The only video game I ever played growing up was Tetris. I had a handheld device, one of those dedicated Tetris Game Boys, that played one game and one game only. It was grey and I loved it to death. I don’t really get video games, if I’m being honest, but being truly incredible at Tetris is what I credit for my ability to pack up to two weeks’ worth of clothing into a carry-on (a blend of rolling and folding) and a handbag.

So it’s Sunday, we got home from nine days in Spain last night, and I have already done eight loads of laundry. I also sanitized all our travel luggage and personal items and put them away. I just went through thousands of photos and selected a few worth featuring here. And I’m now working on this newsletter, partly because I’m a little worried my washer and dryer might give up on me if I try to do one more load.

This post is meant to be destination-agnostic. We went to Menorca and Mallorca, but you can apply most of these outfit ideas and packing tips to any summer vacation, wherever you’re headed.

Before I get into the outfits, here are my biggest takeaways:

If you’re traveling with a kid, use a regular carry-on suitcase and a regular-sized backpack for them. Make the most of your allocated luggage when you’re already paying for the ticket.

My daughter’s super cute kid sides strawberry suitcase is now strictly for road trips. For flights, she has a proper carry-on suitcase. It lets me pack everything she needs with some buffer space to throw in a few of my things if needed (example my protein powder bag).

I also pack a regular sized backpack for her. We end up carrying her through the airport anyway, so I might as well get her a full-sized backpack, sling it over my own shoulder, and stuff it with everything I need for her. She knows the suitcase and backpack are hers but has never once asked for something cutesy and tiny (so impractical), and we’ll be using these until they literally fall apart. I could have thrown her smaller backpack inside if I wanted to but knowing we were going to be at the beach the whole time, I didn’t need to take it at all so we left it behind.

If your child is over two years old and weighs more than 26 lbs (check the product page to confirm), consider the Ride Safer Travel Vest. It’s so much easier to travel with than a car seat and simple to throw on right before you hop in a taxi. One thing I’ve noticed over the past year of traveling with a toddler is that we almost always end up on public transportation, and on the rare occasions we do need a taxi, many of the ones in other countries and cities, like Copenhagen, Stockholm, Sydney, and Madrid, actually keep a couple of car seat sizes in the trunk. Not all, but some. If you have your hotel call a taxi, they can usually request one at no extra cost. We weren’t sure what the situation would be on the Spanish islands, so we brought the vest, and it was absolutely the right call. Every time we needed a ride back to the hotel from wherever we’d been wandering, the vest was clutch. (I just kept in my raffia bag as we were walking around.)

Even if your child is potty trained, consider pull-ups for travel. Bathrooms can be hard to find, or gross, or occupied. Pull-ups are a practical buffer. Even at night, with jet lag and disrupted routines, it’s just a safer bet. Our daughter had no technical need for them and zero accidents the whole trip, but I still put her in pull-ups every day except when she was in the pool, because I was paranoid. No regrets.

Talk to your doctor about melatonin for children. It’s probably not ideal for regular use, but we keep it on hand for flights over six hours and for that first night settling into a new time zone, and the first night back home. It just helps them wind down.

Pok Pok is a Montessori-based app for young children, and my daughter spent literal hours on the drawing and dinosaur sections. We made a game of calling out random letters and asking her to draw them, and she loved it. Highly recommend for long flights.

The trip itself:

We flew to Madrid and spent one night in the city. We didn’t have much time to explore since we had an early flight to Menorca the next morning. We spent five days / four nights in Menorca, took a ferry to Mallorca for a couple of days & nights, then flew back to Madrid, crashed at an airport hotel, and flew home to the Bay. Our original flights were through Barcelona, but the airline cancelled that route and we had to make quite a few changes to our plans. All’s well that ends well, though, and this trip truly did.

What I bought for this trip

I try really hard not to shop before trips, especially beach vacations since the use-case can be so specific. But sometimes you just need a couple things!

