13. Jet-Set Chic: Stylish Summer Travel with Carry-On Couture | Haley Lamey

It's travel season! Whether you're heading to Europe -- and I know many of you are! -- or a weeklong trip somewhere else, Haley Lamey, the founder of Carry-On Couture, has got you covered! Haley discusses her signature approach for creating stylish capsule collections for women who want to look polished and put together while they're traveling. She helps her clients enjoy their vacation...without ever worrying about losing their bag. You'll particularly love hearing about why Haley started a business in midlife, and how she's doing exactly what she loves in midlife.

You'll definitely want to download this episode and listen to it again before your next trip! And again before the trip after that one. Bon voyage!

Links and Mentions in This Episode:

CLICK HERE to connect with Haley!

Click HERE to shop the AMAZING capsule collection Haley created just for School of Midlife!

Click HERE to shop Haley's favorite travel pants, the Spanx kick flare pant

Click HERE to shop the Babyliss Pro travel hair dryer

Click HERE to shop a packable nylon duffle bag

📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST
https://www.schoolofmidlife.com/newsletter

👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

On Instagram

On LinkedIn

Work with Laurie

Transcript

0:00

On today's episode of the school of midlife podcast. I am so excited to introduce you to a friend of mine. Hayley Lamey, Haley, in my opinion, is perfect as a podcast guest for a couple of reasons. First she discovered in midlife. an incredible love for Italy. She travels there regularly. She's working on speaking the language fluently. she's doing exactly what I talk about when I talk here on this podcast about figuring out what you want your life to look like and go live it. So she is literally making midlife her best life. And the second reason I am so excited for you to meet Haley is she just launched a business in midlife? It's called Carry-On Couture. And she helps. Style women for their vacations, all in a carry on. So I can not wait for you to meet her. You are going to love this conversation. Welcome to the School of Midlife podcast. I'm Laurie Reynoldson, former award-winning attorney turned high performance coach for midlife women. I designed this podcast is your go-to place for weekly midlife inspiration, where I'll be sharing, inspiring stories, providing step-by-step actionable coaching and introducing you to some incredible women who are absolutely crushing it at the midlife game. And you'd better believe we'll also be having candid conversations about mid-life relationships, career moves, money, menopause, and so much more. So take out your reading glasses and notebooks. My friends, because the School of Midlife is in session.

Laurie: 1:49

Well, hey friends. Welcome back to the School of Midlife podcast. I am so excited for our conversation today. We actually have our first guest on a midlife woman who is, she's got the coolest new business, and I cannot wait for you to meet her. She is a travel partner, a fellow Italy lover, an incredible woman. Mother of three boys who are out there in the world making huge strides and, and changing the world. And like I said, she recently launched her new business. So I am excited to introduce you to my friend Haley

Haley: 2:24

Lamey hi Laurie. Thanks for having me. I've never been on a podcast.

Laurie: 2:29

Oh, well, good, good. Um, talk to us about your new business. what

Haley: 2:36

are you doing? Well, okay. it's still in development. It's a concept. No, no, no, no.

Laurie: 2:41

I I'm not gonna let you do that. You're gonna own it. Okay. Tell

Haley: 2:46

us about your new business. First of all, this new business is a lot thanks in part to you, because you've been super encouraging from the very beginning. Like, you need to do this, you need to do this. And I thought, gosh, I'm gonna listen to Laurie, cuz I always think I need to listen to Laurie you've always given me good advice. So my new business, it's called Carryon Couture. And it evolved. Well, probably seven years ago on my very first trip to Italy, which was how we met actually, coincidentally, yes. Um, I decided I wanted to carry on only. I'd always been a chronic over packer and um, I just was too terrified about losing my luggage and. You know, you've seen those people getting on the airplane looking carefree, just they're usually dressed really nice. They've got their carry-on bag, like they've got the world under control. And then there's those other people that have five large bags and they're trying to get'em through the doors and they're sw sneaking through the lines at the airport. I didn't wanna be that person anymore, so, I committed to carry on only eight years ago now, I guess, actually. And started teaching people, like friends and family, like, no, this is how you carry on. And, um, and I was always looking online for tips and tricks and hacks, like how to do it better. But my biggest issue was the capsule wardrobe, which is a, is a strong component, a major component I think, of being a carryon only traveler. And I always struggle like, what am I gonna pack? What am I gonna bring? But there was never really good information. Out there, like a how-to, so I thought, I'm gonna do a how-to I, I wanna teach people how to do capsule wardrobes and in addition, how to pick luggage, how to pack better, how to pack lighter. So that's kind of how it all evolved.

Laurie: 4:28

I love that. I didn't realize that, so the, the trip we went on in 2015, was that your first trip to Italy?

Haley: 4:36

No. Um, not really. I had been, uh, maybe 20 years ago, mom, but

Laurie: 4:42

Because you've been a lot since

Haley: 4:45

then. Well, I kind of developed a bad habit. Well, it's a good habit, but it's a habit and yeah, I, I try to go. I don't know. Few times a year.

Laurie: 4:54

And you have learned the language. You've got, are you still working with the um, language

Haley: 5:01

instructor? Y Yeah, I have a couple actually, and I'm actually, this is totally getting off topic, but I'm going to Italy for two weeks in August to language school for two weeks just to part.

Laurie: 5:16

I love that because it is exactly what I want people to do with midlife. Right? Figure out what, how they wanna spend their time because they've earned it. I mean, you've, you've raised up three boys, you've kept three humans alive. I do. Um, and, and finally. It was fun. Yeah. Yeah. But you're finally getting a chance to figure out, well, what does Haley wanna do with, with retirement? Okay. So let's get back to the business. Um, I, I completely resonate with what you said about when you were looking online. The resources were just a little. Interesting. Or they, they weren't quite giving you what you wanted. I know that when, because I, I was also for that trip, that was actually my very first trip to, to Europe and I liked the idea of I only carry on, I've only ever carried on and I wanted a capsule collection. But if you go online, it feels like they're all like 20 year olds who are shopping at. H and m or Amazon, and all they're doing is curating a, they're putting together a travel capsule that they're literally never going to wear again. And so I, I love that you are actually giving real women tools. Can you walk us through your process of how you create a capsule collection?

