SHE GAVE IT A TRY

Leading up to my Birthday trip Ive been preparing for the part of the trip that makes it become more real and makes me super excited because I know its very close. Packing. So Ive made up a few packing tips that I have learnt over the years with going on holidays hopefully someone will find them handy…….

The suitcase, no matter what airport your at you will always see a flooding of BLACK suitcases. No matter what brand or style when they come out onto the carousel they all look the same from a distance. I cannot stress this enough BUY A COLOURED SUITCASE.

I worked in a handbag and luggage store for 3 years and no matter how many time I would tell customers buying a coloured or patterned suitcase is great because you will be able to see it straight away. No matter how many time I would say this customers would buy either a black or grey case. I admit I have had a black case in the past and when I used it I would put a coloured ribbon around it…..but so it everyone else so I was constantly checking cases to see if it was mine. Its so annoying so this time Ive opted for a purple or red case. Now when I tell people I’m not going to use a black case they would always say the same stupid thing “But you will be able to see dirt”. When anyone would say this I would give the same WTF look to them, the same look i would give customers who would say it to me back in the day. GUYS ITS A SUITCASE! Its not a handbag it doesn’t go out for dinner with you, it only goes to and from the airport and it spends the whole trip in the hotel room. Why does it matter if it has a few scuffs on it?

Make sure you have combination locks on your case. For fucks sake DO NOT GET A KEY LOCK. Yeah it may be cheaper but if you forget to take or you lose your key, your fucked. Yes you can forget your combination buuuuut thats when you make sure you write down the combination before you leave or chose a simple one that you will remember.

When you pack your case, don’t pack your whole wardrobe! I know so many people who do this and end up way over the baggage limit before they have even reached their destination and have bought any souvenirs. The average airline now has about a 23-25kg limit on luggage per person (thats including the weight of the case without anything in it) some allow more or two 25kg bags- check your airlines baggage allowances I’m just trying to generalise here.

Anyway when you are packing set up the outfits you want to wear each day (it can be a pain in the ass but it can help with space) , pack what you want to wear in the evening if your planning on going out for dinner or show or clubbing and of course underwear. From there you can add the extras like swimsuits-if its a destination you know you will be going swimming , activewear- only pack this if you know for sure you are planning on working out otherwise its a waste of space, spare top and pants- just in case you have any accidents. With these extras it comes down to research and common sense, really your not going to pack heaps of thick sweaters and jackets if your going somewhere warm are you? NO, you pack for where your going.

Shoes, Now shoes are the things that can take up space depending on what shoes you are packing. So this is why you should have all of your outfits figured out for your trip so then you don’t have to take hundreds of pairs of shoes. So Ill use my Vegas trip as an example for what shoes Im packing; 1 pair of heels for a nice dinner or show, 1 pair of flats for the day, 1 pair of flats that I can dress up and sneakers (which Ill wear on the plane to save room).

Now for toiletries…………well. I’m going to be honest here I try to middle down what I take but usually take an inane amount of makeup with me. but it isn’t too big so thats a bonus. Because I have very light blonde hair that does need to be taken care of I use a lot of products but over the years Ive managed to figure out how much of each product I use over a certain amount of time so Im able to put in smaller bottles for when I take a holiday.

Whenever most people go on holidays they seem to think its a fashion parade or that they need to pack 100 tops when they realistically only wear 2. Try to be practical when packing and remember you can go to a laundromat or clean some stuff in your hotel room sink. Also remember, if your planning on going shopping packing less is a bonus because it means more you can bring back without going way over your luggage allowance.

Before anyone pipes up remember these are my personal tips for packing for a trip so if these aren’t the tips you were hoping for you don’t have to follow them I’m not your mother. Im just sharing some wisdom you can use these if you may if not thats fine, your way might be more beneficial I don’t know.

Well I’ve rambled on long enough.

See ya kids