Packing tips for your holidays.

Yes folks – love it or hate it, it’s that time of year when the schools close their doors to hordes of noisy kids, and families start to take to the skies, their cars, or their bikes (influenced by Le Tour of course!) to go off on holiday.  Whether it’s a weekend, a week, a fortnight or more, there’s usually a lot to plan in before you can start to relax and enjoy your break!

Going on holiday should be an enjoyable experience, so don’t stress out!

As with any organising task, sit down, think about the requirements logically, and plan.

Here are my tips to help you avoid that feeling of pre-holiday overwhelm and panic, allowing you to get off to a flying start!

1. MAKE A LIST

Blindingly obvious, but without one you’ll just end up going here, there and everywhere trying to do a bit of everything – and getting nowhere fast!  Use good old pen and paper to list things down, or there are a number of online packing apps that can help you out, such as Packing Pro and my personal favourite (albeit a desktop version but you can print it out and cross items off) Holiday Checklist from theholidaylet.com.

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2. GRAB A BAG IN A BAG

If you’re planning to go out and about, it’s worth packing a couple of lightweight foldaway bags, so you don’t have to rely on using your ‘carry-on’ large handbag or similar all the time.  These tiny bags from Decathlon are fabulous to use for days out; they cost next to nothing, and take up no space at all!  Staying closer to home?  Make the most of the supermarket ‘bags for life’ for days out, beach bags, camping bags, etc.  Cheap as chips and extremely practical to stick into the car boot and squash in around other items.

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3. LIKE WITH LIKE

Group items you want to take away in one place, if you can; a spare room, corner of the playroom, etc.  Put everything into a box or crate until it’s time to pack properly.  That way you can chuck stuff in and take stuff out easily.  Put toiletries into a carrier bag once you’ve removed the packaging.  Ideally, use those half-used bottles of shampoo which are already in your bathroom rather than buying new – you’ll save yourself weight and money.  If you’re flying – and circumstances allow – try to spread everybody’s clothes across all cases.  An old work colleague of mine spent three days honeymooning in her husband’s clothes after her suitcase went astray – I’ve split our packing ever since!!

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4. MAKE TIME

Packing to go away doesn’t just happen by itself.  As with many things, you only get out what you put in, so start asap and allocate a couple of hours to sort out and get organised, and you’ll find things get done easily.

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5. RELAX!

Going on holiday should be an enjoyable experience, so don’t stress out!  The majority of holiday resorts both in the UK and abroad have convenience stores where you can purchase any forgotten items.  It’s also quite refreshing to go without your usual essentials once in a while!

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Whatever you do during the holidays, I wish you an enjoyable time!  I’ll have a break and will be back home refreshed and ready to declutter more homes with my Clients!  Want to get started when you get back? Give me a shout!

See more tips for travelling abroad on holiday here.