Haley: 6:44

Yeah. I have some rules to the capsule. Um, ooh, I love rules. Yeah, these are some rules. So, okay. One of my first and biggest rules is the number of shoes you can bring. Only two. Well, okay. Three and me. Two. I say two because if I say three, then people bring four Shoes seem to be to wreak havoc on luggage. I mean, if you bring a lot of shoes, you're automatically, you're gonna be packing a lot of stuff. So if you start with your shoes, I always start with my shoes and I, I aim for two pairs in the winter. To me, it's a lot easier to bring two pairs cuz you can bring a sneaker and a boot and that's really all you need for winter, summer, I'll bring three into, I mean, I, I tell everyone, only bring two, but I'll bring three, I'll bring, you know, my work horse shoe, my sneaker, and then I'll bring maybe two pairs of sands. And that's it. And that's, but

Laurie: 7:30

you probably wear the sneakers on the plane, right? Yep. Always.

Haley: 7:33

Uh, uh, so my next rule is always wear your heaviest items on the plane. Always. Okay? Wear heaviest items on the plane. So

Laurie: 7:39

you're really only packing two pairs of shoes. You're taking three. But, but

Haley: 7:43

if, look, if I see bring doing three shoes, then people are gonna bring four, so two pairs of shoes, okay? And my next goal is when you're creating your capsule wardrobe, if it doesn't get worn, at least twice, it doesn't get to come. It, you leave it at home. So it needs to be used twice in your capsule. I if, if you're not using it twice, it's taken up too much room. It's not worth it.

Laurie: 8:07

L let's, let's step back. Um, okay, so are these, do these rules apply for a. Weekend trip to New York the same way that they apply to a two week trip to Europe?

Haley: 8:22

Nope. Absolutely not. A weekend trip is different and um, I sometimes I feel like those weekend trips I bring almost as much as I do for a week in Europe.

Laurie: 8:33

Yes, I

Haley: 8:33

know what you're talking about. I think when you, depending on your trip, you know, you've got different, uh, Different focus. Like when I'm going to Europe, I'm thinking, okay, when I'm packing for a, a, a long trip or I have to bring a lot of clothes, I'm not gonna do a lot of costume changes, right? I'm not gonna change for dinner. Typically, unless like I'm on a boat or something during the day. But I mean, typically what I put on in the morning is what I wear all day, but then I change it up. So for daytime, I'm probably gonna wear a casual sandal in my sneaker, maybe a little, um, a white button down shirt tight at the waist if it's a little chilly or a jean jacket. But for the evening, I'm gonna put on my nicer shoes. I'll put on maybe a pretty scarf, either around my neck or as a Mina and jewelry. So I try to make my. My outfit for that day work from casual to dressy day to night. Does that make sense?

Laurie: 9:26

Absolutely, it does, and it's brilliant because there, there are so many outfits that you can do that and without, like, just by changing out shoes, I, I also love the fact that its sneakers are, Acceptable. Now they're, they're so many places they're, yeah.

Haley: 9:48

It's funny cause the first time I went to Europe, everyone said, oh, don't wear the white sneakers. You'll look like an American. Which I don't care what we do, we look like Americans anyway, no matter how hard we try. But that's okay. We're gonna do our best to, you know, uh, look. Classy when we travel, and a lot of the Europeans, especially in Italy, are wearing the white sneakers. Actually, the Italians look so cool. They have some really funky sneakers, but only they can pull them off, in my opinion.

Laurie: 10:16

when you're creating a capsule collection, are you talking with your clients about what activities they have planned or are you checking the weather or? Absolutely. So we've got, we've got the rules as the basis and then what, what happens from there?

Haley: 10:31

So what I start by just having them answer a questionnaire and like you said, it asks about, I mean, so my clients have to do a little bit of homework actually, cuz I mean, okay, I don't know their trip, right. So, I send a questionnaire and the first question is whether, what's the temp average temperature for your location during the dates of your travel? You know, you can get online and check averages. Look for weather highs and lows, precipitation, and I always recommend, you know, three weeks before your trip, check the weather and then before you leave, check the weather. And you're really not gonna change your capsule too much, cuz hopefully if we've done it right, we're gonna take into account. If there is some, you know, temperature changes, we're gonna have some layers. That's a, uh, a key to a capsule order of is being able to layer things in case it does get chilly or in case you do get warm. Um, but I always check three weeks before I leave and then a day before I leave to make sure I don't need to throw in. I don't know, I always bring a rain, a raincoat anyway, even in the summer. So anyway, you can do a little bit of adjusting before you leave. Um, and then my next question in the. In the questionnaire is activity level. Are you gonna be, you know, is it heavy? You know, 20,000 plus steps a day, moderate, you know, 8,000, eight to 15,000 steps a day or just relaxing on a beach, cuz that'll be, um, that'll impact what we pick for you to bring. And then I ask about activities, like specific activities. Are you going on a boat? Are you taking a, a tour somewhere? Are you gonna do a hike? You know, those kind of things. Just to know what kind of special items do you know you're gonna need? Like I'm gonna need hiking boots or I'm gonna need a fancy dress cuz I'm going to a wedding or you know, my husband's gonna need a sport coat. And packing for guys is a different story. We could talk about that if you want to, but,

