I should be getting ready for my holiday - I leave on Friday night and so far I've not been able to get my act together. Give me a month or 10 minutes to prepare, I'll still leave it all to the last minute - but I've packed so often I know I'll not forget anything really important. So here - perhaps a little unseasonal for most people - are my top ten tips on what to take on holiday.
~~But first, a warning~~
Any list of indispensable things is very personal and dependent on the type of holiday that you are taking. One person may believe that a holiday without ceramic hair straighteners and a travel iron would be hell on earth whilst another can't leave home without a survival blanket and a slab of Kendal Mint Cake. We are all different.
I have travelled a lot - both for business and pleasure - so I've probably made all the packing mistakes it's possible to make and have developed some well tested ideas about what's really essential. Forgive me but I've so much I want to say on this topic that this is going to be a bit of a long review.
My favourite type of holiday is usually to somewhere a bit exotic, a bit rough and underdeveloped.
So my assumptions are;
1.it's going to be hot and dirty
2. I'm going to stay in small local hotels and have the chance to get clothes washed or wash them myself
3. the local access to good quality toiletries, medicines etc will probably be limited
4. I'm not going to be too worried about what I look like - that's not to say I'm going to dress like a vagrant - only that there won't be a need for cocktail dresses and strappy sandals.
Even if your ideal holiday is 2 weeks on the beach in Spain, I hope there will be a few useful tips in this review.
Number One - All your necessary paperwork
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Passport
Tickets - or booking confirmation if an e-ticket
Car park booking info (if appropriate),
Hotel booking info (if appropriate),
A copy of your insurance documents (leave the original at home - you'll feel pretty stupid if your insurance docs get robbed).
Take a small bag that will hold all of these things as well as your money and leave it in your room safe (if you have one) or at the hotel front desk safety deposit. Your insurers are more likely to pay out if you can show you've taken these precautions.
Hot Tip - Before you go, send yourself an email to an address that you can access from an internet café in case of emergency. This should include all the info you could possibly need in the event of theft or accident. Prepare for the worst and hope you'll never need to use it.
The mail should include:
Passport numbers
Visa numbers
Ticket number and contact details for your airline or travel agent
Numbers and contact details for any travellers cheques
Numbers of any credit cards you are carrying - and the contact number if you have a contract with a card cancelling service
Travel insurance 24 hour hotline
The name, address and contact details for your car park (I know someone whose wallet was stolen in India with the car park receipt - could he remember the name of the car park?
Could he heck.
Useful contact numbers at home - would my husband know my mum's phone number if I was lying in a coma in an African hospital? Somehow I doubt it. He can't even remember my number at work.
Number Two - Money or ways of getting it
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If you are just off for a weekend in Europe, you can probably ignore a lot of this. For two weeks or more, especially in a less developed country, you need to think a lot more carefully and do some research. You can save a lot of money - and make your holiday cash go further if you read around on websites and travel books before you go and find out:
What's the recommended currency to carry? - e.g. dollars, euros, pounds.
Which currency has the best bargaining power when you are shopping? Personally I always like to have a few small denomination dollar bills as you have greater flexibility when negotiating prices with dollars than pounds. Why? Well the lowest denomination note is a single dollar worth just over 50p. If you are bargaining in pounds your minimum increment is a fiver.
How widely are credit and debit cards accepted? Are you likely to have to pay more in shops if you use cards? In many developing countries you can be charged 2-5% on top of your bill for using a card. Or you won't be able to get such a good price if you can't pay cash.
How widely accepted are travellers cheques? Are you likely to be charged as a percent of the total changed or per cheque - it can make a lot of difference? I have some I changed 5 years ago that I'm still using up. I think they are a bit of an irrelevance these days.
How widely available are ATM machines? I've been on trips where people just assumed they'd be able to get cash from machines and spoiled the trip for the rest of the group by keeping them waiting whilst they tried to track down working ATMs in Mozambique.
Check out what your credit card provider will charge for foreign transactions and cash advances - the fees can vary a lot and over a couple of weeks, they do build up. I have a Nationwide credit card which I only use overseas - they don't add any extra charges on foreign payments. Others typically do 2.75% or more. My husband has a Nationwide bank account and we top that one up before we go because they don't charge commission on cash withdrawals.
How cheaply can you get your travel cash? General rule of thumb is that changing money at the UK airports is never the best option. For small amounts - say under £50 - consider the commission-free services of the Post Office or Barclays - you order by phone or internet and they deliver next day free of charge or you can pick up next day at the bank or local Post Office. Because there's no transaction fee, the rates may be a bit less favourable than places that charge a commission - however, for small amounts, you'll save a lot by going with one of these fee-free suppliers. If you are changing a larger amount, ring around a few suppliers before you go and find the best deal.
I know it sounds crazy but if you are taking £1000 of spending money, you could easily save £30-£50 with a few phone calls.
Number Three - Footwear
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A holiday-maker with happy feet is a happy holiday maker. I'm a bit obsessed about looking after my feet especially as I often take hiking or trekking holidays. If you need walking boots (which I usually do) wear them on the plane - if your luggage gets lost, they will be one of the most difficult things to replace.
Then, for your general wear, choose the shoes you want to take and build your holiday wardrobe from the feet up, selecting only things that will work with your minimalist shoe choices. New shoes? If they are anything more than flip flops, I'd say leave them at home and just take things you already know will be comfortable and won't cause blisters. Oh, and pop in a packet of blister plasters - there are few things more likely to stop you doing what you want to on holiday than sore feet.
