How to pack for an island vacation

Ah, packing. Packing tends to get a bad rap as the least favorite of all things travel, but that’s because most people don’t do it right. (I’ve been known to write a professional packing guide for travel pubs here and there).

And since I’m a firm believer that if there’s no beach it’s not a vacation, we’ll start with learning how to pack for an island escape.

Let’s get the (hopefully) obvious stuff out of the way: flip flops, sunscreen, the rest of your toiletries, and underwear x2 a day since there’ll be beaching, maybe other day time water activities, then dinnering and possibly dancing. And (hopefully) showers in between.

Now, moving on to the part that people tend to not get right, here’s your island travel checklist with nine things you need and three things you don’t.