Pack with me: Tropical holiday travel essentials

Hello, first adventure of 2016! My sister & I are at the boarding gate of Melbourne airport right now as we're heading off to Singapore & Bali for a few weeks. You guys love having a peek into my suitcase before I leave so I thought I'd give you a run down of some of the things I'm taking on holiday with me. It will be the first time that I've travelled overseas with my sister & we've got a massive (slightly over-ambitious) schedule planned filled with shopping, eating & resort hopping + lots of content creation in between.The first instalment was my Europe travel essentials post here.. and today, here are my travel essentials for a tropical resort holiday! Come have a read and look into some of the things I am bringing with me below:

1) Face sunscreen, body Sunscreen & Aeroguard

Always, always load up on sunscreen and SPF products when heading to somewhere tropical! The sun shines every day so it's a good idea to pile it on. I also like to bring a separate tube of fragrance free face sunscreen too for added comfort as I find they soak in better and are more non-greasy than body sunscreens. For tropical countries, there is also the rare chance of coming into contact with dengue mosquitoes so a tropical strength / 30% deet repellant is also a good idea.

2) Travel sized everything

The first time I went travelling, I didn't have any travel sized containers and would bring my full 200ml cleanser bottles, big tubes of moisturiser and that entire bottle of makeup remover. However, over the years, I've started to realise carrying so much of everything is both useless and also really starts to feel heavy when you hit your third or fourth transit. So I've started collecting travel sized bottles to put my skincare in and it has saved me so much suitcase space and weight (all the better for filling your luggage up local souvenirs I collect on the way). My favourite places to get travel sized bottles is Daiso. That cute $2.80 everything shop you've seen popping up over the last couple of years has a massive selection of empty plastic bottles ranging from super small (great for earrings, eye creams etc) to larger 200ml bottles that are good for body wash and all. Super, super useful & from the pic above, you can see how I have managed to turn five massive containers into five tiny ones that will last me my entire trip and more. For perfume, you can refill into small sample bottles or little fragrance atomisers. Don't carry your entire beauty drawer with you. Except for dry shampoo. Bring a lot of that.

3) Books, movies and music

If you're staying in a pretty resort, chances are you're not going to leave it. Fill those poolside lazy afternoons accompanied by some of your latest reads, some iPad movies and music! We're bringing some modern philosophy books we picked up from The School of Life stall at the Big Design Market. Can't wait to dig into these.

4) Versatile set of sandals

Shoes are the heaviest things you'll bring wardrobe wise so if you want to travel light(er), then the best thing you can do is to pack less in the footwear department. Try for a set of shoes that will work with a variety of outfits and concentrate on neutral colours such as white, black and tan. A pop of colour can be useful and fun too if it will work with a few different outfits! Lastly, don't forget those poolside slides.

5) Swimwear you LOVE + a waterproof phone case

It's likely you'll be in the water a fair amount of time so bring some swimwear you love. Bright colours are a great idea for summer holiday vibes. Also, a waterproof phone case is a great idea too especially if you want to carry your phone around the pool (or beach) but don't want to get it wet. I've been using a Lifeproof one and have taken it into the ocean snorkelling as well as in the pool. No troubles so far. Optional extra: your own beach towel for relaxing in style. Completely optional though, as resorts often have endless supplies of towels anyway!

6) Resortwear

There's no better time to wear resort wear than when you're actually at a resort! There are so many beautiful collections to choose from this year but some of the things that have made it into my suitcase (aka my resort wear favourites) are..

• Off the shoulder everything. These are the epitome of easy breezy beach holiday wear. Can't wait to share more of these with you soon :-)
• Mister Zimi prints - found myself a little Zimi to take overseas with me, I'm sure you can spot their signature colourful print above
• A floppy hat - keeping sun-smart in style. Can't wait to show you the one I picked up at Country Road just before Christmas last year!
• A pleated beach dress - I love a good pleat and have managed to fill my suitcase up with quite a few of these.
• Anything light and floaty and semi sheer to keep you cool in the humidity!

7) Travel wallet

In my last travel essentials post I was using a pretend travel wallet (which was great too) but this time around, I have finally found two I love! One's from Kikki-K and is a zip around with tabs for itinerary, passport and tickets. The other is from The Daily Edited and is super sleek, monogrammed and has a pull out passport holder!Come follow me on Instagram, I'll be posting on-the-go travel updates every day & following them up with big blog posts over here as well soon. Speak soon!