Pack My Bag With Me! Learn Everyday Vocabulary for Travel & Clothes

Video Transcript
Section 1
Well hey there I’m Emma from mmmEnglish and in today’s lesson you’re going to help me to pack my bags, pack my suitcase because I’m travelling abroad.

I’m going on holidays. In fact, my flight is tomorrow so this is serious. We need to get this done.

I thought that I would pack my suitcase with you so that I can talk about and introduce you to lots of interesting vocabulary to do with travelling, to do with clothing and of course packing, verbs for packing. There’s lots of interesting words to learn and to practise in this lesson.

In fact, I’ve created a word list and a complete transcript of everything that I’m going to talk about in this lesson specifically so you can study these new words but also so that you can see how I’m using them in context.

Maybe even try to use some of them yourself when you’re talking about your upcoming trips or travels or adventures, wherever you’re going, whatever you’re doing.

Are you ready to help me pack? Let’s go!

All right before we get started, I’m going to tell you a little bit about my trip so that you can keep all of it in mind as we’re packing and I’m thinking about the things that I’ll need. Like I said, I’m flying out tomorrow.

Normally when I’m flying to Europe, I prefer to fly direct, straight to London. There is a flight from Perth to London, quite long. I think it takes about seventeen hours but I’m the kind of person who likes to just get it over with.

Unfortunately that flight hasn’t been reinstated since the pandemic so I’ve got to go through Dubai. So I’m flying to Lisbon in Portugal via Dubai. I have a stopover in Dubai just for a couple of hours, it’s quite quick.

So I’ll be flying through the night hopefully getting a little bit of sleep, fingers crossed.

When I get to Lisbon I’m going to meet up with Shah and our daughter Matilda and I’m very excited about that. Currently, they’re in London together and I’m meeting them in Lisbon on Tuesday. So we’ll be together in Lisbon for a week.

The main reason why we are going to Lisbon is because we have tickets to a Kings of Convenience concert at the Coliseum in Lisbon, something that we’ve been looking forward to for a long time.

We bought tickets early in the pandemic knowing that it was going to take a little while for us to be able to be there together and to do that. That is happening on Wednesday, not long after I arrive and then we’re going to spend a few days exploring Lisbon, it’s an incredible city, beautiful city but then we’re also going to spend the weekend in Sintra which is new for me. I haven’t been there.

Then together we’re going to fly to Italy and we’ll fly into Florence. Florence has never been super high on my bucket list however the more that I’m looking into it, the more that I’m reading about Florence and Tuscany and Italy, the more excited I’m getting about the architecture, the museums, the incredible masterpieces that you can see there in all of the galleries and museums.

So I’m looking forward to it. We’re spending a couple of days in Florence before we catch the train to Pisa.

For any of you who know that famous leaning tower of Pisa, that is exactly where we’re going but more excitingly, the reason we are going to Pisa is because we have a fantastic amazing event that we are hosting in Pisa for all of the members of the Hey Lady! community. Hey Lady! is my community for women learning English. It’s an incredible space to build confidence and speaking skills, conversation skills and we do that all through our online platform.

So all of us are very used to meeting and hanging out with each other online all the time, for years.

This is a very special in-person event and so there are members from our community coming from around Italy, from around Europe and even flying in from different continents and different countries. It’s going to be amazing! I can’t wait. So that’s why we’re going to be in Pisa.

Then from Pisa, we’ll catch a train down to Naples and I’m really looking forward to that part of the trip. Naples or Napoli is home to pizza, the home of pizza. I don’t care where you are in the world, I know we all think that pizza is ours. Pizza belongs to Napoli and of course, naturally we are gonna do a pizza-making course in Napoli just to make sure we’re doing it right. We’ve got the perfect technique.

There’s incredible national parks that I want to go hiking in, amazing historical sites like Pompeii. I would love to go exploring through Pompeii. The Amalfi coast and all of those incredibly beautiful coastal villages so I wanted to give you all the context of that trip to help you see what I need to pack and why.

I’ve been looking at the weather it’s going to be about twenty-five degrees most of the time, so quite pleasant, a good time to travel but also I feel like I need to be prepared for anything. It can be a little bit rainy particularly in Italy around that time so I need to be prepared for that. As you heard, there’s hiking and adventure activities and things like that, lots of walking so I need comfortable clothes to do that in but you also heard me say that this is part business trip as well.

Lots of things to think about, not a lot of space to pack things into so it’s going to be a bit of a challenge.

