I love road trips. They're probably my favorite way of travelling. In this post, I am going to share my road trip go-to's or my way of keeping that 'vintage' way of travel. Since road trip/travel season is here, I thought I'd share my take on keeping my road trips 1950's inspired.
To me, a good road trip starts off with figuring out the right outfits (which is a given whenever I go away), but also finding the right suitcase to bring your clothes in. I collect vintage suitcases and have plenty to choose from. Ranging from the 1940's to the 1960's. If you're in need of a vintage suitcase, then I'd suggest going to your local thrift store, as that is where I bought the majority of mine. What I like about the older suitcases are that they're sturdy, spacious, have cute little storage spaces, and they're pretty too boot!
This suitcase shown above, I tend to use more often than the rest of my suitcases, it is from the late 1940's. It was my grandmothers, and even has her initials on the front. What I love most about this suitcase is that it has the most room for clothes. Its thick in height, and has a lot of depth.
My next go-to case is my train case. It's perfect for makeup, jewelry, hair accessories, etc. I only own one, but intend to buy another in the near future as I'd like to own one that is smaller than the one I have. I'll keep my creams/lotions, makeup, makeup remover, perfumes, soaps, things like that in my case. Train cases are an essential for any old fashioned gal.
Another piece that I go to is an arm case or carry on (not exactly sure what the real terminology of this is) but it's great of random miscellaneous things like scarves, a book if you want to or anything else that may not fit in any of your other cases, that you want to have on hand. The top case shown above is made by 'Jetliner' a brand that was quite popular in the 1950's/1960's. They were great for making all types of things for travelling, but mostly make luggage. I have an orange Jetliner suitcase that I adore, but never use it sadly because its a huge suitcase that is for an extremely long trip away from home, so I never tend to us it.
I also will bring my purse with me - now, I have a lot of 'vintage' purses to choose from, and I tend to bring a purse that I know will go with every single one of my outfits while I'm away. If I have room or am staying longer than a weekend away, I'll bring one or two more purses. Choosing the one purse I want to use that will fit all my purse essentials is always a difficult decision.
The obvious next thing that I do is put everything I plan on bringing into my cases. When it comes to jewelry, makeup, what-have-you, I'll put them in separate little bags to make sure everything stays together where it should.
What you put into your cases is obviously another story. I take the clothes I plan to wear with me, with a few extras in case of something; my robe, nightwear, etc. When it comes to shoes, I normally bring two pairs. I like to keep it basic with my shoes, and make sure that I'll feel comfortable in them, that they'll match my outfits, and are cute at the same time. Not to mention that shoes take up a lot of space in suitcases. If you're wondering about your hair (which is a huge planning ritual for me), well, when I have my hair up, I use my foam rollers like some of you may have seen before. Depending on what I decide, I will either have my hair setting the first day of the trip, or will set my hair a day in advance so that my hair is ready when I leave. Last year when I went on my road trips, I would set my hair the day I was leaving on the trip. I'm thinking that this year, I may set my hair the day before I leave, and take it out the day of the trip. My hair is usually the first thing I think of when planning a road trip because well, sometimes it can be a hassle.
The day of the trip, I like getting up at the butt crack of dawn to get ready. Take a shower, do my makeup, get dressed, do my hair, make sure I have everything I need with me, pack the car up, and off I go. I like getting up early enough so that I can leave the house while its still dark out. I never have a chance while doing all of this to have breakfast, or drink my coffee. So I make sandwiches and snake type things for the drive, and my sister and I usually stop off at a coffee shop to get a coffee ('cause ya can't be driving that early without a little morning pick-me-up).
One more really important thing to think about when road tripping, is the music!!! I like to pick out various artists that are great for cross country travel. It's an essential thing that my sister and I think about before going on a trip. Sometimes we even make playlists/mix tapes just for the occasion!
There's just something about road trips, driving cross country, that is just amazing. If only I had a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, then I be completely set for having a complete 1950's road trip "look". It has literally been a dream of mine since I was little, to drive all across America, seeing the great landscape from each state, and what makes it so different from the other. Maybe one day I'll have a chance to do that, and at least see every single state.
Sincerely, Miss Voodoo.
