Ciao from Verona!

This past Friday we hopped on a bullet train and made it to the beautiful city of Romeo and Juliet ♥️

We visited Verona a few years ago and completely fell in love with it. So when we were looking for a 'home base' after Milan, and saw that Verona had pretty 'decent' monthly Airbnb rates, we said, you know what? Let's go again! So, this will be home until December 17th.

We were greeted with a beautiful sunny day in the high 50s°F (about 13 to 15°C), which we completely took advantage of after a few soggy days in Milan ☔️

photos?

I'm in the process of testing packing list #2 for 3 weeks in Italy in November, and can't wait to share more with you. But this email is not about that...

So, let's rewind back to Milan for a minute.

On October 4th, I sent you packing list #1 and said I first needed to find out if I did a good job packing.

Well, I'm done testing it!

17 pieces. 22 outfits. Every single piece got worn at least once.

The weather was all over the place: 55°F (13°C) mornings, lunches in the 70s°F (21 to 25°C), and one rainy morning. The trench and the long cardigan were my only layers, and they were all I needed in October.

No rain jacket either. It only rained for a few hours one morning, and our Airbnb had umbrellas.

Then November 1st came, and the weather changed. It got colder and rainy, in the 50s°F (about 10 to 15°C). So, by November you'll want something warmer than a trench and a cardigan. (that's why I'm testing a different packing list for November. Stay tuned for the results!)

I feel like a broken record saying this, but it is SO important to check the weather 2 to 3 days before your trip, for every city you're visiting. Even after you're all packed. It's better to tweak your packing list at home.

So here's how it actually went. I share as much context as possible, but just know that I don't have the perfect packing list for you. Only you can learn how to do that, and that's exactly the skill I want you to crack with every piece of content I share!

🔁 What I wore the most (and the least)

You know I'm testing 3 different packing lists for this trip, so the way this works is that I only use the pieces from the packing lists I'm testing. Everything else never sees the light of day until it's their time to shine. Here's the October list one more time:

Bottoms (4)

• ​Burgundy silk skirt (5 times): with sneakers by day, and tights and booties at night. It can wrinkle a little, but nothing too crazy. I never iron it.
• ​Black cropped Ponte pants (5 times): my pants for the longest walking days, including a 20,000+ step day around Milan. These are the pants I wanted to wear every single day!
• ​Athleta pants (4 times): on the rainy morning, the straight leg kept my hems dry. Meanwhile, I saw so many cute wide leg trousers soaked at the bottom 🥲. Sometimes you have to choose between having cold ankles or wet pants!
• ​Faded black studded jeans (3 times): always for dinner, always with the booties. My 'I feel super cool' piece. Love these jeans, but I can already tell they won't fit in December LOL

Tops (7)

• ​Black shrunken cashmere sweater (4 times): on its own, over the bodysuit, over the merino base layer and even over the polka dot dress.
• ​Cream cashmere sweater (4 times): it goes with every bottom on the list. Super easy color to style.
• ​Black bodysuit (3 times): always at night. Great on its own and as a base layer.
• ​Striped cashmere crewneck (3 times): stripes make the silk skirt casual enough for sneakers.
• ​White merino base layer (3 times): as a base layer and on its own. It tucks in with no bunching. That's why I chose the slim version.
• ​Light pink cashmere tee (2 times): both times with the wrap.
• ​Black cashmere tank (1 time): on the plane. Never wore it after the travel day. It was too cold for me!

Dresses (2)

• ​Polka dot silk midi dress (3 times): with sneakers in the 70s°F (21 to 25°C), and with tights and a sweater on cooler nights. Mine is the strappy one, and there's also a sleeveless version with more coverage.
• ​Olive Spanx dress (2 times): sneakers by day, tights and booties at night. Same dress, totally different outfit. Takes space in the suitcase, but seriously one of my favorite travel dresses ever!

Layers (2)

• ​Long black cashmere cardigan (as needed): I personally dislike jackets LOL so this was my cozy piece for both lounging and going out on the milder days.
• ​Beige trench coat (as needed): my only jacket. I wore it 50% of the days. Totally worth it. You don't see it in all the photos because I take it off so you can see what's underneath.

Shoes (2)

• ​Vessi Soho sneakers: wore them almost every day. The biggest surprise? They're warm too! Which makes them perfect for these temperatures, but I would not travel with them in the summer.
• ​Black sock booties: even though they did great on a full 12 hour day on cobblestones, most of the time they were for dinners and shorter outings. My dressy pair of shoes that I'm obsessed with!

Accessories

• ​Burgundy cashmere wrap: half of my outfits, as a layer, a scarf and a plane blanket. Even as an Airbnb couch blanket!
• ​Dusty pink crossbody: every single day and night. Just one bag ladies! This is an easy way to save space.
• Plus my black Spanx tights and the studded belt. Didn't need merino tights for this temperature. They're definitely coming out very often in November though.
• Statement jewelry inside my little travel jewelry box. Pearl earrings and dainty necklaces for the most part. This is what I use to feel more put together at night.

