Top Twelve Packing Tips for Your Travels

Who doesn’t love jetting away on a hard-earned holiday? Whether it’s a Berlin city break or a week’s sunning on a beach in Spain, a getaway is always worth getting excited about. No doubt you’ve been mastering those key phrases on the relevant MosaLingua app and you’re all but ready to catch that flight. Of course, one small but often dreaded task remains – packing. To make sure you get through this irritating but all-important part of your holiday experience quickly and effectively, we’ve teamed up with the holiday experts over at Airtours, to bring you their top 12 packing tips.

Packing Tips 1: Roll, roll, roll

It might not make for the best use of space, but if you’re travelling light then rolling up your clothes is always better than folding. It’ll save you having to iron anything once you get to the other side, meaning you can get straight to taking in the sights, sounds and smells of your getaway destination. It’s also a great idea if you’ve any fragile items or valuables to protect. Tucking these tightly between rolled up towels or clothes will help protect them from bumps and crashes.

 

 

Packing Tips 2: Cut down on clothes

So you’ve laid your clothes out on your bed. Great. Now put around a third of them back. If you have twice as many outfits as there are days in your holiday, you’re fooling yourself. Once you get there you’re bound to spend your days in your swimmers, or re-wear the same top a couple of times because you love how it looks.

 

 

 

Packing Tips 3: Shower-cap those shoes

The last thing you want is to open your case to find half of your things have been left marked and mucky because they’ve got too close to your flip flops. Use cheap, disposable shower caps to wrap up any shoes. Don’t forget that boots and trainers take up plenty of space; so store things like socks and swimming trunks inside them.

 

 

 

Packing Tips 4: Clingfilm those containers

We’ve all been there. Open the case and half your conditioner’s run all over your favourite top. To solve the problem once and for all, get any containers that might leak together. Remove all their screw tops and place Clingfilm tightly around the bottle’s nozzle. Re-screw the caps and you’ll have made a near-impenetrable barrier between your shampoos and your shorts.

 

 

 

Packing Tips 5: Make your suitcase stand out

‘Is that one mine? Nope. That one? No not that one either’. Avoid the confusion at the luggage belt by making your suitcase stand out. Use stickers, brightly coloured bands – anything that’ll catch your eye. If you’re investing in a new suitcase soon, why not opt for something you’ll recognise immediately, as opposed to the typical black?

 

 

 

 

Packing Tips 6: Protect your make-up

This one’s for the ladies. Stop your pressed powder or eye shadow from cracking by placing a flat cotton wool pad between the powder and the lid. Remember that if you’re taking your makeup in your hand luggage, there may be restrictions on how much you can bring. Why not decant some beauty products into re-usable containers?

 

 

 

Packing Tips 7: Towel on top

If you check in at your hotel mid-afternoon, you’re probably not going to want to waste any time. Stick your towel, swimming gear and sun creams on top – no rummaging required and you’ll be poolside in minutes. On the way back, leave some thicker layers on top where you can easily reach them – in preparation for the likely event that it’s not very warm here on home soil.

 

 

 

 

Packing Tips 8: Leave some space

You never know what you might find or acquire on your travels. Even if you’re travelling on a budget, you might want to bring back that one special gift, so leave a slither of room. If you’re struggling for space on the way back, think about easily-replaceable and unimportant items you could leave behind – shampoos, shower gels and the like.

 

 

 

Packing Tips 9: Plan to buy there

Do you really need to bring every cream, gel and shampoo? It’ll save on space and weight to buy out there, and depending on your destination it might even be cheaper. As with your makeup, you could decant some shampoo and shower gel into containers if you’re not going away for too long. Just bear in mind that each of these will have to be under 100ml if they need to go into your hand luggage.

 

 

 

Packing Tips 10: Use a pill case to store jewelry

Working out how to ensure your jewellery doesn’t get lost, never mind keeping it from getting tangled, can be a nightmare. Fortunately, pill boxes are a great way of keeping all your jewellery together without it getting damaged. Simply separate out your favourite pieces between the compartments and seal.

 

 

Packing Tips 11: Leave the hair-dryer at home (if you can)

In a small or medium-sized case, a hair-dryer or set of straighteners can take up a serious amount of room. To see if you can save on space, call ahead and check if your accommodation provides these – you’ll find that many hotels and resorts do. Otherwise, think about investing in a travel-sized version of these products.

 

 

 

 

Packing Tips 12: Weigh it!

Always weigh any hold luggage before you leave the house. You might think it’s only 12 kilograms, but is it worth the nasty surprise when you get to the check-in desk? Luggage scales are available in many stores and don’t cost much at all.

With these top tips, your packing will be a breeze and you can focus on the parts of your holiday that truly matter.

 

 

 

 

This guest post was written by a member of the Airtours community, a cheap, all-inclusive family trip service.