Let’s get into it!

Okay so I’m gonna start bringing out all of the different bits of clothing that I’m gonna put in to that side and explain them as I go.

So I’ve got a few pairs of pants that I’m going to take, always take a pair of jeans or I do.

Can’t go anywhere without them. I’ve got a second pair as well sort of don’t look like jeans, they’re jeans material and they’re sort of patterned, they’re like wide-leg as well, the other one’s a skinny-leg. Good to have options.

You’ll see that my method of folding is not too precise. I think some of you might be having heart palpitations watching me just shoving things in my suitcase. This is how it is.

An essential in my suitcase is a jumpsuit. So comfy, easy to throw on, easy to dress up, dress down.

The other essential piece from my wardrobe is culottes. It looks like a skirt when you’re wearing it but it’s a pair of baggy pants. I absolutely love these because I can easily dress them up with a pair of heels or some sandals and I can dress them down with some sneakers or some thongs. Australian thongs everyone, jeez.

All right and a couple of brightly coloured little pieces so I’ve got a skirt that I’m gonna take. This dress is new, it’s from one of my favourite brands Gorman. I think that I’m going to wear this at our event in Pisa.

I haven’t really got shoes to wear with it though so I’m still thinking about what to do there but I’m definitely taking it, it’s really good and I think it’ll travel well because it’s just cotton so it’s unlike the jumpsuit, it’s not going to get too creased even with my method of folding.

Another cute little addition that I’ve got to throw in is this set of shorts with a top that goes with it. I really like having the flexibility of being able to dress something up or down and so you’ll see that in my wardrobe, mostly it’s full of really comfortable things that you know you can add a pair of heels or some earrings or something to dress it up. It becomes very flexible.

What else? Okay I’ve got a – what do we call this? Skivvy. A skivvy. What else, maybe like a turtleneck? It might be called?

A long-sleeved shirt with a neck covering and it’s a little bit cropped as well. Most of my pants are high-waisted so most of my tops are cropped but what I’m hoping is that just in case it gets a little cold I should be able to wear this skivvy with a few different things that I’ve got in here and I think that will save me if there are a couple of nights that get chilly.

I’ve got a couple of t-shirts to throw in. You guys know from all of my videos including this one, that I love just wearing black. This is a singlet, always need to have that. I’ve got one in beige and I’ve got all nude. Perhaps we call that and I’ve got a black one so all bases covered.

All right I’ve got a few more options for tops and things as well so I’ve got nude or black. Ideally, I don’t want to be doing washing while I’m away so I’m hoping that I can take… I’m probably going to have to do it.

And a little lightweight jumper as well that I can easily throw in my bag or sort of throw around my shoulders if it gets a little chilly. So that’s that. Getting pretty full over there.

One thing that I’m really not sure about, warmth, because like I said earlier, it’s between seasons, it’s going to be about twenty-five which should be really comfortable but I’m sure there’s going to be a couple of days where it’s cooler and a couple of days where it’s warmer and probably a little bit of rain as well so I think it’s a good idea to throw in my rain jacket. It folds down to such a small size. I don’t want to be caught in the rain.

So then I’ve got to decide between my trusty leather jacket. This I have had, gosh it’s fifteen years or more. It is the best purchase that I’ve ever made and I love it, probably the one that I should go with. I really love this one.

At the moment in Australia, we’re heading into winter and it’s starting to get a bit cold and this is a down jacket so it’s full of feathers. So warm. I don’t want to be cold but as you can see it’s pretty bulky.

Either way, I’m going to wear, whatever jacket I choose I’m going to wear it on the plane right so technically I don’t need to decide this right now. Let me know what you think. What should I do?

The other thing that is absolutely essential is activewear so activewear is kind of kind of what I’m wearing now leggings and a comfortable stretchy top. I’ve got my runners on as well.

All of this I think I’m going to pack and bring. I’m also going to throw in some bike shorts in case I want to go for a run, a sports bra and yeah my workout clothes.

So what else do I need? Oh socks and undies. Undies is a really Australian word. I think undies is short for underpants or underwear.

I want to try and take as many pairs as I can so I don’t have to do washing. I’m going to throw in a couple of pairs of socks, some sports socks and some other socks, probably take these on the plane, actually.

