How to Pack for a Trip to Boulder, Colorado

I know, you probably read the title and thought, “Hello? I live in Boulder, you don’t need to tell me how to pack for my place of residence.” Maybe you didn’t say it quite as formally as that, but you get my point.

However, with as beautiful as Boulder is, you’re going to have friends and family dying to come and visit you. Since there are so many amazing things to do in Boulder, you may just want to send them this link and tell them to follow it to a T.

Enough layers for every weather contingency: We’ve all learned it the hard way at one point or another: no matter what season it is, pack for every season. Sometimes it’s warm enough to be summer during the winter. Sometimes it snows May. Sometimes you’ll get all four seasons in one day. Be prepared.

Four different pairs of running shoes: You’ve got to have the right shoe for the right terrain! Trail runners for Sanitas; road runners for a daily run arounddowntown; Vibrams for barefoot running with shoes on and fashion running shoes for a night on the town. And remember — some folks wear those Vibrams…everywhere.

Carabineers: They aren’t just for rock climbing! In Boulder, they are your link to all your earthly possessions. You need one for your keys in your pocket and one to clip your water bottle to your backpack. Your guests will need one for your spare keys. Hell, bring a few extra for your backpack in case you need to clip a few more things to it. You never know.

Antacids or heartburn medicine: No, the food here won’t make you sick. But the sheer amount of delicious eateries located downtown might have you packing in a little too much at a time. You might think you can never have enough farm-to-table meals in one day, but if you try all of the options available in Downtown Boulder, you might find yourself rethinking that notion.

Good pen for signing petitions: When you visit Boulder, you won’t yet be accustomed to the barrage of petitions that you’re asked to sign on any given day and you won’t have developed a system for avoiding these folks, so you’ll likely get suckered into a couple of petitions, regardless of the fact that you aren’t a registered voter in Boulder county (you can definitely use that excuse though).

A healthy liver: Not that you can exactly through this into a suitcase, but just make sure that your liver is in good shape because, with access to several world famous microbreweries and more bars than you can shake an out of state driver’s license at, you can bet you’ll be testing the limits of your liver’s capabilities.

Rolling papers: Yup, weed is legal here now (maybe that’s the reason you’re taking the trip out here in the first place). Get ready to buy it and smoke it penalty free. And we encourage this — especially since the excise tax on your purchases all go to supporting our public schools. Higher education, indeed.

If you can fit all of those items into a sustainable, vegan carry on bag, you’ll be ready to head to Boulder ready for just about anything that comes your way.

Even if you forget to pack most of these items, you’re still going to have a great time in a city with some of the best views in the country, some of the most delicious food in the state and some of the most diverse activities possible at any point of the year.