Jelly Sandals: I didn’t technically buy these for this trip, but they were what I was most excited to wear. Especially after I picked up a bunch of extra paracords on Amazon to swap out with different outfits. Honestly had so much fun with it. My daughter even started suggesting which color to pair with whatever I was wearing that day.

Bathing Suit: I really wanted a new bathing suit and found this one at a great price. The color is stunning and the fit is nice, but I did miss the compression of my LOF ones. In hindsight I probably should have sized down, because the neckline gaped every time I swam and I was constantly worried about flashing someone. Not ideal. That said, it’s great for lounging and dries in literally no time, so there are real pros here.

SPF: I love a good sunscreen and brought quite a few options for the whole family. I specifically wanted to try this one because it’s mildly tinted, not enough for coverage, but just enough to knock out the white cast. I thought it would be great for daytime when I have zero interest in wearing makeup at the pool or beach. Even applying a generous layer, there was no white cast and no weird skin reaction from the pool or beach water. It delivered.

SPF Lipbalm: I’ve never owned a lip balm with SPF before. Mainly because I haven’t come across one that was mineral based. While I am able to use chemical sunscreen for the most part on my body, I do need a mineral one for my face, including lips. This was perfect. The colors is a lovely mauve and the texture is also really elegant. I plan to wear it as a regular lip balm in the summer. You can use code BRANDSANDBOBS15 for 15% off.

Sun Hat*: I didn’t buy this one, it was gifted, but it was probably the single best thing I packed. The hat is reversible, but I wore the off-white side out for the entire trip. If I was outside between 10am and 5pm, the hat was on. In the pool, on the beach chair under an umbrella, you name it. 10/10. Even with sunscreen, I am not messing around when it comes to my face. I wear tretinoin nightly and tranexamic acid in the morning because I am desperate to get rid of my PIH marks, and I treated sun protection like a second job.

Everything I packed

Below is everything I packed for this trip. It all fit into my carry-on suitcase (had mine for 10 years now) and personal item bag (mine isn’t available anymore but similar linked here). Besides the items I mentioned above, most of these are pretty old (like over a decade) or just part of my regular wardrobe. I’ve tried to link to the exact item where possible, or to something similar, but honestly, you probably already have something close in your own closet and may not need to buy a thing.

Swim and Cover-ups

I only packed two swimsuits. I’m still figuring out what styles I like and didn’t have a lot to choose from. That said, I’ve been browsing some more LOF styles lately and this one really caught my eye. Most of the colors in my size are sold out, and I have no beach or pool days on the horizon, so I’m in no rush.

The black ikat print mini dress is either 2016 or 2017 Reformation. There are a handful of pieces I bought from the brand during that era (you’ll see a couple more below) that I take on almost every trip. The black maxi is technically a nightie, but I have worn it with jeans in the city and now as a cover-up, never once as actual sleepwear. The floral cover-up maxi, I custom made last year and this trip was my first time wearing it. The sarong I picked up over Christmas break in Sydney.

Overall it’s a simple color palette that lets me mix and match any cover-up with either swimsuit without thinking too hard about it.

Accessories

Keeping it very simple here again. Just one bag that works with the color palette above (the reversible side is plain so it works with the dresses you’ll see below). Two of the shoes are pool and beach friendly, and the black leather sandals became my go-to for dinner every single night. Being able to swap out the paracord on the jelly sandals meant I actually had a lot of fun playing with color combinations (see the image up top).

Dresses

A different color palette (from the swim and cover ups above) but still simple, straightforward and that works for both daytime and dinner. I had a loose idea of what I'd wear when, but I wasn't strict about it and mostly decided each morning. The three slip dresses are from the same brand (Australian, no longer exists) and I planned to wear them for dinner. The black romper and black mini dress were also earmarked for evenings out since they're synthetic and not great for walking around in the heat. I knew the blue, pink, and grey ikat mini dress (another Reformation piece from the same 2016/2017 era) would be perfect for city strolling since it's 100% linen with lovely open sleeves and plenty of airflow. The black midi dress ended up being what I wore on our travel day between the islands, and it worked out really well. Cotton, mild compression, and a structured cut made me feel put together arriving in Mallorca while still being comfortable on the ferry over.

