Listen to “Packing for Italy – Tips and Tricks so you can Pack Like a Pro” on Spreaker.
What and how to pack for a trip to Italy is a dilemma for many, especially first visitors. With hundreds of trips in the bag and mistakes learned along the way, we share tips on what to take as well as, importantly, what not to take.
Show notes
We welcome back Corinna Cooke, author of the Glam Italia travel guides and small group tour leader, shares her tips on making sure you get your packing right for your trip. We cover everything from carry-on only vs checking a bag, the type of luggage to take, how to plan your outfits, makeup, tech, suitcase types, and HOW to pack your case.
What you’ll learn in this episode
- There are some great fabrics that are perfect for travel wear – from Merino wool to UNIQLO Heat Tech , these fabrics regulate your temperature and wick away odors from your skin
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Compression socks are not only a must-wear for your flight, but many people experience swelling when they travel, so these are great to wear in bed at night to bring that swelling down
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A brilliant tip from a pro-photographer friend of Corinna’s is to swap out your camera memory card every other day. That way, worst-case scenarios your camera gets damaged or stolen, you will still have half your trips photos to help treasure those memories
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There are water fountains (or Nasone in Rome) all over Italy so re-usable water bottles are not only sustainable but practical to keep you hydrated. Collapsible ones are a great choice, so you can put it back in your bag taking up no space after you’ve finished
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A secret ingredient you can carry with you is baking soda. Take a teaspoon of baking soda and just drop in enough water to make a creamy paste texture. You can then paint it on your bites. Just let it sit there until it dries and once dry it will naturally fall away. It will have taken the itchiness and redness away and is also great on sunburn
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A portable wifi hotspot can be a lot easier than having to switch SIM cards – particularly as so many apps are connected to your original SIM card. You can buy various packages to suit, for your trips. The Skyroam also includes an external battery for re-charging your devices.
Want our Italy packing checklist? Click here
About our guest – Corinna Cooke
Author Corinna Cooke is a favorite guest on Untold Italy. Originally from New Zealand she fell in love with Italy thanks to a high school art history teacher who introduced her to Italian Renaissance art. After moving to London and traveling throughout Europe, she couldn’t stop returning to her beloved Italy.
Now living in Phoenix in the United States, Corinna is a woman of many skills. She leads several Glam Italia small group tours to Italy each year and writes guidebooks of the same name exploring the her favorite corners of beautiful Italia. And her “day job” is a make-up artist. But, her heart is always called to Italy and her first love.. the city of Rome!
You can find Corinna on these channels:
- CorinnaCooke.com – Corinna’s author website
- Corinna’s Amazon page – for recommended travel items
- Corinnabsworld – Corinna’s blog
Corinna’s books
Resources
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Away luggage – both Corinna and Katy’s choice of luggage with some well thought out ingenious features for travel
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Merino Wool – a kind of wool that naturally moderates your temperature
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UNIQLO– fashion brand which has a range of travel wear and also HeatTech – thin garments which can work with your body temperature to keep you warm/cool depending where you are
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Eddie Bauer, Athleta – great brands for travel wear
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Dr Scholl – for shoe inserts
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Sofft shoes – Corinna calculated that her pair of Mirabela took her three hundred and fifteen miles before needing replacing
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Bared and Frankie4 – Australian brands with comfortable but stylish shoes
Resources from Untold Italy
- Read more in our detailed packing guide How to Pack for Italy and our guide to Using your cellphone in Italy and the best travel apps for Italy
- Listen: to our previous episodes with Corinna – Episode #104 Experiences to include in your dream trip to Italy, Episode #053: Planning the perfect Italy itinerary and Episode #49: Exploring Florence
- How to plan a trip to Italy – our article that takes you step by step through trip planning to help you build your dream trip
- Italy Travel Planning – the FREE community on Facebook where you can ask questions and get inspiration for planning your trip
- Travel shop where you’ll find items mentioned in the show
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Transcript
Prefer to read along as you listen? You can download a PDF version of the full transcript of this episode.