What I'm Taking on Holiday, Vol. 4

The internet loves to beg the question, “What’s in My Bag?” but we here at the Attic thought we’d take that one step further and have our Editors share the things going into their suitcases. This isn’t a very frequent feature — most of us are, after all, struggling grad students or quite early on in our careers — but one that makes our trips all the more exciting. In this edition, Editor-at-Large Lauren Olmeda returns to her home state of Michigan after living abroad for a year.

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I haven’t been on holiday since November of last year, so you can imagine that I am just itching to get to the airport – my favorite place in the world. To me, the airport is a sacred place: where one can disappear into the crowd, free from professional or academic obligations (tempting as it may be to engage with them, don’t!), free to wander and dine and drink while waiting to board a flight.

When my time in the airport comes to a close and my flight lands, I will be in my home state of Michigan. I’ve been out of the US for ten months now, so I’m mostly looking forward to what I’ll be bringing back with me from my holiday – various junk foods and an abundance of items I’ve absentmindedly purchased and had sent to my parents’ house – but I will be bringing some very important items along on my holiday.

Books, obviously

I’ve actually been quite on target for my 2019 reading goals (23 of 40 books), but since I plan to be doing absolutely nothing taxing while in Michigan, the books I listed in our latest What We’re Reading will be making the journey with me. Nothing brings me quite as much summer joy as laying by the lake with a beer in my hand and a book in the other.

Jewelry

I wouldn’t describe myself as someone who has a great sense of style – I mostly stick to darker hues and don’t really follow any trends. In essence, I’m a plain dresser. In summer, this means a lot of linen and cotton dresses, tops, and shorts. The one thing I do love is a good pair of statement earrings! When the summer heat is too much to wear anything other than a light cotton dress, I love to throw on a big pair of earrings to brighten up my look. I used to only wear pearls, but have slowly graduated to trendier styles – I’m a huge fan of tortoise shell and small gold hoops nowadays.

Sunscreen

I used to be all about getting a lush tan in the summer, but cancer just isn’t worth it, ladies. I’ll be spending a lot of time outside while in MI, and the forecast hovers around 30C/85F, so I will be slathering on the SPF. I’ve mentioned it loads (like in A Sunscreen to Rule Them All?), but I love the Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream with SPF – I go nowhere without it. As far as body coverage goes, lately there have been a lot of questions raised about the harmful chemicals in sunscreen, but if I’m honest, I’m far more concerned about the sun’s rays, so I haven’t made the jump to a “natural” brand yet. I’m a big fan of Garnier’s Ambre Solaire Sun Cream Mist – always SPF 50.

Running gear

Beforehand, when I said I wasn’t doing anything of consequence on my holiday, I lied. For some reason, I signed up to run a half marathon at the end of September, and as I am nowhere near the 13.1 mile mark yet, I have to train while on holiday. So that means bringing my trusty New Balance runners, which got me through my 10K last summer, my favourite pair of Lululemon running shorts, and the only sports bras I trust, from Nike. I also always wear a headband while running because there is nothing more annoying than my frizzy flyaways, especially when I’m sweating.

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Lauren Olmeda holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international relations. She is an editor based in Dublin, Ireland and is Editor-at-Large of the Attic on Eighth