Laurie: 12:19

or we cannot. Do you, do you work with men

Haley: 12:21

packing? I haven't yet because they think I'm ridiculous. You know, guys, they just think we, women, like my husband's like, yeah, throw it in my bag. And I go, I'm like, yeah, but. Men pack capsule wardrobe. That's how they live. They live capsule wardrobe, like all their pants matches, all their bottoms. Like they don't pack outfits like women do. But I have had some interest from wives about their husbands and I've certainly given some tips to me. For the guys, they're, they're at a disadvantage cuz of the size of their feet and their shoes take up so much room in their bags. So, but I have a solution for that too. Tell me, you, you fill their shoes, like those shoes don't travel empty. You're gonna shove. Everything in those shoes. There's no on you spaced in anybody's suitcases when we pack. So if you've got boots that you're putting in your bag and for some reason not wearing on the plane like you should be, we're gonna pack those boots with anything we can to fill'em up in

Laurie: 13:13

your bag, if that makes sense. I, I always put. underwear and socks. Yep. In my shoes. Yep. Although, um, usually I'm wearing my sneakers. I, when Mike and I, so that trip that we took for y with you in 2015, that was, neither of us had been to Europe before and it was so cute because we had this idea that. We're gonna get up every morning and we're gonna go for a run. So we packed, you know, our really big running shoes and a couple of different running tops and shorts and, but I mean, when you're in Europe, There are very few days where you aren't over 20,000 steps for the day, so you don't really need to get up. It's a beautiful and go running, but that's a beautiful thing. That was the, the last time we packed workout gear.

Haley: 14:04

Honestly. I know people do wanna pack their workout gear and I'm just like, really? You're on vacation? But some people, that's their love and they need to do that and I respect that and we'll work it out. If somebody has to bring their work out here, we'll figure it out.

Laurie: 14:17

Yeah, exactly. I will say that one of the things that my, my listeners and the people that have followed the School of midlife is I did a packing guide for a trip I took last year, and they have been asking for, What are you packing this year? Well, we're not going to, um, Europe until the fall, so Haley was generous enough to put together a capsule collection for a summer trip to Europe for the School of Midlife, and I have to tell you, it is. Incredible. Hailey, you completely outdid yourself. Thank you. It was fun. I love it. It's three dresses, three tops, two pants, one skirt, two sweaters, three shoes, a swimsuit. Of course I, I think you always should pack a swimsuit and with those pieces and then several different accessories. There are 26 outfits. I just wanna talk to you about this capsule collection, you know, what was your inspiration? Do you always get that kind of, um, variety and mix? Walk me through putting

Haley: 15:29

together they all come together differently. They're, every council I do is so unique and, and really fun. I mean, I just, it's kind of a new adventure when I start out and. This one just turned out amazing. I I wanted to do you good, Laurie, when you asked me to do it. Um, so I,

Laurie: 15:45

I think I'm just gonna go buy all the things you should, you should to wear around Boise. It's that good.

Haley: 15:53

Well, so for this capsule, I really focused on neutral colors, which I really like a lot of color actually. Sometimes the, the capsules I found online are so boring. They're the typical like khaki pants, striped t-shirt, denim jacket. I mean, it's, nothing's unique about what I found online, which is another one of my inspirations for doing carryon couture. But this capsule I purposely kept in neutral colors, black, white, tan, um, because of Europe. Um, and you and I talked about this before, some places in Europe really do lend to bright. Colors like Amalfi Coast that comes to mind. But if you're doing a general European I try to just be a little more subdued and and understated. Just keep it classy. And not that you can't be classy in colors, but you know what I mean. Just a little more sophisticated, I think. And this capsule came together really great. I can't believe how many things we were, how many outfits we were able to make out of this. I kind of shocked myself on this one, but it was fun. Yeah.

Laurie: 16:51

So it's, it's great. the Capsule came out in my newsletter. Uh, if one, if you don't, if you're not subscribing to the newsletter, you need to get yourself on the list for the weekly best life list. We will include a link to that in the show notes, and there will also be a couple of links to this. European, capsule collection that Hailey put together for the School of Midlife will link to the. That Capsa collection in the show notes as well. Um, I'm interested in when you're working with a client because every, everything in the capsule, like you and I didn't talk about what's in my wardrobe when you send over a capsule. Do I have to go buy everything or tell me about that.

Haley: 17:44

Do you mean when I'm working with clients or when I'm just because I create capsules, I create these theoretical or hypothetical capsules that I post on my Instagram every week just to give people inspiration. But if I work with the client, I mean, you're really the first person who said, go make me a capsule. But that's, Typically not how it works. Like I would be happy to go make someone a capsule if they told me exactly what you did. I'm going to Europe, make me a capsule. I'll do that. I'd love to, that'd be fun. But typically the way it goes is somebody says, I'm going on a trip somewhere and we start by shopping their closet. Um, I just feel like that's a thing. Ooh. How do you do that? Well, so if I'm in Boise, I'm happy to go to someone's home. But I can do it virtually online as well, where again, I give people homework and I, in addition to the questionnaire, if somebody works with me, I also give them, it's my step by step. I think I came up with seven steps to creating a capsule wardrobe plus a template. So it kind of helped cuz I like formulas, like I like this plus this equals this. And that's what I couldn't find online when I was trying to make capsules. And I mean, this isn't rocket science, anyone can figure this out. But I like it all just kind of nice and put together for me so I don't have to think about it. And that wasn't out there. So I hopefully was trying to come up with that type of a formula for people so everybody could create a capsule. They don't, I mean, I'd love it if they'd come to me to do it, but I want to empower people. To be carry on, only travelers. And if I could help them with this formula.

