Essential Summer Beach Bag Packing Tips
Packing Your Bag With Summer Essentials? Don't Forget These Must-Haves!
After a very mild spring season, I’m excited to finally be getting some hotter weather. I now officially declare that summer is here: I made my first trip to the beach this weekend where I actually went in the water! But...I forgot my sunscreen at home. Luckily a friend had extra to keep me from burning to a crisp in the nearly 90 degree heat!
If you’re anything like me, every once in awhile you get all the way to where you’re going and then realize you forgot some of the essentials. To prevent that from happening as much as possible this year, I’ve made a checklist of my summer necessities so I’ll be prepared for anything! Beaching, boating, spontaneous adventure...you name it.
The Obvious Ones: Sunscreen, Chairs, Towels, Umbrella, Snacks
If I don’t include them on the checklist then I’ll surely forget one of them... Extra points to you if you can find a beach chair that folds into a backpack for easy portability. Mine even has a sizeable pocket that holds these five helpful things.
Ice packs
This usually goes without saying for those who bring a cooler with them, but I’ve overestimated the ability of my cold-safe bag to protect frozen things on its own. It can be a miserable experience to eat soggy ice cream soup instead of solid Ben and Jerry’s.
Socks and Shoes
I’m likely to be barefoot all day at the beach or on a boat, but there are so many interesting and beautiful oceanside trails that I’ve come across on the way there or back that I usually stop off for a short walk. Better safe than sorry on trails that can often be rockier and less flat than the beach itself, so I slip on my shoes instead of flip flops.
Baby powder
It might seem strange, but this stuff works wonders to get the sand off your feet. Bonus: your skin will be impossibly soft after you apply it. I’ve been using baby powder for this purpose since I was a kid, and I’m sure my mother appreciated all the times she didn’t have to vacuum sand out of the car.
Small bottles
I have friends who collect a vial of sand and a shell or small stone from every beach they visit together, and have a really compelling display back at their house with all these tiny souvenirs. This is a fun activity to do with children: give everyone a bottle and see what they can collect...pebbles? Ocean water? Seaweed?
Aloe Vera
The ultimate remedy for an onset sunburn. Make sure you get a bottle with as little chemical additives as possible; in my experience, the chemically-enhanced gels sting pretty badly when they first touch your skin. Here’s one that I’ve been using ever since I came across it on a trip to Italy.
Did I forget something? Let us know in the comments!
~Ben LoPiccolo - Content Creator for Ozone Design