My Packing Diaries & Answers to Your Pressing Travel Qs
What I packed (and what I actually wore) traveling for 5 weeks from Geneva to Napa—and “You Asked For It”: Miami hotel recs, solo travel ideas & more
I’m just back from a 32-day trip that took me from Rome to Geneva, Vienna, Dresden, Prague, Berlin, NYC and Napa. Needless to say, gaming that packing strategy for very different places and events during a volatile weather season took some serious planning, so I thought I’d share the results with you—laying out everything I packed, what I wore, and what I should have left at home. (I took the below photos when I was really packing–so they are honest but not so pretty, and a window into my wrinkled universe.) Also, every month, we’re answering questions from our paid subscribers. In today’s post, we tackle tack-on trip ideas from Puglia, Memorial Day getaway options that are driving distance from NYC, cool hotel recs in Miami, and some great-sounding group trips for solo travelers (or if you just like the energy of a group). Leave your questions below in the comments or in the chat and we’ll try to get to them next time! —Yolanda
Packing Diaries
The Trip: Geneva, Vienna, Dresden, Prague, Berlin, NYC, Napa
Dates: March 31-May 1, 2025
It’s rare that I take such a long trip, and this was a big one. It kicked off with a 4-day watch convention in Geneva that meant dressing a bit more professionally than I regularly do, both day and night—luckily, nothing fancy. From there, we headed to Vienna for a launch party at the Hotel Sacher for Wm Brown, so I needed to be slightly more dressed up for that, and the next 3 days were all fun, no work. Then it was off to Dresden for a work trip with the watch company A. Lange & Sohne, so the Geneva looks were on repeat, followed by 2 days of exploring Prague, and 6 days of the same in Berlin. A quick 2-day stop in NYC (not even enough time to do laundry), and we were off to Napa for some events with Favia and Faust wineries, plus some consulting work, for 8 days. Given that the trip was so long, it was pointless to try to figure out the weather—so I had to pack for all possible scenarios. Oddly, Berlin had days in the 80s and Napa had rain and temperatures in the 50s. Which justified my overpacking ways.
Packing List
You’ll see I have a pretty consistent palette of blues, browns, and the occasional black and white, so everything works together pretty well. All of these clothes fit into a Rimowa trunk, which I check, of course, and I put my raincoat and a couple of other things in my smaller cabin Rimowa, with the Il Bisonte x Yolo carry-on on top of that.
7 shirts, 6 sweaters - I really thought I would wear all of these. The shirts, clockwise from top left: Bergfabel paper shirt in white cotton; Bergfabel navy short sleeve in linen; Aspesi denim no-collar long sleeve; light blue no-collar shirt (never wore); another navy long-sleeve shirt that has a wide base; linen long-sleeve Aspesi shirt meant for hot days in Napa, but never worn; navy wool long-sleeve button-down from WNU that I wore a lot–it dresses up nicely with a blazer. For the record, I did iron the shirts that aren’t meant to be worn wrinkly, or I just skipped wearing them! Sweaters on the top row are all from Knize–I wore the turtlenecks when it was freezing. Bottom row, from left: Margaret Howell long-sleeve chocolate sweater was put to good use, Kule crewneck in cream, same story; black Margaret Howell turtleneck vest—never wore it.
7 pants - From left to right: Ignore the green Sézane pants–I decided I didn’t need to bring two pairs of Sezane (plus green is off my color piste) with me, and opted for some Levi’s with a bit of stretch in them instead (which I forgot to photograph). Camel Sezane wide-leg pant in polyester, which normally I don’t go for, but these became my favorite travel pant. Ann Mashburn Faye in navy velvet has a nice kick-out—I wore them dressed up (with a blazer) and down (with a sweater to breakfast). I nixed the navy Aspesi in wool, because I don't need two of the same. Navy Atelier Bomba pant, which is half of a suit (I brought the matching blazer, but forgot to