Laurie: 19:13

can you walk us through your formula? What are the seven steps? Well, I

Haley: 19:18

think we kind of talked a little bit already. There's, you know, you look at the weather, you look at your activity level, you choose your shoes first. Everything has to go together. You know, every shoe must match every bottom. Every bottom must, you know, match every top. You must use it twice. In order to bring it on the trip, those kind of things. We were talking about the working with clients. So typically what will happen is, um, I'll give everybody their homework and I'll give them this template that they need to fill out. And the template basically is, you know, choose your shoes, choose your bottoms, choose your tops, choose your outer layers, and then if they're having trouble deciding. Like what, which pant to bring or which sweater to bring. You know, they'll ask me, well, what do you think? This or this? And I'll look at their itinerary and I'll think about their trip and I'll say, you know, I just really help'em process it. Actually, I think sometimes people just need a little bit of reassurance, like, yeah, this is the right thing to bring so they don't throw in these just in case items. Oh, another rule to the to my process is you have to write it down because if you don't write it down, You're gonna think you need to bring something you don't need to bring, right? So by writing everything down and putting it on a schedule, you will be able to look at your schedule of your days and say, oh, on that day I'm wearing my black pants, my sneakers, and my white t-shirt with the jean jacket. I don't need to throw in an extra pair of pants that day cuz it's covered. So, To avoid the, just in cases, I make sure everybody writes down what they're gonna wear every day. Like we know what we're gonna wear every day before we leave for vacation. I know that's extreme, but to carry on only in Europe for 10 days is kind of extreme. In my opinion from an over packer. From a previous

Laurie: 21:02

over packer. I'm right there with you. I mean, I, I wanna bring

Haley: 21:06

it all. Okay, look, if I can do it, anyone can do it. I like makeup, hair, shoes, clothes. I like all this stuff. If I can carry on, anybody can do it.

Laurie: 21:15

Well, l let's go there. Since you brought it up, I mean, what else besides clothing, what else is in your carry on? Okay, so.

Haley: 21:24

I, I'm glad you asked that because the clothes are the least of the worries. Actually. The clothes don't take up that much room. I think so too. Yeah. When you their products. Oh my God. Well, you have to, you've gotta downsize all your products, but I think by now everybody hopefully knows to do that. You know, we buy the tra the travel sizes or we, I've got great. Suggestions for containers if you wanna, you know, put things in smaller containers and they have to be in the clear plastic bag for T S a 3.4 ounces max. I mean, those are just general rules that I think hopefully all travelers know, but if not, I certainly school everybody in that as well. But yeah, in addition, you've gotta remember, you've gotta bring your undergarments and you've got to bring your. So people say, oh, all hair dryers, all hotels have hair dryers. And, and that is probably true. I would check with your hotel before you travel to make sure that that is true. But I've also come into contact with some interesting hair dryers in Europe

Laurie: 22:25

where they, well, I think you and I have the same travel hair dryer and it's fantastic. Yeah. It's the, the Babyliss

Haley: 22:32

yep. The, the little blue one. Yep. The Babyliss Pro. Yeah. You can get it on Amazon. I think it's, 30 bucks. It, it feels like a normal hair dryer, but it's tiny and lightweight. So I bring it because if Yeah, I, I just bring it, you'll have to check your hotel to see if you need to bring a higher dryer, but I bring one. Um, and then, you know,

Laurie: 22:52

but you need, um, Adapters.

Haley: 22:56

You do need travel adapters and adapters and converters are two different things as well. An adapter helps the plug plug in correctly. A converter converts the voltage. I never travel with a voltage converter because any more modern electronics generally have internal converters, if that makes sense. And. I don't know. This is the kind of the boring stuff. I hate talking about the, the technical.

Laurie: 23:19

I, I think it's good though that you, you brought that up. I have fried, I don't know how many curling irons. because, you know, you, you think, oh, I've gotta plug this into a voltage adapter and. Um, you just come home with a product that doesn't work anymore, so you might as well leave it there. Yeah. Okay, so we've got, we've got the clothes, travel size in, um, products, uh, hair dryer. What else? Any, what else is in, in, in your suitcase?

Haley: 23:51

well, one of the things that I included on this European capsule that I made for you, it's, it's a collapsible backpack by Longchamp It's really classy looking, but it folds up to, I don't know, maybe five by six. It folds tiny and flat, but it's great because if you need a day bag, so I mean, I, I travel with my, I call it my plus one personal item that goes under the seat in front of me. What is that? What is the plus one? Carry on? I prefer a backpack. Some people like tote bags. Mm-hmm. That's per, a lot of this comes down to personal preference. I just know what works for me. I prefer a backpack cuz I like two shoulder straps when I'm traveling. Um, I've ca I've tried a tote before and I feel like it's always on one shoulder and it's just, uh, every time I've traveled with a tote, personally I prefer to have two straps on my back sometimes, but some people like the look of a tote, they are beautiful. Um, so again, personal preference, but I like a backpack. But I don't, when I'm traveling, I don't wanna have to unpack everything in that bag to have a day bag. You know what I mean? So I, have a little collapsible backpack and there's tons of them online. I mean, you can go into Amazon and find one, but I like the Longchamp just because it's beautiful and it's stylish and um, and it looks great, and they have it in tons of colors. And you can get'em at Nordstrom, you can get'em on the Longchamp website, but I included one in my carry-on so that I always bring that in my carry-on. One thing I get asked a lot from clients is if I'm carrying, carrying on in a small suitcase, how do I have room to shop on my trip?

Laurie: 25:35

that was my next question. Thank you for going there.

Haley: 25:38

Yeah. So, um, if you are gonna shop on your trip, You do need to plan ahead and what I recommend is going on Amazon and finding a collapsible tote. I have some I can recommend if, if people need, but I mean, they're easy to find. Get a lightweight, collapsible tote that folds up to nothing. I mean, it's not a sturdy bag. It's, it's probably nylon or maybe a light canvas and it folds up flat. Bring that in your carry on when you get there. What I do is I'll fill that up with dirty laundry. And check that home. Oh, that's brilliant. Yes. And I bring my nuke things and my carryon bag again, the reason I carry on is cuz I'm terrified of losing stuff. Right. I, I'm, I'm terrified. That my stuff isn't gonna make it. So I'm gonna send home my dirty laundry cuz nobody's gonna wanna steal that. And I put my good stuff in my carryon and take it home and I check my laundry home.

Laurie: 26:34

That's so smart.