Others (I know not everyone packs this stuff, that's why I share it separately)

• Workout clothes: 3 pairs of leggings and 3 workout tops.
• ​On Cloud trail runners: only for the gym.
• Underwear: I just fill a small packing cube. I shamelessly overpack this category for no reason (I will try something crazy with this next year, you'll see).
• Bras: 3 regular bras, 2 sports bras for the gym and the one useless strapless.
• ​J.Crew pajamas.
• ​Merino cashmere socks, plus compression socks for the flight.
• My puff commuter backpack (my personal item and day bag) and my Level 8 Voyageur carry-on.
• Toiletries: I wrote a separate email about it. In summary, just packed my basics and plan to buy here as I run out. Which I'm SO looking forward to because Italy is paradise for toiletry shopping!

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📸 A few outfits from the trip

Dark bottoms, layers that come off easily, and accessories that change the look did most of the work on this trip.

🎯 The formula: black cropped Ponte pants + white merino base layer + long black cashmere cardigan + studded belt + Vessi sneakers + dusty pink crossbody​

The studded belt is what makes a simple top look finished. Accessories do so much of the work on a small packing list like this one.

🎯 The formula: polka dot silk midi dress (or the sleeveless version) + burgundy cashmere wrap + Vessi sneakers​

It was in the 70s°F (21 to 25°C), so the polka dot dress came out. White sneakers kept it relaxed enough to walk the gardens and the lakefront.

🎯 The formula: olive Spanx dress + black tights + black sock booties + dusty pink crossbody​

A simple dress, tights and booties. This is the formula I'd copy for any nice fall dinner.

🎯 The formula: burgundy silk skirt + white merino base layer + Vessi sneakers + dusty pink crossbody​

Silk skirt, merino top and sneakers. Comfy enough to walk all day, and it still looks dressed up.

🎯 The formula: burgundy silk skirt + cream cashmere sweater + burgundy cashmere wrap + black tights + black sock booties + dusty pink crossbody​

Cream with burgundy is such a pretty fall combo. I wore it with and without the wrap, and both work.

If you want to see all 22 outfits (and my sizes for every piece), they're all here.

🙈 The one thing I forgot about fall travel...

Things take FOREVER to dry.

I washed what I wore on the plane on day 1. After that, I washed the Athleta pants and the Ponte pants once (because I was already washing our gym clothes), plus the merino base layer and my pajamas.

So I hung everything, blasted the heat, and things would dry overnight.

💡 What does this mean for you? If you're planning to do laundry on a fall trip, wash at night. Hang everything up, turn the heat up, and it'll be ready by morning.

Also, reminder that I did not wash any of the sweaters. If you pack the right fabrics, you can re-wear things so many times (this worked for this trip because I did not sweat a drop!)

🌦️ One thing I'd tell you before a fall trip

Know if you run warm or cold.

I run cold, so I only wore the tank on the plane. My husband was in T-shirts midday a few days, while I was happily wearing a sweater or cashmere t-shirt with a wrap.

• If you run cold like me, the tank was still perfect for the travel day, because that day was hot and cold. Just don't count on wearing it much after that.
• If you run warm, it'll get worn way more than once. Also, for a trip with the same temperatures as mine, do a merino t-shirt as a base layer instead of a long sleeve.

❌ My packing mistakes

In general, I felt pretty good about this packing list. We had great weather and I wasn't cold or hot. But if I had to be picky about mistakes... 👇🏼

• The trail runners I wore for the gym are not waterproof. On the one day it rained, my socks were wet. Shoes dried fast next to the heat, but still... I've been feeling this a lot more now that it's November and it's been raining a lot more.
• I packed the wrong strapless bra... I grabbed the wrong one last minute. This is more like a closet mistake because I should not have the 'wrong' anything. Thankfully it was just for the polka dot dress and the tank top I never wore again. So I ended up wearing a regular bra with the polka dot dress (which was fine because I always had a layer) and the tank also worked with a workout top for the travel day.
• I feel like I would have been fine without the cashmere t-shirt, so one less top maybe? On the 2 afternoons I wore it, I would have also been fine with one of the sweaters, so 🤷🏻‍♀️
• I messed up with the merino base layer in white. I use natural deodorant and the underarm area gets stained (even with barely any sweat). So I had to wash it for that reason. Which in my opinion, defeats the purpose of a merino base layer. You can usually wear them 4 to 5 times. I had to wash mine every 2 to 3 wears. It washes fine, there are not really permanent stains, but it bothers me because this is a piece I like to wear on its own too.

🤧 A 'what if' that actually happened... not really a mistake, but we got sick. And we bought medicine at the pharmacy. Easier than traveling with a giant 'what if' medicine bag IMO, so no regrets here. Just wanted to share that there are pharmacies in every corner here in Italy. And they sell pretty much anything you could need for minor issues.

And this is not a mistake but something to think about... It's really difficult to dress perfectly for every day and every hour of your trip.

Sometimes you'll be cold for 10 minutes in the morning and feel good the rest of the day. Sometimes you won't be cold in the morning but feel hot at some point during the day... choose your battles! Even for me, as someone who's perpetually cold, I chose to be cold for a few minutes here and there. Just something to think about...

Ok, I know this was A LOT! You can always just save these emails and read them again when you have a similar trip.

Either way, I hope it was useful!

Ciao from Verona 🇮🇹

XO,

Aimara

>>> PS: You guys have been asking me how to share these emails with a friend... (thank you 🥹) So, if you know someone who loves to travel but struggles with packing light, now you can forward this email to them! They can subscribe right here.

🇮🇹 PPS: if you want to read the full article. Here's the 2-week fall in Italy blog post.​