Preparing for America Part #2

Finally gave my blog the face lift it has been needing. I spent all day yesterday doing it and I'm so happy with the result! I hope you guys like the new layout c:

On this second instalment of my travel series, I will be sharing some of the things I have bought for my America trip (a semi-haul I guess), staring with this Travel Journal. I am a serious agenda/diary type of girl, I love stickers, highlighters, checklists, countdowns, the lot. I am obsessed with my Moleskin diary and we have a monthly calendar at home that I nag my family to fill out so we can be aware of each other's activities at all times. I just love to have everything I need to do and all important dates written down where I can visualise it on a week to week basis.

I really wanted a travel journal where I could reflect and document my trip, as well as keep track of any necessary details for my bookings (accommodation/transport/flights/etc) and plans. I came across the Travelege Journal and it seemed to be exactly what I was looking for and the simple yet effective layout really caught my attention. Here are a few snapshots of how it looks inside:

I love that I'll be able to keep all the important stuff in this journal and I can take it to the U.S. without taking my moleskin diary as well. All the pages are so well thought out. The accommodation and transportation fill-in section is especially handy as we are moving from city to city via various modes of transport and we are also moving AirBnBs with every new destination. The visual checklist has multiple columns, so I'll be able to use it to make sure I don't leave anything behind in each of the cities I visit. The itinerary calendar makes planning easy at a glance. There are so many useful travel tips and pages on exchanging money, electrical sockets, websites, timezones, emergency numbers and more. The universal wordless signs of communication at the back is so clever as well if you're travelling to a destination where they may not speak english. The pages of the journal section are very lightly lined so you can draw or write. It also comes with corner stickers so you can stick stuff into the journal if you wanted, which will be so perfect for my polaroids. It's literally everything I wanted and more and I'm really excited to put it to good use.

Since I don't plan on taking an actual camera with me (I don't want to carry anything too valuable or heavy because we're moving around so much and on trains and buses too), most of my photos will be taken on my phone. So I wanted a lens set to spice up my photos and make them more fun. My mum picked up a cheapy for me from Hong Kong to test out and while it was fun as a toy, the photos came out pretty blurry as it didn't use the best quality lens. I wanted something that was sturdier and that would produce better quality photos.
I was originally looking at the Olloclip anyway but couldn't justify paying full price for it at the Apple store ($109.95). I was also worried because the lens would not clip onto a phone with a case and I didn't like the idea of not having a case on my phone. I was really on the fence about the whole thing, partially because I was trying to convince myself not the spend that amount on a lens that's not going to work should I upgrade phones in the future. But then my prayers were answered and someone listed a brand new Olloclip on Gumtree for half the price and my boyfriend very kindly bought it for me. 

The White/Gold Olloclip suits my gold iPhone so well! The lens are reversible and matches up perfectly to the front and back camera. It comes with 3 different colored "clips" that you can clip your lens onto you're not using it. You can then attach that clip to a lanyard to form a portable pendant too - that way you won't lose it. It also comes with a small velvety pouch where you can keep your lens safe if you want to ditch it all together.

Wide Angle

Fisheye

I realised that I didn't actually have a suitcase of my own, I've always used my parent's duffel bags whenever we travelled because they were lighter and we always had a car to pick us up. However we're gonna be running around so much in America, so when Myer was doing a BOGOF deal, I just couldn't pass it up (especially when Bella works at Myer and got an extra 15% off on top of it.)

I ended up buying this American Tourister Dee-Lite suitcase (RRP $289) and I'm so happy with it!! It is actually so light. Bella and i got one each and we both got a bright color so it'd be easy to recognise on the belt. It also has a worldwide 10 year warranty and it's all mine for $115! What a barrrrgain!

Lastly, I picked up this travel case from Muji to keep all my makeup and skincare together in my suitcase. There are 3 sizes available and I picked up the medium one, my friend happened to be working the day I went in so I got it for $19 instead of $23.95. I don't plan to fill it but should I pick up any beauty bits on the way (ha ha ha), they can go in there too. 

These two weeks, I have been slowly trying to compile the absolute most minimal list of things to pack because I want to pack as light as possible and I know I'll be doing a lot of shopping there as well. Everytime I think of something else, I add it to my list so that I won't forget anything last minute hopefully. It's so hard to gauge how many of each item of clothing I'll need! 

I hope this series is enjoyable for you to read, it's definitely something a little different but I really like sharing this planning process with you.I think for the next part of this series, I will share the skincare/makeup/beauty bits I plan to bring with me.  If you haven't read my Part 1 of Preparing for America, you can check it out here. 

=('.')=

chloé