Number Four - Clothes
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Why do you always think you are going to wear those clothes that you haven't worn all year, and which you took on the last two trips and didn't wear? My rule of thumb is don't take anything that you wouldn't normally wear. If you live your life in jeans and T-shirts, you aren't going to be transformed into an elegant wearer of floaty evening dresses just because you're away from home. BE REALISTIC and be yourself. Focus on comfort. Work out what goes with what - every item you take should be capable of being worn with at least two or three other items.
Choose fabrics that are easy to care for - things that don't crumple too badly (crinkly cheesecloth and fabrics with lots of lycra are great), that dry quickly after washing, that can be worn without ironing. Don't take anything that's dry clean only or might not survive being taken to the river by a local washer-lady and smacked against a rock.
And talking of washing, put in a tube of travel wash, one of those elastic washing lines that don't need pegs. And don't forget a universal travel plug - the sinks of the developing world are usually plug-less.
Number Five - Toiletries
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Some people believe that you don't really need to take any toiletries and can just buy them locally when you arrive. That's possibly true if you are going to a country that you know really well, if you are going to Spain (where hotels give you more free goodies in the bathroom than anywhere else) or if you are going to stay with friends. However, bear in mind that local toiletries will be designed to suit the local skin and hair types and may not be suitable for you. Imported products that you recognise could be really dear. If you'd happily use any old product at home, feel free to rely on whatever you can find when you get to your destination. But if you have favourites, take them with you.
What do I take? I know roughly how much shampoo, conditioner, shower gel etc. that two of us will get through in 2 weeks so I try to take only what I need.
I either save the half-used bottles in the weeks before hand, or buy small sizes or decant into smaller bottles. My aim is to use up everything I take or bin the left-overs at the end of my trip. Again, don't take things you wouldn't normally use - if you don't have a cleanse-tone-moisturise regime at home, you aren't going to develop one just because you are away.
Number Six - Lightweight Travel Towels
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Unless you are going to a really fancy resort with guaranteed 'all you can use' fluffy towels, take your own. But don't drag full thickness cotton towels from home. They are bulky, heavy and take forever to dry. Invest £20 each on high absorbency, quick drying travel towels from your local camping or travel store (Milletts, Blacks etc) or hunt them down on the internet. They are also really useful for helping to wring the water out of any washing you do whilst you are away.
Number Seven - First Aid Kit
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Whether you carry it in a little bag or an old Tupperware box, it's well worth building up a first aid kit. Put a list inside of all your standard needs and check you have everything before you go. If you keep it all together and pull it out for each trip, you are less likely to keep on re-buying all the essentials that you have to take but often don't use. Hands up who buys diarrhoea tablets before every trip but hardly ever uses them? And you can be sure they go into hiding next time you try to find them.
The contents will depend on your personal requirements but the following isn't a bad list to work from:
Diarrhoea tabs - only use them if you REALLY have to. Better out than in!
Rehydration salts for use after diarrhoea or vomiting
Travel sickness tablets
Sting and bite cream
Pain killers
Burn cream or general antiseptic
Anti-histamine tablets
Anti-malarials (as advised by your doctor or travel clinic)
A few assorted dressings and sticky plasters and a small role of tape.
I also have a needle kit with syringes, suture needles and other sterile bits - I've had it for 12 years and never used it but I wouldn't go to any less developed countries without it.
Number Eight - packets of tissues and a bottle of antibacterial hand gel
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A pinch of prevention is better than a bucket load of cure. Remember that there are germs everywhere and if they are germs you aren't used to, they could really spoil your holiday. Carry small packs of tissues - Aldi do them very cheaply in 10 packs - and have them in your pocket whenever you go to a toilet. You never know when there won't be any paper and it's more discrete than walking around with a bog roll in your bag. As there won't always be water to wash your hands with - or a clean towel to dry them on, use one of the bacterial alcohol hand gels after you've been to the loo and before you eat anything. I've just bought myself a teensy travel towel - about 12 inches square - for all those nasty foreign loos with no paper towels or (even worse) a grey nasty towel that's almost moving with all the bugs and dirt.
Number Nine - Ear Plugs or other noise reducers
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I don't actually use ear plugs - my ear holes seem to be the wrong shape and no matter what I stick in, they always fall out. But I am very noise sensitive - I live in a very quite country village where there's little more noise than the occasional cough of a sparrow. I now have a pair of comfortable noise reduction headphones - not the Bose ones, I'm not that wealthy, just a set I paid £45 for at the airport. These help to cut out the thrumming engine noise on the plane and help me to sleep even when road noise or drilling is driving me mad through the night.
I once tried to buy ear plugs in Quito (Ecuador) after getting a room on a busy junction. I mimed stuffing things in my ear - and was offered a box of cotton buds. They had no ear plugs. So take some - they may save your sanity.
Number Ten - Books
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I don't want to bring back the books that I take on holiday - unless they are really brilliant. And I don't want to pay full rate at the airport. So I scan the charity shops or boot fairs before a holiday and build up a stock of cheap books that I don't mind binning after I've read them. I try to take the sort of books that I think other people might find interesting - so I can swap them with other people as I go along. I read a lot but if you don't - as with so many other things - don't expect to turn into a big reader just because you are on holiday. Don't take too many!
And so I've run out of options now - I didn't even mention cameras or sunglasses, sarongs or hats or any of the myriad other things that sneak into my bag. However, I think these are the ten most generally useful groups of items.
Thanks for reading and have a good trip.
Top Ten Tips for Troublefree Holiday Packing 
