Eight more days until I’m going to Madrid… counting the days now if you don’t mind! So I really think it’s time to repeat a blogpost from some time ago about packing tips. Here we go!

I am someone who likes to plan ahead… and that includes packing for my holiday. Two years ago I did an extensive post on packing. You can find the entire post here. 

As travelling season (and my trip to Madrid!) is nearing soon, I will do a summary of that post to give you plenty of tips and inspiration for your packing.

1.Make lists!

• Make a packing list on which you put everything you might need.
• Save the list on your computer so you have it for any holiday/getaway.
• Make the list as extensive as you can and everytime you have to pack, adapt the list to that specific holiday/getaway (take in mind the duration of the holiday, the destination, time of year, way of travelling,…).
• Divide the list in several categories to make it more clear:
  • medication
  • clothing and shoes
  • beauty
  • food and kitchen stuff
  • documents
  • tools and electronics
  • pleasure
  • to do list : list of things to do days/weeks before departure (who’s watering the plants, who’s looking after dog/cat, who empties the mailbox, check up of the car,…)
• You can find packing lists online. You can use them as a base and adapt them for your specific needs.

2.How to save space and weight?

Especially when going by plane, you have to watch the weight of your luggage. But even when you travel by car, it might be wise to travel as light as possible as that saves in petrol 🙂 So here are some tips on how to save space and weight while packing.

• Fill up collars of shirts with a belt or lingerie.
• Buy multi-purpose products (e.g. a moisturizer you can use day and night, a BB with an SPF, a bodylotion which has an SPF in it).
• Pack samples: I usually  pack samples when I go on a weekend break. I don’t take my usual moisturizer,… but I take skincare samples I get at the perfumery or I fill up little jars like the ones you see in the photo at the bottom of this post (I bought them at Primark).
• Buy travelsize products: many products also come in travelsize like deodorant, shampoo, body lotion,…
• Buy (beauty) products at your destination : if like me you’ve got to pack for an entire family, a travelsize shampoo won’t do!! But if you’ve got to pack fullsize bottles of shampoo, showerlotion, bodylotion, SPF, aftersun,… that will take a lot of space and it will weigh a ton! Perhaps you could save space and weight if you buy these items on your holiday destination?!
• Pack clothes that you can easily combine together.
• Wear your heaviest shoes on departure and pack the lighter ones!
• When travelling by plane: mind that it can get cold on the plan. Wear different layers of clothing on departure. That way you keep warm and… what you wear won’t have to fit in your suitcase!
• You can fill up your shoes with socks to save space.
• Role up your clothes instead of folding them… it saves space and they tend to wrinkle less.
• Use every space in your suitcase. In the suitcases I got to chose from “Duifhuizen tassen en koffers” are a lot of pockets and compartments which makes it easy to put away stuff. That way your suitcase will remain neat.
• Use disposable washcloths.
• Beachtowels take up a lot of space in your suitcase. When we travel by car, we put the beachtowels on the backseat and the kids sit on them whilst traveling. That way the towels don’t take up any space in our suitcases!

3.On return

Packing your suitcases to return home is never as fun as on departure… but here are some extra tips to save you some trouble when packing to go home:

• Take plastic bags with you to put in really dirty stuff.
• On return you will have to do the laundry… so when I pack our suitcases to go back home, I try to sort the laundry as much as possible. When I unpack, it’s so much easier to make the different piles of laundry! I always use a laundry bag I got from my aunt years ago but you could also use a pillowcase.
• Some things I don’t bother to take home with me… leftovers of shampoo, bodylotion, food,… when it’s not much I won’t take it home with me! I leave it for the next tenants or the cleaning lady!
• If you’ve found out that your packing lists lacked something, make sure to update them as soon as you think of it…
• When unpacking, make sure to check every little pocket and compartment of your suitcases on return! Once I had lost a pair of slippers whilst on holiday… I thought… But when I was packing for my next trip months later, I found them in a separate pocket in my travelbag!

I hope I gave you plenty of tips for your packing. But if you have any more tips, please feel free to leave them in the comments!

Happy travelling!

Love, Kathleen

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