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Sunday, February 20, 2011

What To Pack For Your Trip to Carnival

From my friend Fleur and her Carnival Obsession group started on Facebook...do not feel you need to carry EVERYthing on this list (I for one will never take extra feathers, after paying several hundred USD for a costume I am not helping decorate it, that's what I paid the band for!), but make sure anything you see and want/need -- or haven't thought of -- that will ensure a great carnival experience is packed so you are ready to rock and roll as soon as you step off the plane at Piarco!

Things to pack on your Carnival trip
Time to get serious I need to start to get my stuff together for Trinidad Carnival.

Things to pack on your Carnival trip
The Carnival Diva Edition


Make up kit (maybe a little extensive)
Foundations
Translucent Powder
Bronzing Powder
Eye Shadow Base
Concealer
Water Proof Gel Eyeliner
Liner pencils
Eye Shadows 
Powder Blushes
Lipstick Color
Lip Liner Pencil

Lip Gloss
False Eyelashes (bring the drama)
Eyelash Adhesive
Eyelash curler
Concealer brush
Gems
Spirit gum
Face Glitter
Glitter adhesive (you can use clear eyelash glue Duo is a great brand )
Water proof mascara  
Q-tips
Brush cleaner
Makeup remover
Oil blotting sheets


Toiletries
Shampoo/conditioner
Lotion
Baby oil
Sun block (the strong stuff I don’t care if you black or white)
Epsom salts (to soak your feet after the jammin')
Razors
Shaving cream
Contact lenses paraphernalia
Nail clippers
Nail fill
Body wash
Deodorant
Toothpaste
Sunglasses
Tweezers
Band-Aids
Allergy kit, if needed
Feminine hygiene products
Prescription medicines
Birth control
Condoms
Vitamins
Wet wipes
Health boosters such as Airborne

Hair
Shampoo/conditioner
Weave glue
Wig cap
Head tie
Silk scarf
Boddy pins
Hair ties
Brush
Comb
Gel
Hair products

Mas players list/ Costume repair kit
Glue gun
Glue stick
Safety pins
Velcro tape
Double sided tape
Needle and thread
Mas boots
Innersoles
2/3 pairs Mas tights low rise (dancer tights) 
Extra Sequins and feathers
Capezio Ultra Soft Tights (comes in plus sizes); $10 - $15 at Amazon

Technology Packing List
cell phone
iPod(s) or other player’s
digital camera and memory card
video recorder
laptop, netbook, iPad, kindle...
GPS
For all the above: batteries, chargers, cords!
Unlocked gsm phone
Kodak EasyShare C183 digital camera, available at Walmart.com etc.

Miscellaneous
Maps of the area
Reputable taxi services
Notebook/journal
Guidebooks--buy the best! It's a small investment, compared to the cost of your vacation.
Ziploc bags Use for toiletries, makeup  wet swimsuits,  
Binoculars
***Tickets to the fetes


Feel Free to add

I will add:
an itinerary of where you plan to go morning, noon, and night each day...and an outfit selection plan for each so you know what to pack!





Also, copies of important documents such as passports, licenses, flight itinerary, guesthouse/hotel contact information, and a HARD COPY of contact information for people you plan to link with at the carnival as well as all the contacts in your phone in case the phone is lost or stolen...should email yourself a scanned copy of everything so worst case, if your luggage disappears you still have access to major paperwork!


Let your banks know which country you will be in and what dates BEFORE you leave so that they don't suspect fraud and freeze your account if they see charges racking up in a foreign country all of a sudden!

A memory card for your camera with the MAXIMUM gigabytes of memory!  Don't want to run out of memory far from a computer!

Carnival 2015 updates to the list:

5 Hour Energy (1 or 2 cases)


Gel mask (can be refrigerated or kept in a small cooler of daily ice in your room to sleep with and eliminate puffy eyes if, like me, your eyes get puffy when short on sleep! Not at all sexy for your fete pics and you don't want to be hiding out behind sunglasses 24/7 after your first day of extended Trini-style partying!)

A couple handheld wave-able versions of your nationality's FLAG so you can jump and wave and represent where you are from for carnival!

TRINIDAD CARNIVAL 2015 UPDATE (TAKEN FROM ANGELAPANAMA.COM):
Bug Spray & Sunblock [2015: CHIKUNGUNYA VIRUS IS CARRIED BY MOSQUITOES!]
The mosquitos in the Caribbean are trained assassins. They laugh at your mediocre bug spray & then they eat you alive. This is the method that worked for me and Paco and saved us from the usual “eaten alive by flying ninja assassins” scenario:
Step (1) Apply an oil or lotion based bug repellant
Step (2) Apply spray bug repellant [ENSURE IT CONTAINS DEET]
Step (3) Apply Sport SunScreen Spray (sport being the key word)
Step (4) Bug repellent bracelets on the wrist and ankle

Seems extreme, I know. Maybe you are one of the lucky people that mosquitos don’t bother.Even if they don’t bother you, don’t skip the sunblock. I have a friend that never learns and always spends the week after carnival peeling and looking like he has leprosy.

Jouvert
(1) Draw string backpack - Your jouvert band may or may not give you a backpack, come prepared.

(2) Zip lock bag for your important ish. Nothing worse than having to run from the water hose cause you have your cell in your pocket.

(3) Baby oil – gone are the days of having blue skin after jouvert , Cover yourself in baby oil and the paint will fall right off. Now I am not a fan of carrying around open containers of baby oil. I feel like they are bombs waiting to explode all over my ish. So I buy the travel size for each jouvert. I don’t open it until I arrive at the jouvert & then I dump it.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Tip from my aunt (Trinidad Carnival veteran) #1:
"Comfy shoes and sneakers for Jouvert. Colored beads and sunscreen. Be wary of pick pockets. you can get free sim card from either Lime or Digicel when you arrive at the airport and you just buy credit. Guard your cell phone. if possible carry a waist pouch and keep it close to you. Lock your valuables in the hotel or wherever. Also, you can google 'how to pack for Trinidad Carnival'. ENJOY!"

Unknown said...

Tip from my aunt #2:
"Take 'airborne' to boost your immune system, 5 hour energy to boost your stamina (if you can take it). The food is different so take stuff with you for upset stomach etc. Take a camera. Above all take a sense of humor."

Unknown said...

Tip from my aunt #3:
"Smokey and Bunty a street lime is good but a very rough crowd, so be careful. Sweet Lyme on the Ariapita Avenue Strip is more of an upscale street lime. Walk in groups (NEVER alone)."

Unknown said...

My tip for contact-wearers: have 3 pairs soaking in 3 different cases at all times...wear one set in the daytime for 12 hours, and easily change out to the next fresh pair before the night fete or after j'ouvert/before mas so that you can keep the look and convenience of contacts (and not jump and wave and have glasses fly off, possibly!) without the burn and redness of protein buildup!


Did this last year and it worked like a charm!

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