Travel braids

The summer months are always ideal months to travel. Travelling means a lot of planning, though: where are you going to go, how are you going to get there, where are you going to sleep, what are you going to bring, but most importantly (at least for me!) - how are you going to wear your hair?

For me, there's two kinds of travel braids:

• the braid you want to wear because you're going to go some place nice and you're hoping for a beautiful photo;
• the braid you want to wear because you've got a long day of travelling and you still want to look presentable when you arrive.

My vacations usually have both braids: the second braid for the flights to and from the destination and the first braid for the other days. I do always plan the first braids as I don't want to waste my time on the destination thinking about what kind of braid I want to do. If I have to think about it once I'm there, I usually end up doing a braid I've done a million times before and I just don't want to do that when I've got a chance of a special background. This 4 strand slide up braid made out of braids, for example, is a braid I had planned before we went on vacation and one I could never have thought of in the morning. It's actually really easy (you create 4 braids, you make a 4 strand braid out of those 4 braids and then you slide it up), but yet I love how intricate it looks.

For the second type of braids (the 'have to stay in all day' braids) I usually go to simple styles. That way you can easily do the braid again if it doesn't look the way you want anymore. Great styles would be a side ponytail with a rope braid or a 4 strand braid. I never go for a ponytail in the back as I find it's not comfortable when you want to lean back in your seat. That's why I never wear buns either when I have to travel a long time.

Other great styles would be two French or Dutch braids or, if you've got more time in the morning before you travel, a fishtail braid. I love fishtail braids for travelling for my hair as I tend to have quite a bit of flyaways and I find them staying in better with a fishtail braid.

Travel photo from 2016: the fishtail braid on the left was for a long day in the car and the French fishtail braid on the right was for the flight from Los Angeles to Amsterdam.

Another great travel braid is a pull through braid. The elastics help to keep the braid in all day, better than a regular braid. For my recent flight from Amsterdam to Vancouver I did this side pull through braid and when I arrived in Vancouver I did of course have some flyaways, but it still looked nice.

Of course now I'm curious if you have any favorite travel braids. What kind of braids do you usually do during your vacation? Easy styles because you want to have time to enjoy your day? Or new braids as you've got time to try them out now? And what are your favorite braids for long flights / car rides? I'd love to hear from you, so please leave a reply below this post or on Facebook!