Don’t travel without reading these 2 packing tips

The summer holidays are officially here, and I hope you are all managing to escape for at least a short break. Whether I’m staying close to home, or going further afield there are 2 tips that are at the forefront of my mind when packing for any holiday, stay cay, weekend away, or even night away.

1. PACK IN OUTFITS

Plan your trip day to day, and lay out the full outfits. Put your tops, bottoms, underwear, jewellery, shoes and belts in a pile for each day. You can of course duplicate outfits, or mix and match, and if that is the case then pop a little post it note with the missing pieces on each outfit pile. By packing this way it means that you won’t forget anything, and you don’t need to think about building outfits when you get there, it will already be done. You don’t need to pack it in outfits, but if you do it makes it easier when you unpack as you can just take out each pile and lay it in the wardrobe when you arrive at your destination. If you don’t pack in outfits then I always recommend rolling rather than folding.

2. USE PACKING CUBES

I think people sometimes see these as a gimmick but they are genuinely the handiest product, and I never go away without them. You don’t necessarily need to buy cubes, you can use old toiletries bags, drawstring bags or new dust bags that shoes to come in. The idea is that if everything is compartmentalised it will make packing, unpacking & organising quicker and easier. If I’m packing for myself I put the outfits in one, and undies/accessories in another. For the kids, it’s a game changer. Each child gets their own cube, then when we arrive on holiday the cube gets lifted from case to shelf and it stays like that for the trip.

They are also useful for when it’s time to come home – pack the dirty lights in one, the dirty darks in another then you just need to open the case and grab the cubes for the washing machine.

There are so many packing cubes on the market – I find it’s worth spending a little more as they tend to have thicker fabric, stronger zips and therefore more durable. I’ve used the cubes from Tiba & Marl for years, but these personalised cubes from Koko Blossom are great (and a good gift idea!) If budget doesn’t allow then these from Nere are great and come in a huge array of colours, or these on Amazon will do the trick and are compression so they squash everything down to fit more.