What’s in the bag!
I travel quite a lot, although I know how to mix match my wardrobe but the various events in my itinerary makes it impossible for me to travel light. After years of experience I have finally found the secret to pack my world within 23 kilos. Here are my tips:
- Check out the luggage allowance for your airline as it can vary from one to another ( most of the cases 23 kilos)
- Think about the type of holiday you are going on? Beach destination or a hill station. Check the weather forecast and the time difference of the destination.
- Start thinking about your trip on day to day basis and make a note of every event or place you would be visiting. If you have a clothes rail start hanging all clothes you really like. Don’t worry even if they are too many, you will any way have to exclude few of them. Include accessories, bags, shoes make up, night wear, sock/tights etc. you may lay it on the bed also.
- Make a list of necessary items in order from most important to least important. You may include passport, tickets, hair dryers, toiletries, torch etc.
- Now based on the list of events during your trip pick clothes from the cloth rail, for each occasion, doubling up whenever possible. For e.g. Kaftans and sling dresses can be worn over shorts and beach wear after you have used them upon trousers and jeans.
- Concentrate on basic and neutrals like denims. Dresses are great option but they become difficult to be repeated. Tops and bottom come with greater flexibility of mixing and matching. Try and find a theme of 2-3 colours and match your bags footwear and accessories for the trip based on this theme. If something on the rail gives you second thoughts, take it along only if really required for eg. Super high heels or cocktail dress.
- Put the remaining clothes back in the wardrobe.
- Use cloth bags to protect your clothes and jewellery during your travel. Put large items at the bottom and pad out the gaps with rolled up lingerie, scarves and t shirts etc.
- If you are fond of reading during travel, a Kindle is a great idea for lightening the load. Never forget to pack a lightweight cloth travel bag in case you indulge in shopping on the way back. It’s a saviour.
- Wear comfortable clothing while travelling; always carry a cardiga or a shawl in your handbag to have a comfortable flight journey. Don’t forget to carry you perfume in the bag too.
- Always wear a watch while travelling.
- Put self-identification tags on your bags to avoid any kind of confusions at the airport. Try and buy a lock that is internationally recognised in case the authorities want to inspect your suitcase
- Tick mark everything in your check list before you end the process of packing, so that you don’t miss out anything important.