Haley: 26:36

Oh, but I think, you know, you had asked me about how about working with clients and. You know, sometimes I'll go into their homes and actually go in their closet with them, and I've had some really fun experiences with my clients in their closets. I've seen more underwear and bras than I've wanted to see, but I also have had some good success working with virtual clients where they have to do a little more homework and a little more on their own. But I think it's empowering for them to do that. And then, If they want, you know, some people get excited and they're ready to go and they're ready to put their outfits together and put'em on their itinerary every day. But if that's too overwhelming for people, I really enjoy the process of looking at what people have decided to bring, figuring out how to mix and match their clothes for them and where to put it on their schedule for them. And of course, I'll consult and say, do you need to wear this on a certain day or do you have this in mind for a certain day? And if they do, I'll work that in. But I strategically will try to teach people how to put things in, how to change the look of things by how you combine your outfits, how you add different accessories. And then if somebody really wants to go all out, um, which is the way I do it for myself, is I will actually have photos of my clothes every day. In a digital form that you can either print and bring with you, cuz some people are still old school and wanna print their things or they can have it digitally on their phone and just say, okay, what am I wearing today? And their blue outfit's right there and I can, so I'll download the clothes that they send me pictures of or that I take pictures of on an after house. Every item, the capsules that you see, I do the way they're laid out. I kind of lay their clothes out the same so they have a little capsule. That looks like, do you know what I'm talking about? That looks the,

Laurie: 28:25

the, the visual. Yeah. It's brilliant. I mean, because what it, what it does is it takes the guesswork or that, I mean, you're on vacation, so you should be excited about where are you going today? What are you gonna see, what are what, what is the experience that you're gonna have and not. What am I gonna wear? Yeah, I mean that's sort of the beauty of the capsule collection, and I love the fact that you take it one step further and figure out, okay, well on this day, this is what you're gonna wear. So you don't have to spend a lot of time like, Ugh, doesn't everybody do that? I thought everybody, I thought everybody knew what they

Haley: 29:00

were wearing every day on vacation

Laurie: 29:02

before the, I'm assuming. That you make people try the things on. And what I mean by that is there are plenty of times where I have gone to the gym in the morning to work out and I will bring, you know, whatever it is that I think I'm gonna wear for the day. And I put it on, I'm like, this was much better in my head than in execution. Yes,

Haley: 29:23

absolutely. So I'm glad you brought that up because that is one of the oth the other rules. So you can hypothetically have an idea in your mind of an outfit, but if you don't try it on I, you have to try everything on together because sometimes you'll put it on and you'll think this looks dumb, or maybe you've lost a ton of weight and things are falling off of you. Or maybe you've got some cleavage or maybe things are slipping off his shoulder. I mean, you're on vacation. You are not gonna have an option to. You know, change into something else because you've really honed it down and you're traveling smart and you're packing light. So no, you've gotta try everything on and make sure you feel good in it, and you have to feel good in it. I always recommend people bring their favorite things that they like to wear, because there's nothing worse than hating what you're wearing. I brought, oh God, I brought a dress last year on vacation and I wanted to burn it and I had to wear it twice and I, I did try it on. I even tried it on for my husband and asked him about it, and he kind of went, really? And I. I didn't listen to'em and I wish I would've. Cause I hate to this day. I hate that dress, I think. Anyway, so long story short, yes. Try on all your, try on all your things and make sure you like the way you look in them and that they work together. Do you still have

Laurie: 30:36

that

Haley: 30:36

dress? Well, I do, but the reason I have it is because, um, I use it in my capsule demonstrations at my packing parties. Because it work, it's already in a capsule I've created and I have a visual for it, and I pack it in my bag. And so it's, it's actually now just a prop. I don't actually wear it anymore. Okay.

Laurie: 30:55

Yeah. What's a packing party? Ah,

Haley: 30:59

well, so this is another way that I, this is one of the other things that kind of drove me to start this carryon couture. So, Our good friend Lynette Stanley, who has a travel business, Cypress Tours. Which I would recommend everybody should check her out. Her tours are amazing. I know you've traveled with her multiple times, Laurie, so I, yeah, they're great. So she invited me a couple of years ago to come talk about my packing techniques with her travelers. And it started out as kind of like, oh, let's just get together for wine and snacks and talk about packing. But cuz I like to do things a certain way, I wanted to have visuals and I wanted to, I wanted to really show people how it's done. And so we kind of have. Evolved into doing this.

Laurie: 31:44

Haley doesn't halfass anything. I mean, it's, it is off the charts. Deliverables from Haley are always incredible. So we're, I'm, I'm working with her. She is an over-deliver. You will never be disappointed in the level of service you get from Haley. Sorry to catch you off, but you're kind keep going. Sweet. Packing parties.

Haley: 32:05

Yeah, so we started doing these packing parties for all of her travelers. So she'll invite her travelers to come and we. Uh, we kind of, well I've ended up kind of taking over cuz that's also how I

Laurie: 32:16

roll because that's how you are.

Haley: 32:20

But

Laurie: 32:21

I started doing these, this is now the School of Midlife, uh, podcast by Hailey Laie. I'm just here to like show up. No, go ahead.

