I love travelling, but I loathe packing, often leaving it until the night before, sometimes even the day itself. This usually results in me having to run around whichever airport I’m flying out of desperately trying to find whatever it is I’ve already realised I’ve forgotten and can lead to some odd outfit combinations when I arrive. Over time I’ve learned some things I definitely don’t need to pack (heels being one, I’m a strictly flats girl on holiday) but there’s still room for improvement.

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I just got back from a very last minute holiday to Formentera, a teeny island off the coast of Ibiza. We booked on the trip on the Thursday morning and flew on the Saturday at 5.30am. With Thursday and Friday at work there wouldn’t have been very much time for packing even if I did favour a more organised approach. After I’d made sure I’d remembered the essentials: passport, tickets, money, tech, chargers, adaptors and the current Rock My Style book club read (Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld btw) I basically threw all my summer clothes into the case and hoped for the best.

As so often happens I spent the majority of the holiday wearing the same couple of things on repeat: one of three bikinis (all completely different shapes and so the resulting tan lines have formed an interesting pattern on my back), jeans shorts (a destroyed pair for day and a smarter pair for evening) and a variety of tops. It turned out that I no longer like any of the dresses I’d packed and so I ended up buying a couple of patterned kaftan tops and an embroidered dress in Formentera to plug the evening wear gap (tip: try everything on before you give it case space!). I completely forgot to pack any jewellery or an evening bag and, despite packing three different nail polishes, I managed to leave the nail varnish remover pads I’d purchased as part of my big pre-holiday Boots shop on the floor in my front room. On the whole though I don’t think I did too badly with just 48 hours notice.

I frequently forget to pack workout gear and, when staying in a city, have ended up buying more which is annoying when I’ve got perfectly good kit at home. On this occasion I did remember to pack workout gear (yoga kit, having found a nearby hotel that offered drop in morning yoga classes, as well as running kit) but in the end I didn’t use any of it. The hotel we stayed at offered free bicycles for guests and so, instead of hiring a car or moped or relying on the bus, we travelled around the island using pedal power. As well as being a great way to explore, it meant that I felt as if I was getting enough exercise every day, it was supposed to be a holiday after all!

My sister Chrissi (a Virgo) is much more organised than me (she’s much more organised than most people tbh). She has what sounds like a complicated system of spreadsheets to ensure that she doesn’t forget a thing. While I’m not one for spreadsheets I do like a list and so, with the benefit of recent hindsight, I’ve written a packing list (see right or below, depending what type of device you’re reading this on). I figure I’ll always know where to find it for future trips and perhaps it will be useful for you too. I haven’t put numbers of tops, bottoms, dresses etc as obviously that depends on the destination and duration of the trip, not to mention what you’ll be doing when you get there. Of course in a perfect world all the tops, bottoms and shoes would work with each other to provide numerous outfit combinations, but avoiding that last minute dash around the airport would be an improvement on my current MO.

What’s your packing approach? Are you a last minute chuck-it-all-in type like me? Or an ultra-organised pack-ahead type like my sister? What do you always forget to pack? Any other packing tips? For a hot weather holiday I always have a top, shorts, flip flops and bikini in my hand luggage in case my checked in luggage goes missing. I frequently read that rolling clothes as opposed to folding them leads to fewer creases but I’ve never tried it myself. I’m bound to have forgotten something from the list, so do feel free to add anything I’ve missed in the comments section below!

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{Packing List}

Essentials
Passport
Tickets
Money and credit cards
Sunglasses
Electronics
Chargers and adaptors
Toiletries
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Makeup and makeup remover
Sunscreen and aftersun
Insect repellent and sting relief
Painkillers
Shower gel, shampoo and conditioner
Cleanser
Moisturiser
Hair brush and hair ties
Nail polish and remover
Clothes
Tops
Bottoms
Dresses
Jacket/cardigan
Underwear
Socks
Shoes
Bags (beach and evening)
Jewellery
Swimwear
Workout kit
Other
Books and magazines
Notebook and pens

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