All right my togs. I just realised togs is probably a really Australian, probably even Victorian which is the state where I’m from, where I grew up, it’s not a very commonly used word. Togs are swimmers, bathers, bikinis, swimming costume, there are so many words for this. Swimmers and bathers are probably the most common and I’m just wondering whether I need to take two pairs.

These are both almost identical. I love this brand, Fella. They are amazing, very flattering. I know it’s gonna be warm, I don’t know if it’s going to be swimming every day kind of weather, maybe not but I don’t want to be stuck. I might take both. Optimistically I’ll take both.

All right and the shoes, right? Shoes are probably the hardest thing for me to pack. I’m going to take some street shoes. They can go with everything which is handy. I’m going to take my Birkies, my Birkenstocks. In Australia, we shorten that to Birkies,don’t know if everyone else does, do you?

Anyway I wouldn’t go anywhere without them. I will probably wear those ninety per cent of the time and then when I have to put something else on.

Okay so that’s that. I do need something that’s a little more dressy right? I am going to take my runners, like I said. Either I’ll wear them on the plane or I’ll wear my street shoes on the plane.

You know when I say I need something a little more dressy, remember that a little part of this trip is a business trip right, we’re meeting my students, my clients, we have an amazing event. I don’t know if I want to take heels or I want to take sandals. I don’t wear heels that much and it’s not a super formal event and I can’t see myself wearing them at any other point on the whole trip so I think I might leave them and opt for the sandals instead. They’re like just slightly dressier than my Birkies so I might wear those.

Sorry to disappoint any of you who thought I had better taste in shoes but unfortunately not.

So some of the other things I need to take, ladies you understand, right? That packing a suitcase, half of it is just not even clothes so I’ve got my hair straightener and my hair dryer which are essential. Let me just pop that off, slip that in there.

Toiletries. Toiletries are well it’s the collective noun that we use for anything that comes from the bathroom so makeup, shampoo, toothbrush. Let’s actually just go through it.

So deodorant, very important. This is roll-on deodorant but you can also get spray. I’ve got oh gosh quite a few different moisturisers, hand moisturisers, night cream, day cream, you know what it’s like.

I’ve got my cleanser, a hairbrush a comb, essential for my fringe. Some people are you know fifty-fifty on these, whether or not they like them. I really love them for just throwing your hair back, butterfly clip.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss and a couple of other essential items like band-aids, always try and remember these when you’re doing a lot of walking in case you get blisters, Panadol, Nurofens, pain relief.

Hair ties or elastics, hair elastics, hair lackey. There are so many words for these little things, so many words I wish that there was an endless supply of them but they always seem to go missing. Always remember to take a few.

So that’s that and now we’ve got my makeup case. Now my makeup case when I travel, I try to travel as lightly as possible so I’ve got my foundation, I’ve got my powder, my rouge, eyeshadow and eyeshadow brush, mascara.

My lip liner and a couple of lipsticks, couple of options, not too many options but honestly, I really try and keep it light if I can. That’s my makeup case, what else?

I mean this side’s pretty full now. Can you think of anything I’m missing?

I try to take one, if not two, like canvas tote bags because they’re so handy. Canvas is the material that this is so yeah just a tote bag and I’ve got a thousand of them.

Maybe I’ll put my shoes in it just to protect them while I’m travelling. Also be a beach bag you know if we end up going to the beach or shopping so I don’t have to use plastic bags. All of that stuff so really useful, I always try to pack at least one if not two. What else?

I haven’t put my shampoo or conditioner in yet. Do you know what? I think that’s it. I think I’m done.

So I feel pretty confident that I’ve got most of the things that I need in here. The things that I’m missing I’m probably going to put in my cabin bag, my laptop, any cables and chargers, my phone, book to read, notebook to write in. All of that stuff will go in my cabin bag.

Can you think of anything that I’m missing? Anything that you would pack that I haven’t put in here? If you can think of something, let me know down in the comments. Try and do it soon because my flight’s tomorrow!

And now it’s homework time. I want you to think about an upcoming trip that you’ve got and if you haven’t got a trip planned, I want you to imagine one.

Tell me about it down in the comments but also tell me about what you’re going to pack. What are you going to put in your suitcase to take? What are the essential and the non-essential items that you need to take along on your trip? Practise using some of the words, the vocabulary that we’ve been talking about today and that’s it!

Wish me a safe journey! I hope if you’ve got travel plans coming up you’ll also have a wonderful time.

Thank goodness the world is opening back up again. I’m looking forward to heading to Portugal tomorrow and then on to Italy. I can’t wait!