Haley: 32:29

You stand in. Just let me know. No, but anyway, we just do these parties for her travelers. We've done, sometimes she'll do two parties before one of her. Launches of her trips for a season. Um, we're kind of getting good at honing it down to doing one, one or two parties a season for her. And we just basically do a little packing presentation at a little seminar on basically suitcases, carry-ons, um, toiletries, capsule wardrobes, all that. So,

Laurie: 33:03

so if I were planning a trip, Somewhere with a bunch of college girlfriends or just friends, we could do that. Something like that virtually, right? Yeah,

Haley: 33:15

virtually we could. Uh, so Lynette's really good at getting it set up on Zoom and I, I do wonder how well it works virtually. I'm not sure how the presentation comes off. I would hate to offer to do a virtual one on a regular basis, cuz I just don't know. Uh, that's something I would need to Perfect before I'd be willing to sell it. I mean, I wouldn't sell it. It'd be free. Of course, I would do it,

Laurie: 33:38

you know, for fun, but, well, but I. I mean, if you want me

Haley: 33:41

to, the world is with some friends and bring drinks, we

Laurie: 33:46

can. Yeah. That's always, that's super fun for me. But if, if somebody's listening and they're in California, I mean, you're not gonna go and, and their friends are on the East coast or all over the country. I mean, I think, I think there's a way that you can do this. And we're also used to being on Zoom, we can all pour our own glass of wine and Yeah. Um, I, you know, I, I, I would think that the packing party is something that if our listeners are thinking, well, I would love to do a packing party, and I've got this group that I'm going with, but I'm not traveling with Lynette and I'm not in Boise, how can I participate? So, um, I, I think that that's something you could figure out virtually. Okay. Uh, why start a business in Medlife. Huh,

Haley: 34:31

well, so yeah, I guess it's, it's funny, I, I, I th I think of myself as a stay-at-home mom, but before I was a stay-at-home mom, I had a master's degree, I was a physical therapist, and, um, gave up my career to be a mom, which I have no regrets doing at all. And I haven't looked back. I, I would do it all the same way again. But one thing my mom always told me, my mom was a divorced mom. Um, my parents got divorced when I was young, and she told me from a very young age, don't ever be in a place where you can't support yourself or your children. And when I gave up my career as a physical therapist to be a mom again, never thought of what my mom told me, but later in life, as my kids were getting older and. Um, I thought, wow, I am at a place where something ever did happen to my husband or between us. I would not be able to support myself or my children, so that always didn't sit well with me, but I never really knew like, what would I wanna do? I was in the healthcare profession and I, I, I, I don't know, I was always kind of a. Ambiguous to me of what, what I would do, what I could do. And then this whole little travel thing started eight years ago with you and how fun it was and how much I loved it. And I thought, well, how can I get into the travel industry? And anyway, I don't know when, when Couture came in, I thought this is perfect though, because now I'm an empty nester. The, the days are, the days are empty. When they say emptiness, they're not lying. And um, I don't know, it just gives me an identity, I guess. It gives me. An identity, it gives me something. It, it brings me joy. And I think it's been, I've been really fortunate to find something that I have fun doing.

Laurie: 36:13

And you are 100% filling a niche, niche. Niche. How do we say that? Every time I say it, I feel like I, I'm saying it wrong, but I, I think that there is a need out there for the services that you're providing, especially for. Women who want to look put together and you know, like you said, we all look like we're Americans, we're. Mm-hmm. But still, it, it, there's something about trying to fit in and, you know, be respectful, I guess, of other, um, cultures while we're traveling and not being the ugly Americans. Yes. Right. Absolutely. Yeah. Literally and figuratively, I guess.

Haley: 36:53

And again, just, um, talking about carry on, only travel. I just, I think once. I've had people say, I'm never gonna carry on a bag. I get free check luggage. I like to bring all my stuff. And to those people I say, that's fine. No judgment. I mean, when your bag gets lost or damaged, we might say, I told you so, but I'll never judge you for that. But there's no reason why I think everybody couldn't pack a little smarter and a little lighter because you still have to manage your bag. At some point, and I don't know, uh, I think packing smart and packing light, whether you're going to Europe or whether you're going on a weekend to San Francisco, it, it just makes sense. And once you do it, I, I've never had somebody say, I will never do that again. I've always had somebody say, I'm sold. I will never check a bag again either.

Laurie: 37:42

especially in Europe, because you are, you rarely go one place in Europe. Mm-hmm. Or even, you know, maybe, maybe if you go on a beach vacation in Mexico, maybe you're going to one hotel, but. Especially in Europe, you, you're on the trains and you're, you know, you're, you've got huge bags that you're rolling over cobblestone streets So if you can carry on and make it smaller, it's just, it's going to make your entire trip a lot easier. I, I don't know if you remember this, but that trip that we took in 2015, um, do you remember there was a, a woman, um, Her, Dolores was her name. It turns out ironically, that she dated my father-in-law in high school, so I remember that very random story. Yeah, about that. But do you remember how perfectly put together she looked every day. I mean, she had a different outfit every day, but she also had this mammoth suitcase, and it turns out that she had an iron in her suitcase. Do you

Haley: 38:45

remember that? No, I did not know

Laurie: 38:47

that. Yeah. So when we were. And we were getting on the high speed train, um, in Rome to to head down to the Amalfi Coast. And she couldn't, she couldn't lift her bag. And so Mike was the only guy in our group of, I don't know, eight or nine, 10 women. And so he's trying to help everybody get their bags on and, and several of us carried on, but most of the other women checked. Mm-hmm. But he said Dolores's bag was the, the heaviest bag he has ever tried to like lug onto a train and, and stow up above and. And, you know, she's, she's this little bitty thing in her eighties and it, it's, well, and, and that's a perfect

Haley: 39:29

example. You know, another thing I, I just, I like being independent when I travel and I don't wanna have to ask someone, can you help me lift my bag? So I don't know how you feel about that, but I just, people are usually pretty willing to help, but not always. And I just don't. Like that feeling of not being in control of, of where my bag is and managing my own bag. And you know, on that note, God, 2022 was a really bad year for Czech luggage. the airline industry lost, damaged, or delayed over 2 million bags. I mean, there was one flight from I think London Heathrow that was just full of bags trying to get it back to their rightful owner. Um, I, I can't imagine anything worse than going on a vacation and having your bag not show up. And like you said, you're, you're going from place to place to place. You're not always gonna have the luxury of waiting three days, four days for your bag to get there. Uh, Yeah, I just, yeah, it's just not worth it.

Laurie: 40:25

Carry on people.

Haley: 40:26

And then I've had people say, oh gosh, I've got a couple layovers. I just don't wanna deal with my bag. I'm like, no. That's when you need to

Laurie: 40:32

have your bag with you. That's even worse. It's stuck in Detroit. Exactly.

