What to Wear on an African Safari

This boggles my mind. Wait, let's back up. I'm going to Africa in the fall for 2 weeks with my cousins (and our new friend Kate Herbert) and we are starting our adventure with a safari. Apparently there will be baby animals as well! How exciting!

So, we started an email chain. More of an email frenzy, actually. One topic came up as to what attire should be worn during an African Safari. THIS is where the mind boggling starts. One word: Khaki. Huh? What? Hmm.. I don't know if I have khaki outfits.. It may be an old wives' tale, but khaki is supposed to keep the insects away. Also on the list was socks and closed toe shoes, a HAT (I do not look good in hats... ok, fine, it's because I have a large head and most hats do not fit...), big sunglasses for movie star-like poses (check), and layers. It is supposed to start out cool in the morning (ahem, 5 am), and warm up towards mid day.

Julie and I were baffled. Boggled. Bewildered. Where does one get khaki? Erica usually responds to emails with some giggles and a few short lines, since she is not sitting at her desk 24/7 like we are. Cindy is already in Africa planning our adventures and working in between animal sitings :). So, I started researching. The first thought that came to mind was: cheap, please. I will probably not wear said khakis outside of Africa. (Maybe I will, I'm not ready to confirm). So, I thought Old Navy? Sure!

Old Navy's stash:

I thought "pine needles" was appropriate.

Hello it's a sign! These come in "safari olive"

Some possible safari tops:

This one seems a bit Crocodile Dundee for me...maybe...

If anyone cares for JCrew's options, or has room in their budget, I found a few pieces, and a hat? I put a question mark here because of my fear of hats...

Hopefully we turn out looking somewhere along these lines...

And not these...

Ew.

Skinny pants of course.

This post is dedicated to my friend Karla who is afraid of skinny pants/jeans! She is skinny, therefore she should wear them. Plus she's going to Southern France in a couple weeks, and while we discussed what she should pack, skinny pants were DEFINITELY mentioned several times!

JCrew has a load of them...here.

I love Urban Outfitter's skinny/cigarette jean selection. They have a several washes and fits laid out on tables in their stores and at prices that won't bust your budget!

Anthropologie also has some really cute ones but I refuse to put pictures. They are more of a budget buster than I would like :( Nonetheless, here they are.

How to pack for two trips at once.

I like to travel a lot on the weekends, or really any time I can get off from work! A few weeks ago, I went to San Antonio for the weekend, and then from there switched airports and went to Atlanta to meet my new nephew. I basically had to pack for a weekend of dinners out and being outside in the heat as well as a low key couple of days with the baby. It was hard! I didn't want to over pack because I wanted to carry my bag on, but I also didn't want to have to wash clothes at my sisters with all the commotion going on. I think I packed just the right amount.

Step 1: Choose a bag. I bought this carry on at a boutique in San Antonio (on a past trip) by Vera Bradley. It squeezes nicely into the overhead compartment.

Step 2: Lay out some outfits. I chose some things that go easily from day to night (long jersey dresses, comfy pants/cute tops/sandals...) I love laying out the whole outfit to get the big picture.

Step 3: Fold your clothes (I usually fold the tees in fours and the pants in half and in half again)

Step 4: Pack your jewelry (necklaces are big now, plus I packed a couple pairs of earrings)

Step 5: Pack your toiletries (my mom got me a cute travel set so I had one big bag for makeup etc and one tiny for jewelry)

Step 6: Pack the miscellaneous items: phone charger, straightener, book, computer, magazine...

Step 7: Pick shoes (I chose two pairs of sandals only, but you could do one sandal and one heel, I'd say take half as many shoes as days you are travelling)

Step 8: Zip it up!

Any packing tips for me?