#3. What I Wore

Hi my darlings.  Hope you are enjoying your autumn weekend

I've had an indoors sort of day so far, sifting reminiscently through snaps of the holiday I've just got back from, where we travelled to celebrate a family member's special birthday.  There are so many snaps and I've given myself a right challenge to whittle them down.  I'm still on the case as I write this post.

So I thought I'd have a bit of fun by not telling you where I've been yet.  What are the clues so far?  Well, you know that I flew to Exeter for an overnight here.  And you know that I had a bumpy onward journey here to get to my destination, courtesy of Maria. 

I wonder if my outfits post gives you any idea of where I've been?

What I Wore on The Isles

Well, I packed a carry on which weighed in at 6.3kgs.  Yes, dear reader, you read right.  6.3kgs.  For 6 days.  That equates to 1.075 kgs per day.  I don't think that has any relevance at all but I thought there was a certain symmetry in that little calculation.  So I've left it in.  You can ignore it if you like, if you don't share my love of amateur analytics!

After checking in to the cute hotel, I went for a mosey on down around the harbour area.  It's sort of like the capital of my destination island.  For this I remained in my travel clothes, being the Uniqlo packable coat under which I wore grey Peacocks jeans, grey Woolovers cardi and black vest.  Ecco brown suede walking boots, similar here. .  Scarfed up with Zara leoprint.

For the Birthday Girl celebratory meal I wore black Peacocks jeans, black Gabor anklies and a Dotty P loose black tunic top.  Can I just sing the praises of this top?  Thank you, I will then.  It packs a dream.  It was stuffed in my little carry on and came out ready to wear.  Perfect for travel.  I will mentally store that fact.  The adornment is a Moroccan lucky hand charm which I made into a necklace with a necklace extender (available from Amazon).

The next day I wore grey jeans with a Primani grey/white striped top, over which I wore a white fleece.  Walking boots.  Perfect for some hearty walking. It had dried up and warmed up by then. 

No photos, I forgot.  Call myself a blogger?!!

That night, for a meal a walk away from the hotel, I made just a small switch.

Same jeans.  I learned from my recent cruise that it's OK to repeat-wear clothes and taking that on board (!), I managed with a little carry on for this trip.  Oh, did I mention its 6.3kg weight?!

I wore a Next foldy-fronted black jersey top and my old faithful pendant that I think has travelled on EVERY journey with me since I bought it some years ago.  It goes with everything.  Do you have a piece like that, something that is indispensable, home and away?

Rounded off with Clarks dependable bendables - dressy enough for a restaurant but comfy for the walk to the other side of the island.  Yes, walking is de rigeur everywhere on this island, for there is no transport other than Shanks' Pony, or a push bike if you're one of the lucky few.

The moonlit walk back was so romantic.  A little pathway runs along parallel to the beach.  The huge harvest moon glinting on the calmed sea.  Neighbouring islands silhouetted.

Another day and more hearty walking.  Grey Woolovers jumper, black vest, black jeans, leoprint scarf, white fleece and walking boots.  I piled it on, Michelin Man style.

We sat on the sand dunes (pictured right), just taking in the peace.  We had the beach to ourselves.  We sat looking at the little neighbouring islands, many too small for habitation.  So quiet, so still.  The only sound to be heard was the gentle lapping of the waves on the diamond white sands.  I think even the oyster catchers were on a tea break.  So peaceful.  Got me thinking; we do this sort of walk at home most days.  But we never stop, sit and take in the peace around us.  I resolved that it is something I must start doing.  It was uplifting just to have made that resolution.

Still feeling the peace and the love and still on my re-wearing regime, I kept the black jeans on for the evening meal in the hotel.  I switched into the black jersey top again, black anklies and added jade/grey jewellery that I'd worn for my overnight meal in Exeter.

This is such a comfy outfit.

The pool was right outside our ground floor bedroom (which had its own little furnished private patio).  I swam in the heated pool wearing my Bravissimo brown swimsuit - yes, even that fitted in my little carry on.  Weighing 6.3kgs, peeps, in case you'd forgotten!

Look, I matched my jade cardi with a jade swimming pool accessory! 

Where do I stop and where does the pool begin?  Infinity jade!

On this day I added to my grey jeans and camisole what colour I had in my carry on (OK, I think by now you know how much it weighed but I'm still feeling the gloat-glow!).  My jade cardi and jade/grey scarf added what I needed to meet a very colourful, beautiful and vibrant lady blogger (more on that meeting in an upcoming post, peeps!).

No need for walking boots as the meet only involved an on-road walk to the other side of the island ... or so I thought!  More on that in my upcoming post too!

And that's where the outfit pics ended.  That evening, I changed into black jeans and vest and the grey cardi I'd travelled over in, plus brown anklies.  And wore exactly the same the next day for the journey home, which was a journey made beautiful by the superb travel arrangements of the islands' logistics team and the calm, warm and sunny weather.

I think I learned a lot from my cruisin' cousin's capsule recently here.  I packed mix-and-match neutrals.  I re-wore and didn't feel bad about that.  Even though the holiday ranged from hearty walking to fine dining, I didn't think to over-pack.  I had no last minute bung-extras-in-the-case panic.  In fact, I could have have managed with less as I wore an item or two just the once.  I fine-tuned my toilet bag, using hotel products, limiting make up, zeroing on hair products, decanting skin care into small containers.

Yes, with a tad more planning I think I could have gone sub-6kgs !!

Has my experience helped you when packing for similar holidays?

Has my low-weight packing for 6 days given you a new benchmark?!!

 And have you guessed where I've been yet?

A la perchoine.