Haley: 40:39

the more changes you have, the more, the more people that touch your bag, the more chance you have things going wrong. So just carry on your bag. You'll just, it's

Laurie: 40:48

so worth it. we talked a little bit about what you pack beyond clothing. Will you talk about, um, your first aid kit, uh, because you had this, this idea? I think it's brilliant. I s I now will only, I, I've got one that is always packed and I always take with me, even if I'm not going on a long distance trip. Talk to us about your first aid kit.

Haley: 41:16

Well, okay. Again, and this, I feel like a lot of this conversation is really geared towards, um, international travel and, and es especially with like a first aid kit. So I, I never used to travel with one. Like I'd bring some band-aids and I'd bring some, you know, Tylenol or whatever, but I never really had room for it. And then I got sick one time in Italy on a trip really sick, like the flu, sick, and. And you cannot get what you need there. I'm sorry. I mean, they just have different rules. I guess what they sell, everything's homeopathic. I'm like, no, I need some drugs. So I always bring a little mini, um, first aid kit. It does take up a little bit of room in my bag, but what I, I, I use one of those, uh, mesh sacks. You know, I try to, even my containers are lightweight, right? Like anything mesh. Mesh is a great type of container to put things in for organizing cuz it weighs nothing. And I have just basics. You, I mean, everybody's different, what they consider their needs are. But I have something for nausea. I have something for diarrhea, I have something for fever, I have something for allergies, I have something for, did I say nausea already? I mean, you know, all those kind of ailments. I have a packing list that I'm very happy to share with people if they would like it. But I think packing lists are kind of silly in some ways. Someone else's packing list is different than mine is gonna be different than yours.

Laurie: 42:40

And you can go to your local Walgreens or something and get the little, little pill. Baggies. They're tiny. They're tiny little things. you don't have to take the whole bottle.

Haley: 42:50

No, I, I, on Amazon, I think I ordered these little baby mini Ziplocs and I'll just put things in these little tiny Ziploc bags. Um, they're itty bitty. They're probably two inches by one inch or two and a half inches by one and a half inches. They're little. And I'll just put things in those little baggies.

Laurie: 43:07

Yeah. And I have been in exactly the same spot where you are. Um, where. You get sick and you cannot find what you need. So it's, it's brilliant. And it has saved, I'm not gonna say it's saved my life literally, but no, there have been some dicey moments and I was super happy that I had it. it makes me

Haley: 43:29

except space in my luggage, but I think It's smart

Laurie: 43:31

to bring it. So it's not a lot of space though. I mean, throw it in your carryon. Yeah, your backpack if

Haley: 43:35

you need to. Your plus one. I call it the plus one. Your plus

Laurie: 43:38

one carryon. Your plus one bag. I love that. Um, you ready for some lightning round questions? Okay, go. Favorite city in the world?

Haley: 43:50

Rome. Don't even have to Rome.

Laurie: 43:52

Think of what about in the us?

Haley: 43:55

Mm. Boise. Sorry. I'm a California girl that moved to Boise 26 years ago, and Oh, I've never looked back.

Laurie: 44:03

Yeah. Um, packing cubes, yes or no? Mm,

Haley: 44:09

yes. For organization. Do I think they actually help you pack more? I, I'm not convinced. I think you can just as much

Laurie: 44:19

talk to me about organization. how do you use'em for organization?

Haley: 44:24

there's different ways. Um, you can pack tops in one bottoms, in another underwear, and one, you know, you can use them like that. Some people I know will pack like a day, like my first half of the trip. Let's say you're going to two locations and your first half of the trip is in one your second's. In the other, you could use a large packing cube for your first half, so you don't have to unpack your entire bag looking for things. You can just grab that packing cube. Live out of that packing cube while your other stuff is nicely packed in your bag. And then when you get to your second, you know, location, you can unpack the second I use them. Like let's say I'm gonna have an overnight and I'm going on an early flight, but I don't wanna have to unpack my entire bag. I'll put like just what I'm gonna need for my. Overnight, like maybe before I get on my flight the next day in a packing cube. if you're traveling, if you're sharing the suitcase with, you're in a travel on, you're probably, or carry on, you're probably not sharing the suitcase, but you could, you know, maybe if you're traveling with children, you could put your kids stuff in packing cubes for them. A lot of people say, oh, I can get in so much more with packing cubes, and maybe people can, I, I can get plenty in without'em and I don't like to. Do anything that adds more weight to my bag, but they're pretty lightweight, so. They're not adding a ton of them,

Laurie: 45:39

but if we're using a capsule collection and we've, we've got it dialed into the outfits that we're wearing, we don't need to actually find ways to put more in our suitcase. Right. No, actually

Haley: 45:48

I'm all for putting less in your suitcase, so, yeah. And a lot of people, I love those vacuum pack bags. I'm like, well, those vacuum pack bags are gonna make that bag so heavy.

Laurie: 45:58

But if you

Haley: 45:58

need to bring a lot of stuff, they're a good strategy.

Laurie: 46:02

Yeah, and that's, I mean, weight comes into play, especially if you are flying between countries on the small European, well, I'll

Haley: 46:12

tell you what, the last time I checked it out, what is it, 17 pounds. It's 17 pounds, eight kilograms, and the last time I checked a bag was not by choice. It's because I had to go to the check-in counter and they make you weigh your carry on, and mine was 22 pounds. I didn't, I never thought about weight. I'm like, it fits. What do you care if it's in the top of the plane or the bottom of the plane? But they made me check my bag and I'm not lying. Guess whose bag did not make it back home. Bye. All the people is like so terrified of losing their suitcase. I got it three days later, but it just made me even more committed to carrying on. I'm like, see people? I've had people say, oh, I never have problems. I never lose a bag. I'm like, yeah, until you do.

