Holiday Withdrawal Symptoms......Tell me where you're going?

MasterPoo

Doshwaster wrote: »

In Asia you can get by with packing light as laundry services are so cheap (do you really need to wear something different every day for a 2-3 week holiday?). A five star hotel might charge Western prices but on every corner you will find someone who will do laundry for you for a less than a pound per bag. Rather than 25 sets of underwear you really only need a 4 or 5.

A good tip is to get your laundry done on your last day as it makes packing easier and it's one less job to do when you get home.

Clothes are also very cheap to buy and can often be treated as disposable. I buy a cheap pair of sandals on arrival and if they are still in one piece at the end of the holiday I'll just bin them.

I don't take a laptop on holiday as I like to get away from technology. If you do need to find some information online then I just use my phone as there is free wifi everywhere.

The thing is though Dosh in the evenings I'm usually bored/can't sleep so like to read, watch sky go, occasionally I will do some work (I try not to). Watching netflix/skygo is cheaper than buying films at the hotel. Also I'm not the go out drinking type of holiday person, so bars/clubs not my scene so usually after a day of water activity which we love, we just prefer to log on.

Sometimes in the evening I will be on TA researching whilst on holiday. Yes I know most hotels offer free use of PC/Printers etc.

I must admit we are too addicted to technology.....so much so I have to ensure we have free wifi wherever we go:(:( I'd love to totally disconnect.......

What you said about the flip-flops makes me think I'm wasting money and throwing it away, but I understand where you're coming from, particularly when visiting Countries like Thailand!

MasterPoo

DUKE wrote: »

What about 2 bags? A small wheelie that you can carry on, & as big a rucksack as you can get away with.

Travelling alone, I would possibly only take a rucksack which would have my laptop and chargers, camera's, passport, cash, cards......one could throw in emergency clothes in a rucksack.

Doshwaster

MasterPoo wrote: »

What you said about the flip-flops makes me think I'm wasting money and throwing it away, but I understand where you're coming from, particularly when visiting Countries like Thailand!

Given your love of 5* hotels then a few quid on some disposable flip flops isn't going to make much of a difference to your holiday budget. What with the dust, rain and sand I never take good shoes to SE Asia as they always get trashed.

DUKE

MasterPoo wrote: »

Travelling alone, I would possibly only take a rucksack which would have my laptop and chargers, camera's, passport, cash, cards......one could throw in emergency clothes in a rucksack.

Sorry, that was meant for jackieblack, don't know why it come out like that.

We take 2 medium cases, I have to put a lot of his stuff in mine as he's a giant. He takes his camera rucksack as hand luggage. I take a giant rucksack on as hand luggage. This contains my slipper shoes, blanket, sweets, earplanes, earplugs, tissues, wipes, lipgloss, glasses, book, iPad, phone, large plastic wallet for passports ... The rucksack also doubles up as something to put my feet on, & stops my legs from dangling in mid air.

DUKE

Doshwaster wrote: »

Given your love of 5* hotels then a few quid on some disposable flip flops isn't going to make much of a difference to your holiday budget. What with the dust, rain and sand I never take good shoes to SE Asia as they always get trashed.

I bought a pair of leather sandals in Egypt for a few quid, they were comfy & lasted me quite a few years. Also I have Rocket dog flip flops, which I got for £7 delivered on Amazon. They're only about £15 normally, they can be thrown in the washing machine too. Only problem is that they can be slippy on certain floors

Crispy_Ambulance

MasterPoo wrote: »

Can I come to your school of packing? I'm impressed! I really need to learn to pack as we go.

Did you wash the shirts/shorts too?

My 20 year old would never do that!

*shifts eyes*

Washed one pair of shorts per person. We're happy to be somewhat skanky on holiday.

Why take so many extra pants????

MasterPoo

Doshwaster wrote: »

Given your love of 5* hotels then a few quid on some disposable flip flops isn't going to make much of a difference to your holiday budget. What with the dust, rain and sand I never take good shoes to SE Asia as they always get trashed.

Every penny helps Dosh!

MasterPoo

Crispy_Ambulance wrote: »

*shifts eyes*

Washed one pair of shorts per person. We're happy to be somewhat skanky on holiday.

Why take so many extra pants????

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

My 14 year old is going through the skank phase so he's not bothered, my 20 year old......lets put it this way, my son takes longer getting ready than I do, bane of my existence, so there is no way he'd be happy with that!

DUKE

For 2 weeks I was going to take:

14 pants
6 bra
2 socks as I suffer from very, very, cold feet whilst in bed
3 nightie
1 cosa
2 see through things to wear over cosa
1 sarong
3 smart dresses for evening
2 floater dresses for comfort days
2 denim skirts
10 shorts
14 tops
2 belts
1 flip flop
2 sandal

But now I'm questioning myself. I've previously thought of taking enough stuff for a week, hanging it up, then wearing again the 2nd week. But I'm not sure I can go that far.

I love a holiday place where there's a song involved (then we keep singing it), otherwise we sing this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nLiQBV6A7c

animalhouse

We are off to Salou, and were going to fly into Barcelona. We watched the Michael Portillo programme about train journeys and decided to look at going by train. So what was a straight forward package holiday has morphed into:

Mega bus to London (via tesco clubcard), staying over one night at Premier Inn, St Pancras, to catch early morning Eurostar. The money we saved by going early paid for the hotel.

Arrive in Paris at lunch time, stay one night at a hotel near Gare de Lyon.

Leaving at approx 2 pm on the TGV double decker train to Barcelona.

3 nights in Barcelona in an apartment booked via House Trip, then the Renfe train down to Salou where we're in a mid range hotel for a week.

Flying back by Ryanair to Stansted. This and the journey home from Stansted are the most expensive part of our travel.

We're excited, but I'm nervous as all the component parts have been booked separately and only the hotel booking in Salou is ABTA/ATOL protected.

We're taking two medium cases and three cabin size cases. The clothes for Paris and Barcelona will be in the cabin bags. We were thinking of leaving the suitcases in the left luggage in the Gare de Lyon as there is a four hour gap between arriving and being able to book into our hotel. Likewise we may also do the same in Sants station in Barcelona rather than lug them around.

I always seem to take far too much so will be trying to streamline more this time.

Any suggestions of how to get the most out of our afternoon and morning in Paris would be gratefully received. :}