Hello beautiful ladies 💖

I’ve been thinking about how to wrap up this year with you, and honestly… all I kept coming back to was gratitude.

Real gratitude. The kind that hits you when you look back and realize that at the start of 2025, there were around 600 of you here… and now we’re closing the year with over 1,700.

It still blows my mind.

I don’t take a single one of you for granted. I’m genuinely grateful that you let me into your inbox every week. It’s something I never assume or expect.

Because I'm traveling right now, I've been reflective, observant and very inspired. And since you’re here with me at the end of this year, let me tell you something I’d tell you in person.

✨ Everything about travel gets better when you’re not wrestling a giant suitcase.

And I say that because I’ve lived both versions of travel.

I’ve packed things I never ended up wearing.

I’ve stuffed a suitcase so full I couldn’t bring my nieces any souvenirs.

I’ve dragged 50+ pounds of regret across bus & train stations and cobblestone streets.

I’ve felt frustrated, uncomfortable, and annoyed at myself for making travel harder than it needed to be.

But here’s what the last 4 years of living out of a 20-inch carry-on have taught me:

1️⃣ Packing is never just about clothes.

Packing is about possibility. It's about how light you feel while you’re exploring, how confident you feel in your outfits, and how much energy you have left for the fun parts of travel.

2️⃣ It’s rarely the big things that make travel stressful.

It’s the little things that pile up.

The airport chaos. The “why did I bring all of this?” moments. Not feeling great in the outfits you packed. Feeling overwhelmed by planning outfits for different activities and weather. Being pushed out of your comfort zone in ways you didn’t expect.

Even the prep for a trip sometimes feels heavier than the trip itself.

And here’s the part most of us don’t talk about:

Those little moments can quietly make us travel less, not because we don’t want to see the world… but because the experience around travel starts to feel too hard.

Once I saw that pattern, it changed the way I think about packing entirely.

Because when you know how to pack light and confidently, everything shifts.

✅ Travel becomes smoother.

✅ You feel more like yourself.

✅ You say yes to more trips because you’re not dreading the logistics.

✅ You love your vacation photos.

And most importantly, your world expands instead of shrinks.

This is why I do what I do.

This tiny, scrappy corner of the internet; writing to you, testing clothes during real trips, sharing everything I learn, brings me so much joy.

And this is not a glamorous job financially. People hear “blogger” and imagine huge paychecks. I wish! This is a full time, 30-hour/week job that I treat more like a hobby (I have a job). And I will continue to do it, even if the pay sucks.

Because when one of you emails me saying you traveled carry-on only for the first time… or packing finally felt peaceful… or you loved your outfits all trip… or my packing list helped you feel confident every day. That’s everything. I'm not just saying that. I mean it 100%.

Those moments remind me why I do this, why I care so much, and why helping women travel light feels like the most meaningful, joy-filled "work".

I want you to see more of the world, not less.

To feel beautiful and confident while doing it.

To travel more often because it finally feels doable.

To make forever memories with your loved ones while feeling like a million bucks.

I hope the content I share moves you closer to your travel and styling goals. So thank you for being here.

As a little peek behind the scenes, here’s my current packing list.

This one was hard because I only had a few hours to pack and there are different climates and activities to consider. Not to mention, it's for 6 weeks of travel! It was rushed, but so far it's working nicely:

• 7 tops
• 1 sweater
• 5 bottoms
• 2 dresses
• 1 jumpsuit
• 3 layers
• 3 pairs of shoes

I’ll be stepping away for the holidays and the first part of January, but I’ll be back in your inbox on Friday - January 23rd, hopefully sharing the full packing list from this trip, the outfits I created and all the lessons I pick up along the way. I prefer to share all this stuff after everything has been tried and tested!

Thank you for being here, for reading, replying, supporting my work, and letting me be a small part of your adventures. It means more than you know.

🎄Wishing you the happiest holiday season and the warmest, most magical new year.

Here’s to smaller suitcases, bigger adventures, and feeling amazing while exploring the world.

XO,

Aimara

PS: if you need any packing help in the upcoming weeks, just browse this page on my blog.​

PPS: if you receive any emails from me in the next few weeks, those are automated. I wrote them of course, but they get sent on auto. It's still good content, though! So still read them 😂