You have probably encountered people who enjoy planning their holidays to a somewhat ridiculous degree. You may even be such a person yourself. But did you know that the are also people who enjoy planning what they will PACK for their holiday? No? Hi, I’m Annikky and I’m addicted to making lists of things that I will take with me on vacation.

This paragraph is going to be a bit technical, but stay with me. Broadly speaking, there are two ways to approach holiday packing: the options-based approach and the curated approach.* The first is based on the philosophy that you need to be prepared for every mood and situation and have options for all of them. This is an appealing premise, but will usually lead to overpacking and even after having thoroughly overpacked, it’s difficult to cover every single whim you might have during the vacation. You know, that sudden urge to wear Davidoff Cool Water that you haven’t smelled in decades. The second approach means picking only one perfect item in every category (one pair of flats, one pair of heels, one perfume, one moisturiser and so on), based on the logic that as this is the perfect specimen – at least for this particular trip -, you don’t need options anyway. This is much better for your luggage allowance, but might drive you crazy when trying to figure out which shorts are in fact the ULTIMATE shorts. Also, some people just cannot handle not having options.

My method is a combination of the two approaches. I’ll stick to the ‘one perfect thing’ mantra where possible (it’s also a great way to keep my online shopping habit under control – theoretically, I have permission to buy anything, but only if it’s the best in the given category), but relax the rules occasionally. I do it either when practical – it really isn’t enough to have one t-shirt for three weeks – or with things I truly love: dresses, perfume, lip products. Some people would also argue that ‘night serum’ and ‘day serum’ aren’t two different categories, but they are for me, honeyz.

I’m not going to list every single thing I’ll pack for my three weeks in Estonia, but I’ll show you some of my picks – partly to illustrate my holiday rules (no expensive clothes here), partly just to share some pretty things you might find interesting. Among other things, these are on the list – we can broadly divide them into colour, cool and glamour clusters:

1. Zara Maxi Dress (cover picture). I love maxi dresses all year round, but especially for summer. Minimum effort, maximum impact. Zara has several good ones this season.
2. Sensi Studio beach bag. There are lots of this type of bags around, but the Sensi Studio ones are my favourites. They are not cheap, but I fully expect to like and use this one for many years to come.
3. Mabu by Maria BK sandals. These are some overwhelmingly positive Greek sandals. Let’s see how I’ll do with actually wearing them, but on my recent trips, I’ve felt the need for some fancy but flat footwear. Also, we need to support the Greek economy, right? (Full disclosure: I will also take my entirely un-fancy Dune leather sandals with me as well.)
4. Sophia Webster Malibu wedge sandals. These have been on the blog before and I’m not leaving the country without them.
5. Aerin Gardenia Rattan body cream. I bought this for the packaging and because it smells of gardenia and that is very rare in a body cream. I don’t care much for the Gardenia Rattan perfume, but in this format it’s quite lovely.
6. Smith & Cult Plastic Beach nail polish. I’ve tried to get my hands (nails?) on these polishes for ages and finally bought my first one (most places don’t ship them overseas). Love the colour, love the bottle, love the consistency. You need at least two coats, though.

7. Converse All Stars. After Lumi ruined my previous pair, I finally got a new one. These are clearly still too clean, but they have potential.
8. Khaki trousers from Zara. These are old trousers, but if they weren’t slightly too big for me, I’d wear them every day.
9. A t-shirt from Ibiza. I have never been to Ibiza, but a dear friend brought me back this t-shirt. Not something I would have picked out myself, but I’m loving the idea of this over my pink bikini.
10. Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glotion for body. This is an exfoliating moisturiser (with acids!) and self tan in one, so I’m very excited. Dennis Gross is possibly my favourite beauty brand at the moment, so this cannot be awful.
11. Hanya Yanagihara A Little Life. The most challenging thing I plan to read this summer, the rest of my to-be-read pile coming up soon.

12. H&M red dress. If you need proof that clothes can be stunning and cheap, this dress is it. Yes, you might see someone else wearing it, but in this case I can highly recommend my Total Narcissism Method: blind belief that no-one else can possibly wear that dress as well as you.
13. Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses. Yes, I also have a tendency to lose my sunglasses, so this may prove a stupid decision. But my eyes have become so sensitive that I need proper, good quality sunglasses.
14. Tom Ford Soleil Blanc body oil. I’m absolutely sure there is nothing this body oil can do that the Bronze Goddess or Caudalie oils cannot do just as well. But I had a gift card and I’m weak.
15. Crystal Rabbit body suit. This is some serious Madonna/Linda Evangelista level stuff and entirely non-summery. I love it and will come back to it in a future post.
16. Frederic Malle Carnal Flower. This is one of the best tuberose scents ever created. It’s not necessarily my personal favourite (I love it, but there are tuberoses I love even more), but it is undoubtedly genius and you can buy it in a single 10ml vial and put it in this gorgeous red travel case.

PS Most of my skincare routine still looks like this, with Dr Dennis Gross Ferulic+Retinol serum/Drunk Elephant Framboos serum instead of Dr Jart. These beauties will be coming with me as well.
PPS Pictures with me on them by J.

*You could also call them the Gucci approach and the Celine approach.