Packing Tips for Women Traveling in the Summer
Prepared for everything
Before you jump on a plane to China (or other modest countries), here are some quick tips to help prepare you for your trip. Let’s start with the weather. Like most places in the summer, Beijing and Shanghai can be very hot. With the added humidity to their weather, it took a lot of us in my abroad group by surprise. So, I would recommend packing light clothing for the weather. For your free days, pack light shirts and shorts that don’t hold/show sweat. In addition to your lightweight clothing, pack comfortable walking shoes. For women, I would also suggest packing a couple of outfits you’d like to wear for a night out. Also, for women, pack one pair of flats that will go with all your business outfits. Heels can become uncomfortable and packing multiple pairs of shoes will take up room in your bag.
Mix & Match
Another thing to note is that you will be walking a lot, having comfortable shoes with inserts will make your trip much more enjoyable. Finally, make sure you pack a casual outfit and a business outfit in your carry-on. I highly recommend this because it’s better to have a spare set of clothes than needing to buy more if the airline misplaces your luggage. Remember, for clothing you can get by wearing a pair of shorts more than two times. For business outfits, you can wear a pair of pants three or four times with different shirts, or a dress/skirt more than once. A lot of us felt that we way overpacked on business clothes and way under-packed on casual clothes for this trip.
The Essentials
Another important thing to pack would be an umbrella or rain jacket as it does rain in China during the summer. Having an umbrella is also helpful for sunny days because it’ll provide shade and it does make a difference. I did pack some protein bars that I could carry with me through the trip. Having these snacks was helpful for times when there was a time limit to get lunch or I just needed a snack while we were touring the cities. You should also have a small day pack with you to carry water, snacks, sunscreen, deodorant. and other things you’ll need for a long day out.
Make sure to do some research on your own, specific to the country you are traveling to.
Lonely Planet is a good starting point.
