Top Packing Tips for Holiday Travel:

If there is a positive side to holiday packing, it is that it tends to bring home forcefully that your holiday is now no longer a distant dream but is actually on the horizon!

However, that’s probably about it in terms of positives.

Most people consider it to be something of a chore and while that’s understandable, it’s also important to remember that it can be a rather important one.

So, here are some top tips that may come in very handy the next time you are preparing your suitcases.

1. Use bags or cases made of modern ultra-lightweight materials. Today you almost need a doctorate in mathematics to be able to understand airline ticket pricing and how it varies depending upon the luggage you take with you but it’s safe to assume that the lighter and smaller your luggage, the more likely you may be to be able to take it on as zero-cost hand luggage.

   

2. Avoid slipping into the one-suitcase-per-person mentality. Take fewer clothes and try to get everybody’s in the one case. It’s often much easier than you think and again might save you money.

   

3. Closely linked to the above tip, take only one or two basic outfits and vary your look based on lots of accessories. Once again, it might help you get away with hand baggage only air transport rather than needing to pay for more expensive baggage hold provisions.

   

4. Think twice about taking formal evening clothes. In many of even the best luxury accommodation, hotels, restaurants and resorts around the globe today, dress codes in the evening are smart casual and that black tie and evening dress might never be used.

   

5. Be extremely cautious about liquids in suitcases. Modern airline security rules may prohibit you taking them as
6.  but it’s amazing how easily they can spill in transit. If you can, ensure that they are enclosed in a separate leak-proof container in addition to the one they are dispensed from.

   

7. If you are travelling overseas, make absolutely sure that you understand the import restrictions in the country you are visiting. The consequences of getting that wrong can be at best seriously inconveniencing as you spend hours being quizzed by customs upon arrival or at worst, positively terrifying.

   

8. Be relatively strict with kids and their toys. Let them take one or two of their most treasured possessions but not their entire toy cupboard – unless you have an almost unlimited budget available for paying excess baggage charges.

   

9. An old but nevertheless still important tip – make sure your suitcase is uniquely identified by a very visible piece of bright tape or something similar. It will aid your recognition on the carousel and avoid undignified squabbles with other travelers who think the case you’ve picked up actually belongs to them (or vice versa).

If there is one overarching piece of advice for modern holiday travel it is to travel light. Our parents and grandparents may have tried to empty the house and take it with them when they went on holiday but there is no need for us to do likewise.