Summer is here and your beach holiday beckons! Flights and accommodation are booked, you’ve finished your holiday outfit shopping – perhaps buying a few more items of clothing than you strictly needed – and now there’s really only one task left before you head for the airport. It’s time to start packing for your beach holiday…

What should be a relatively easy job can quickly result in a panicky meltdown. However, stick to a few golden rules and this needn’t be the case.

 

A common mistake is to take too many clothes and other items, then running the risk of exceeding your luggage allowance – which can prove expensive at check-in, or worse, upon return, after you’ve bought a few too many souvenirs!

So, read on for a few tips to avoid packing becoming a painful chore…

Be ruthless 

It may sound obvious, but take a step back and ask yourself what you’ll really need for a beach holiday. For seven nights in the Algarve, for example, will you genuinely require seven bikinis or seven pairs of swim shorts? No. A couple is sufficient and you can rotate them through the week.
Do the same with other items, and when planning outfits, pick items and colours that are versatile enough to be mixed and matched. Be wise and pick a few plain coloured capsule items – such as black shorts, or white linen trousers – then add a different top each day and no one will even notice!

Roll your clothes

 

Rolling your clothes in your suitcase takes up far less room than folding. Give it a try – you’ll be surprised at the difference, and items like shirts and maxi dresses come out far less creased if they’re not folded in half for several hours.

Remember the essentials…

 

There are some items you absolutely cannot do without. These definitely include passport, travel documents, all tickets and reservation paperwork, bank cards or currency, mobile phone chargers (and an adapter plug), and any specific medication. Basically, anything that would cause you big problems if forgotten.

… and leave behind what’s not

Unless you’re jetting off to somewhere remote, the chances are you’ll be able to buy a lot of what you need in your resort. So if you run out of space, sun cream, shampoo, shower gel and other similar items are all relatively heavy but can be easily bought in destination – and possibly for cheaper than at home. If you’re staying in a hotel, towels and a hairdryer are often provided, so check before you pack these items which take up lots of room and are heavy.

Wear warmer clothing on the flight

It makes sense to take a few items of warmer clothing with you, just in case. To save weight, wear them on the flight; jeans, trainers, and a sweater may actually be welcome on a cool air conditioned plane and if all goes to plan on the weather front, they won’t be needed again until you fly back!

Divide clothes evenly among suitcases

 

This is a great tip for couples and families setting off on holiday. Instead of having a suitcase per person, organise packing so that each case contains outfits for every member of the family. That way, if any luggage is lost, everyone has something to wear for a few days at least until replacements can be found (or the luggage turns up).

So there you have it – a few handy tips to take on board. Bear these in mind when packing for your break and you’ll be stress free, ready to go and in full-on holiday mode even before stepping on to the plane!

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