Holiday Packing - How Not to Drown Before You Even Get to the Beach

So I’m getting excited about the holidays. Although the summer seems too shy to even poke its lovely head on our cold shores, I know it is coming. The days are longer and… pretty much that’s it.

I started thinking that when I go on holiday I may actually have to pack some warm clothes and some sun glasses and some sandals and all those things that never get used. So I got out my weapon of choice (my pen) and listed my best ideas on what and how to pack for the summer holidays.

This list is quiet general and must be tailored to your individual taste. I combined my best experience with interviews with fashion colleagues and well-travelled friends.  With such preparation, I’m confident that this list should be the definitive starting point for your holidays packing.

 

I’ll start with some general packing advice:

• Travel size toiletries – a great idea. Try to use travel size toiletry bottles, as the full size ones can get extremely heavy very quickly. Also remember that hotels normally supply some useful toiletries, like soap, body lotion, conditioner etc.
• Sort and conquer – have one bag for undies and another bag for socks and hose. This way you can easily transfer each pile into a separate drawer in your hotel room. Same goes for a dedicated bag for cosmetics, which will live happily in the bathroom during your stay.
• Small gym bag – soft and light fabric duffle bags can be a great way to have flexibility in case you end up buying some souvenirs or presents for the folks back home.
• Pack your dresses hung on wire hangers – roll them up in plastic bags to prevent wrinkles and place carefully in your suitcase. When you get to your hotel, it is all ready to be taken out and straight away hung in your hotel room closet. It is a real time saver.
• The all-important bikinis – roll them into your shoes to save space.
• First aid plasters – These are your essential first aid response for those annoying blisters, typically associated with a long night in high heels.

Unlike iPads and eReaders, books don't get stolen

Vamos a la playa

• Invest in a large beach bag – you will need all that space for your  towel, swimsuit and various bits and bobs, so go for a large one. Stripy design or summer prints are this season’s greetings for the beach. See some good examples for reasonably priced beach bags with Boden. 
• Beach Towel – a beach towels is essential, as many hotels won’t let you take theirs to the beach.
• Cool shades - this season, larger is definitely better. Large sunglasses appear to be the long term trend, especially the large framed ladies’ sunglasses that seem to be having a good time with a variety of bold colours.
• Sun block – this is an essential weapon to avoid premature skin ageing. At least SPF 15 to avoid sun burns.
• Hair ties or hair bands – these are another essential item, especially if plan to get your hair wet in the sea or the pool.
• A good book – not surprisingly old fashioned books are much less attractive to thieves than iPads, Kindles etc.

Your wardrobe:

Should be tailored to your taste, but I would suggest a backbone of at least - 2 sundresses for night and day, a pair of shorts or slouchy trousers, a skirt, maxi dress, and five or six tops. I would go with a pair of flats, wedges, and sexy heels for your footwear. For your underwear drawer, make sure to bring your push up bra for the evenings. Finally, bring a cardigan, just in case it gets a bit nippy in the evening.

Your toiletries:

Don’t forget to bring your after sun lotion (in case of sun burns), deodorant and your favourite shampoo and conditioner and of course your face wash and moisturiser. Some basic medication in the form of insect bite creams, diarrhoea tablets (in case you indulge in a dodgy street vendor lunch) and pain killers (which are also useful for a hangover…). Of course don’t forget your tooth brush and tooth paste and razor and shaving gel.

Make up and beauty:

Don’t forget your hair straighteners, hairbrush and comb and your make up (don’t hold back on the eye shadow). Make up removers are important as are cotton balls and cotton buds.

Holiday travel - preparation

Stylogs,

I'm Looking forward to the bank holiday weekend and the following week. Holiday weeks with the family are always interesting, to say the least. You can’t stop thinking about the break. So much so that by the time you actually get there it is such an anti climax. But first you have to endure the planning, the preparation, the travel and the kids throughout the time in the car, the plane or whatever mode of transportation you are using.

Planning used to be simple. You pop down to the travel agent, and accept their advice, which was somewhere between the Thompson package and a Butlin’s week. When catalogues came out, you were allowed to dream and visualise yourself in those sunny pictures.  Things have changed a fair bit, in March 2013, Thomas Cook, the world's oldest travel firm, announced it was cutting 2,500 British jobs and closing 195 of its high street travel agencies in the UK.

How things were (click on the image for some more nostalgia):

 

So you think that now planning is easier. Now is it? Hours spent on Google going back and forth into Easyjet (I make a point of staying off Ryan Air – don’t like to be treated like s&%t), Center Parcs, and for some special holidays – Mr & Mrs Smith.

School holidays are a bottomless pit. Prices rocket to the stratosphere and all you can do is basically nothing. I guess in my childhood, it wasn’t an issue, as people didn’t travel that much (at least not overseas). These days prices are 200% or more higher during this gold rush period (for airlines and tour operators).

Packing is another joy of traveling. How can I fit everything into a 20 Kg suitcase? You need at least a few sets for the days, not to mention something casual for the evenings. And something formal. And then the kids, and the basic toiletries and the iPad and the chargers and... and..

There is no magic formula on how to pack your bags, but here's one good piece of holiday packing advice I found.

And then they limit the size of your carry on luggage to a small wheely suitcase. I try to pack it with food, I can’t stand the food they serve and charge a fortune for.

Next time we’ll talk about the travel day and the joys of the day.

The wind is a changin...

Stylogs,

As it is May, the world is changing for the better. The days are getting longer and the nights give way. I like that.
It is easy to succumb to little temptations such as the old ice cream here, a leisurly frappuccino there (especially in the sunshine). But no, I must hold back. Those summer clothes are hanging nicely in the wardrobe, squinting through the little gap between the old wooden doors whenever the sun is out. They are too small. The shame of buying one size too small. Or is it not...

I have always wonder whether this summer is going to be any better. Is it going to be cold, damp and grey (and that's when it doesn't rain), or will we have a shiny repeat of the summer of 2007, which was glorious and un-forgettable (for some).

If the summer delivers (what a strange concept for people from Greece, Spain, California, Israel and the list is longer than Lands End to John O'Groats), there are a few things I would like to do.

Wear shorts - there is nothing better than a fresh breeze on a well maintained pair of legs (who's been slacking on those squats?). Tall shorts have been witnessed on catwalks on the continent. It'll be interesting to see those babies here.

Wear sandales - not flip flops. enough said.

Try on some cool shades - what's the point of buying them if you never actually wear them. ah, there's never sun here. of well.

Ice cream on a cheesy beach - no wind break (no wind), no crowds, just sun and high spirits.

...that'll be the day.

Hottest May on record (...that was 2008)