How I Travel For Riding

If you know me or follow me on social media, you know that I travel quite a bit to ride. Wellington is my most frequent destination but I also travel around my region to show. From over-packing to underpacking to buying too much stuff that it barely fits in my bag to go home. I have compiled a highlight reel of my how-tos on traveling for riding.

The number one thing is the size of your bag.  If you don’t pick the right size bag, you could be in for a world of hurt. I tend to go a bit bigger, especially when I am flying. It allows room for extra stuff if/when I buy stuff to spoil my pony. When you are driving to your destination, there is more leniency on space. My bag of choice for flying is the North Face Longhaul 26″ Rolling Duffle. It is only offered in black now but I have one that is a couple of years old and bright orange. With a price tag of $239, you may think it isn’t worth it but trust me, that thing can last an apocalypse. You can find it here. For shorter or driving trips, I choose my Samsonite Leverage LTE 20″ Spinner in purple. You can find it here for $169.99. It’s light, flexible, and easy to maneuver. The size is just right for everything I would need on a daily basis. When driving, I don’t worry about extra space in my suitcase for any goodies I would pick up for my pony since those can just stay in their bag/box and sit in the trunk.

When I travel for riding, I also find that it is best to make a list of exactly what I want to pack. By writing everything out, it allows me to make sure I get all the outfits I want and also not forget important things. Planning outfits are one of my favorite things leading up to any of my trips. Start with the essentials and then add extras such as jewelry, hats, etc. If you are constrained by space in your bag, try delegating a certain amount of space to certain things. The best way I’ve found is by using packing cubes! I use Amazon brand that you can here, but anything of the sort should do. By only giving yourself a particular amount of room, it keeps you from overpacking and not having enough space for other things that you need.

Being at the busy airport and juggling everything, stuff tends to get dropped or lost. Having a small wristlet or wallet is super beneficial. My favorite is the Tucker Tweed Equestrian Wallet in dark chocolate! It’s compact but still has the perfect amount of room some money, cash or cards, a boarding pass, and your passport. By putting all of those things in one place, losing any or all of them is much harder. Tucker Tweed offers this wallet in 7 different colors for $110 on their website here.

I hope y’all enjoyed this post over how I travel for riding! If you have any tips that I didn’t mention or want me to explore, feel free to DM me on Instagram @equestrian.syd !

Until Next Time Preps,

Sydney & The Ponies