Tops and Bottoms

For the first time ever, I did not pack a single button-down shirt. It felt wild. I took three t-shirts instead and honestly? It was a good decision. I felt fun. I felt cool. I felt young.

I also packed, and wore one on the way there, very specific outfits for the actual long-haul flights, because I do not mess around when it comes to travel day dressing. This was also probably the first trip where I didn’t default to all dark colors. I usually travel in dark tones out of fear of stains, but nothing happened and I’m glad I went for it.

How I actually wore the pieces

In all honesty, I was really happy with how my outfits turned out and I was extra happy that I didn’t end up needing to do any washing in the sink or repeat outfits (oh god forbid! JK!)

Left to right: Outfit 1 worn on the flight from Madrid to Menorca | Outfit 2 cover up and red swimsuit to the pool | Outfit 3 t-shirt and shorts to dinner

Left to right: Outfit 1 dress (with the black swimsuit underneath) to breakfast and pool time | Outfit 2 Linen bias cut dress to dinner

Left to right: Outfit 1 t-shirt and shorts to breakfast and explore around the island | Outfit 2 Linen bias cut dress to dinner

Left to right: Outfit 1 Linen mini dress to breakfast and explore around the island | Outfit 2 Linen bias cut dress to dinner

Left to right: Outfit 1 dress ferry to second island | Outfit 2 black romper to dinner

NOTE: My daughter very lovingly exclaimed when she saw me wearing the black romper then immediately said, “mommy this is really short on you”. 😅

Left to right: Outfit 1 bathing suit and sarong to the pool (can’t remember what I wore to breakfast!!) | Outfit 2 black mini dress to dinner

Left to right: Outfit 1 Tshirt and shorts to breakfast | Outfit 2 black maxi cover up and swimsuit to lounge around until our flight to Madrid

Beyond the clothes and accessories above, I also brought a small jewelry pouch with some simple pieces. I wore a chunky silver ring and silver chunky hoops pretty much every day. I packed plenty of SPF options and barely touched any makeup the entire trip. I brought one hair oil that I absolutely loved using after time in the pool or at the beach. I also packed an eyeliner but forgot to sharpen it before leaving, so that was a waste of space. I threw in a small compact foundation/concealer but barely used it, except for the two days we spent exploring the cities. The SPF lip balm, though, as I mentioned before, was a genuine pleasure to use every single day.

And that's really it. Nine days, two islands (with one relatively well behaved toddler) and somehow everything fit in the bag.

Menorca and Mallorca genuinely delivered. The kind of trip where you don’t feel like you need a vacation from your vacation when you get home, just eight loads of laundry and a lot of strong coffee. I didn’t know much about Menorca until we started researching options beyond Ibiza, and I’m really glad we chose it. It’s laid-back, has so much history, and felt like the perfect place for light exploration as well as long stretches of doing absolutely nothing by the beach. Mallorca is very much a choose-your-own-adventure island. If you want to be active, there is a ton of biking to be done. If you want to party, that’s there too. And if you want to be laid-back and unhurried like we were, Mallorca has room for that as well.

I hope this gave you some ideas on packing for any of your summer holidays coming up. As I mentioned at the start, there is nothing I love more than packing and prepping for a trip so if you have thoughts or questions on how to get yourself ready for a vacation with just a carry on, reach out! As always, feel free to reply or drop a comment with any questions on anything I linked or mentioned. I read everything.

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*Occasionally brands send me gifts. I will note these with an asterisk, but I would also never feature anything I don’t genuinely love and use.