It’s a perfect destination from the United States, it’s close, it’s warm all year long and it’s cheap. Now, what should you pack?

When you plan a trip to the beach like Cancun or Puerto Vallarta your day will be divided by two, a full day at the beach and a night out on the town. If you are there long enough, you will adventure out in the daytime, but remember, walking at noon will be hot and miserable, it’s going to take a lot of Margaritas to cool you off.

Most people plan a trip to Mexico for four to seven days, unless you are an European with a five-week vacation in the summer and you come to Mexico for a month. So, I’m going to focus on the four to seven day trips. I’m going to say this only once, just because it’s February and snowing in Canada doesn’t mean you only pack shorts and t-shirts because it’s hot and humid in Mexico; a cold front from Canada will reach a lot of the Mexican destinations and the temperatures will drop drastically, one day you can be in 90° Fahrenheit (32° C) and the following day can be 60°. So make sure to pack long pants as well as a light jacket.

A bathing suit should be on top of your list, but you will need two, one dries while you wear the other, my wife packs three for a four day vacation, I’m not sure why, and then before she goes out to the beach she keeps saying I don’t know what to wear.

Do you need a hair dryer? I would say no, and I’ll be contradicted by Adriana, it takes a lot of room in your suitcase, but if you spend an hour drying your hair you may need to take it.

You are not going to need fancy shoes or a fancy dress unless you are going to a wedding.

You are not going to need shampoo and conditioner, ooh sorry, that is for your husband, I know women will want to carry fifteen bottles of not sure what, put the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, skin toner, and whatever else you do carry in small 6oz bottles. Don’t forget the hefty fee for overweight bags. Your husband will be happy with the hotel shampoo, in fact he probably already has a bottle in his bag from his last business trip.

So now that you pack a pair of pants, a light jacket, three bathing suits, a hair dryer and fifteen bottles of some liquids unknown to most men on this earth we can focus on the other stuff. You did pack all these items right? You should be following my blog.

How many dresses, shorts, blouses, shoes underwear and socks do you need? Since your suitcase is starting to fill up you need to make some real decisions, let’s say you are taking a seven day trip, you don’t want to pack seven different outfits, therefore, pack to wear often, couple sundresses will be plenty, they are light and will be good to go out two evening to a fancy restaurant or show, the rest can be couple nice summer pants that you can combine with a lot of casual blouses. On top of that two pairs of shorts, some t-shirts for day wear and three pair of shoes, one for walking that you are wearing to get there, one to dress up at night and may be another like flip flops or sandals.

Is that enough? It’s, I’m sure by now your bag weighs 50 lb. You want to take more? Put it in your carry on with the rest of your make-up, chargers, jewelry and everything else you think you need but probably will not use.

I know you already pack your hat and sunglasses, don’t forget deodorant and nice pair of shoes