Packing for a holiday - how to stay sane?

zagfles

mcfisco wrote: »

The trousers or the shoes?
The trousers - no, a couple of hours each evening is fine
I wear the same suit trousers every day for a week before rotating them for the pair back from the cleaners
The shoes - no they're well designed to stay cool
Other people may sweat a lot, I don't

The shoes. The trousers should be fine for just wearing in the evening for a week.

But shoes worn without socks though will surely get just as smelly as socks would - it would be like wearing the same socks for a week:eek:

It's passport sized, passport on one side, some cards and docs on the other, it permanently lives in my bag [I travel a lot with work] my walking around wallet is minimalist
http://www.thejimi.com/


You're obviously more risk averse than I am, however, I do have loads of such info in my Drop Box account in case Tuesday falls on a Wednesday and the World turns upside down as a result

It's hardly any hassle having a written copy of stuff like card emergency numbers, passport numbers etc. It's only a piece of paper, won't take up much space! Doesn't need changing very often so I just use the same one every time with a few hand written alterations till I can be bothered printing a new one.

If you did get robbed/mugged it's quite likely they'll steal any valuables they can find eg iPhone and wallet. They won't steal a bit of paper with numbers on.

(I'm risk averse enough to not have bothered with any travel insurance for the last 10 years , though I do have medical cover through work)

There probably is an app, if I ever feel the need to use it, I'll be sure to check it out

Dictionary/phrase books are very useful if you want to get off the beaten track, rather than stick to areas frequented by tourists.

I'm used to packing very light, it makes life so much easier
My only concern is my wife's stress trying to keep her bag for the week down to 5kg
I can see it's going to cost me a bit, buying her new stuff she has to have when we get to our next hol [Lanzarote in 2 weeks]
She has no problem with airlines that have 10kg cabin allowance but she booked a Thomson's flight without realising.
We do have a bag booked for the hold just in case but hope we won't need it

Get a coat with very big pockets - see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelaccessories/8638096/The-flying-jacket-fooling-budget-airlines.html :rotfl:

mcfisco

zagfles wrote: »

Get a coat with very big pockets - see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelaccessories/8638096/The-flying-jacket-fooling-budget-airlines.html :rotfl:

I would but she wouldn't wear it

mrcow

I learned a tip when I took my son around South America. We had a bag each which we packed and checked in/out around several countries (about 8-9 flights). We were lucky that nowhere had lost/delayed our case.

What we should have done is packed half our stuff in each case in case one went missing. Sounds stupid now that we'd not even consdered it until we were half way around the continent.

jackieblack

mrcow wrote: »

What we should have done is packed half our stuff in each case in case one went missing.

This is what we have always done, except there are 3 of us so we each split our stuff equally between our 3 bags.
I just assumed everyone does this.

mrcow

jackieblack wrote: »

This is what we have always done, except there are 3 of us so we each split our stuff equally between our 3 bags.
I just assumed everyone does this.

I don't think I could be the only one

ash28

I remember going on holiday a few years ago - well quite a few and our daughter was about 15 (she's 30 now) our luggage allowance was 2 bags of 23kgs each - those were the days. OH went to pick up one of her bags - she had 2 - he could barely lift it off the ground.

"What on earth's in there ?" or words to that effect - her answer - "my shoes!"

Needless to say they didn't come with us.

We usually go to the US for our holidays and stay in self catering accommodation and it always comes with a washer and dryer.

We we there in May for 2 weeks and I took

2 bras
7 pants
4 linen trousers that rolled up to become crops. (black, white, beige and olive green) casual enough for day time and smart enough for the evening.
7 tshirts - 1 black and white stripe, one green and white stripe, one pink and white stripe, one navy and white stripe, one black, one white and one pink.
1 nice top
2 swimming costumes.
2 hats.
1 pair black Birkenstocks and 1 pair shoes for travelling.
cleanser and moisturiser.
wash bag with electric toothbrush + charger and small tube toothpaste.

Small rucksack for hand luggage and had travel documents, iphone, tablet and chargers and a book.

Bought everything else - shampoo, conditioner, mousse, skinny serum, shower gel and suntan lotion & scrunchie when we got there and left them behind.

I've been on too many holidays where I've taken half of my wardrobe and only worn a fraction of what I've taken.

I may have only had just under 10kgs of luggage on the way out but I had 22kgs on the way back!