Have you ever gone away on holiday and thought “I wish my suitcases/bags were heavier? ” No, I thought not!
The main aim for easy travel is to travel light, and only take the essentials with you – no need for the kitchen sink (if you are staying in a villa, that will be provided, of course! )
Before you even begin to think about packing, do some research. Will your holiday home/hotel have a hairdryer? Will an iron and ironing board be available for you to use? Are towels, pool towels and beach towels provided? Will there be toys available for the children? If the answer to any of these is yes, then you will already have slimmed down the amount that you will need to take with you.
Find out about the temperature of where you are going. If you are travelling to a destination where it will mainly be hot or warm (like Florida! ), you might only need to take one warm sweater for the evenings. If you check the temperatures before you travel you will save a lot of space in your suitcase that would normally be taken up with lots of ‘just in case’ clothes.
If possible have a colour plan in mind and try to pack things which will mix and match with each other, and bring in accessories that will go with everything.
Count things before you pack them. It is a good idea to think of things in terms of how many you will need for each day, rather than just throw in a bunch of tops and bottoms. If you are going away for one week, generally you would need one top for each day, one bottom (trousers/shorts/skirt) for every two days, and clean underwear for every day. You would also need to think about swimming costumes – but do you really need a different one each day?
If you are travelling for more than one week, and you have done your research, you will normally find that it will be possible to wash things so one week’s worth of clothing will be all that is required.
Toiletries can take up a lot of space, so look for the small travel size versions of things which are widely available now. If a travel size is not available in your favourite product, decant some of it into a smaller container.
Now, make a list of everything that you are planning to pack. By doing this you should see whether you have too many of one thing, or have forgotten something essential like underwear.
Plan to travel in your heaviest/bulkiest shoes and wear or carry your jacket or sweater and that way you will not need to pack them.
Before you actually pack your suitcase, make piles of all the things you plan to take. This is your final chance to edit the clothes and perhaps remove a few more things. When you are satisfied with what you have, put them in your suitcase and RESIST the temptation to throw in a few extra items.
Follow these tips and you will be travelling light, in the knowledge that you have nothing in your case which is surplus to requirements.
The main aim for easy travel is to travel light, and only take the essentials with you – no need for the kitchen sink (if you are staying in a villa, that will be provided, of course! )
Before you even begin to think about packing, do some research. Will your holiday home/hotel have a hairdryer? Will an iron and ironing board be available for you to use? Are towels, pool towels and beach towels provided? Will there be toys available for the children? If the answer to any of these is yes, then you will already have slimmed down the amount that you will need to take with you.
Find out about the temperature of where you are going. If you are travelling to a destination where it will mainly be hot or warm (like Florida! ), you might only need to take one warm sweater for the evenings. If you check the temperatures before you travel you will save a lot of space in your suitcase that would normally be taken up with lots of ‘just in case’ clothes.
If possible have a colour plan in mind and try to pack things which will mix and match with each other, and bring in accessories that will go with everything.
Count things before you pack them. It is a good idea to think of things in terms of how many you will need for each day, rather than just throw in a bunch of tops and bottoms. If you are going away for one week, generally you would need one top for each day, one bottom (trousers/shorts/skirt) for every two days, and clean underwear for every day. You would also need to think about swimming costumes – but do you really need a different one each day?
If you are travelling for more than one week, and you have done your research, you will normally find that it will be possible to wash things so one week’s worth of clothing will be all that is required.
Toiletries can take up a lot of space, so look for the small travel size versions of things which are widely available now. If a travel size is not available in your favourite product, decant some of it into a smaller container.
Now, make a list of everything that you are planning to pack. By doing this you should see whether you have too many of one thing, or have forgotten something essential like underwear.
Plan to travel in your heaviest/bulkiest shoes and wear or carry your jacket or sweater and that way you will not need to pack them.
Before you actually pack your suitcase, make piles of all the things you plan to take. This is your final chance to edit the clothes and perhaps remove a few more things. When you are satisfied with what you have, put them in your suitcase and RESIST the temptation to throw in a few extra items.
Follow these tips and you will be travelling light, in the knowledge that you have nothing in your case which is surplus to requirements.