic tables so when I get stuck sitting on the ground or finding a good “butt rock”. I always regret not bringing one.

Packing Cubes

Packing cubes are perhaps the most genius travel invention ever. If you don’t have a set- pay the $10 and get yourself some. They will change the way you travel forever. The cubes keep your clothes separated, keep your bag organized, and make packing things up fast and easy.

Tip: Roll your clothes instead of folding them, you’ll fit a lot more in.

Cocoon & Life Straw

I use my cocoon in the summer months- it’s perfect for warm nights and keeps my sleeping bag clean if it’s a dry shampoo type of day. The life straw is nice to have if you plan on doing longer hikes (6 + miles). My water bladder holds about 3 liters- and I get pretty close to running out on harder treks. I bring the lifeproof straw in case of emergency- it filters out 99.999999% of all the bad stuff, so you can drink from a fresh water source in a pinch.