Laurie: 46:52

Exactly. What is your go-to travel outfit on the plane? Do you have a a, a go-to uniform? Uniform? Yeah, a

Haley: 47:02

uniform. My travel uniform. Yeah. I have, it's always a dark bottom. Always. I like black more than Navy maybe gives me trouble. So I wear black bottoms and depending on the season in the summertime, I have a pair of I, Eileen Fisher. They're kind of a gauzy lightweight pants. Um, it's a pull on pant. They kind of look like grandma pants in a way. No offense to grandmas, but you know, as we, you know what I mean? They're just like comfy. And I wear my sneakers and I will have a t-shirt, a cardigan in my bag just in case I need it. But then I'll wear my jean jacket. in the wintertime I have. If you guys haven't found the Spanx, um, oh gosh. I don't know the name of the pant. It's a pull on pant, but it looks like a little trouser. It's a kick flare. It's so cute. It's heavy. It's kind of a heavy material, so it wouldn't be a summer pant. Um, they've got it in a full length and a crop length. It's a little kick flare pant, and it's stretchy, but it's got pockets so it doesn't look like a yoga pant. They're the cutest pants. Go to Spanx and check'em out. They've got'em in white.

Laurie: 48:08

we'll find those pants and we'll length to those. in the show notes as well. So, anyhow,

Haley: 48:11

where the Spanx and then, and then I love a long cardigan in the wintertime. So J Crew has a really great long sweater

Laurie: 48:18

coat that I love. Perfect. Um, any tips for sleeping on long flights?

Haley: 48:27

No,

Laurie: 48:28

this is, this is a selfish question because I, I do not sleep well on lung flights, which means I wake up or, you know, I, we finally land and I'm super rummy and all I wanna do is go to sleep, which I know we're not supposed to. They say whoever they are, say, don't do that. But

Haley: 48:45

I'd say, don't do that. I say, land and keep. Just keep going. It's the longest day on earth cuz you have no idea when you've started somewhere and you've ended somewhere and it's probably been 30 hours. But no sleeping on flights. I don't sleep on flights either. I know some people will take little helpers. I don't like to do that. Um, not cuz I'm opposed to taking a sleep aid. I just on a flight. I don't know. I, because I'm gonna wanna take my sleep aid when I land and I'm not sure what the time, there's such a time lapse, a weird time. So, you know, I just, I just recommend bringing. Things that you like, like maybe bring movies on your, on your device, bring books and just and keep your eye on the prize. Just keep focused on what you're going, where you're going and get through that long flight.

Laurie: 49:35

That's fair. Um, ways that are listeners can work

Haley: 49:42

with you. we talked about.

Laurie: 49:45

Um, you'll do a capsa collection for them.

Haley: 49:48

So I, there's different levels and everybody has a different need and I'm happy to work with anyone on every, any level they want help with. Um, I can do like an hourly type situation where, you know, I'll give you my. My step-by-step guide, my template and my time to help you think it through. Um, I'll come to your house if you're local and help you go through stuff, I'll, I'll, I'll shop an entire capsule for you if you want that. Um, so yeah, I, I think there's a lot of different, um, ways we can work together and

Laurie: 50:19

I And how do people reach you?

Haley: 50:23

Well, right now, probably the best way is through my Instagram account. I'm, I'm still in development. A website is coming. Um, I'm trying to build it myself, which I may, I may abandon that, but we'll see. Um, but right now Instagram account, if you direct message me on Instagram, is probably the best

Laurie: 50:41

And the Instagram is remind us. Uh, so Carryon Couture,

Haley: 50:46

unfortunately, somebody already had the simple Carryon couture, um, address. So my actual, my actual address on Instagram is Carry underline On dot Couture, and that is how you find me on Instagram. So Carry underline On dot Couture.

Laurie: 51:08

We will link that in the show notes Um, Two questions that I will be asking all of our guests on the School of Midlife podcast and that's how we will wrap up today. But number one, if you could go back knowing everything you know with all of your life experience, what would you tell your 30 year old self? and 30, because you know you're kind of in the thick of it, right? Where you're raising up kids, there's all sorts of activities going on. What would you tell that 30 year, year old Haley?

Haley: 51:47

I think what I would tell my 30 year old self is enjoy every stage of your life. They're all different. None is necessarily better than the others. I think every phase in your life is gonna have highs and lows and just ride the highs and lows and appreciate it because any low you have during your life is gonna really shape who you become later in life. Um, and it's okay to have lows. You're, we're supposed to have lows. Um, and it's not all easy, but when you get, I think as you get older, I don't know. I think life gets, in some ways it can get better because you worry, you, you don't sweat the small stuff as much, maybe. I don't know. So I think I would just give my, the advice would be enjoy every phase of your life because it's all good.

Laurie: 52:38

That's beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. And number two, what have you loved most about midlife? Hmm.

Haley: 52:48

I feel like it is liberating in a lot of ways. Because the things you used to care about and worry about, you're not caring about worrying about anymore. Um, probably how people think about you. I don't know. I think I saw it somewhere. Might have been on your, on your website. I'm not everybody's cup of tea or whatever. And that's

Laurie: 53:08

okay. And that's okay. Right. It's okay. I mean, for so long it feels like we, we as women, we spend so much of our time trying to conform and, and make, you know, our opinions.

Haley: 53:21

As women, we wanna just be accepted by other women and it is important. Yes. And I just, I wish we as women would just give each other a break. You know, we're all in this together.

Laurie: 53:32

Amen to that. Well, thank you so much for being here today, Haley. I have really enjoyed this conversation. I can't wait to hear all about your next trip, and, um, we'll see you real soon.

53:46

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the School of Midlife podcast. I'd love it if you would take a moment and leave me a five star review so that we can spread the word to other mid-life women. Then join my mailing list. The link is in the show notes. And if you're ready to make midlife your best life, you can also find out more about how to work with me in the show notes. I'll see you right back here next week when the School of Midlife is back in session.