Travelling Light & How I Do it

Carry-on travel has loads of advantages. You can head straight to security bypassing the scrum at the baggage drop at the airport; its easier on you physically, allowing you to be more flexible in where and how quickly can you move about, it can save you £££s on air fares and finally, there's no chance of your luggage getting lost. In fact, other than not having a different outfit every day, there's no downside to travelling light. Most of traveling light is in the preparation: advance planning and good lists. It's not rocket science, if I can manage it then so can you! Here's how I do it.

•  At least a week before my departure date I take out every garment I think I might want to take and lay them out on the bed in the spare bedroom. After a while I'll notice a palette of similar colours emerging which allows me to see what will work with what. When you pack light every garment has to multitask so, even if I really love something and desperately want to take it on my travels, if it only goes with one other thing I just have to fight the urge and say NO!
• Next I'll make outfits from the collection. I'll try everything on just to remind myself of how something fits. If it needs a slip underneath - or a belt - or will only work with one particular pair of shoes - or creases like a bastard - then it gets rejected. Whilst I'm trying my clothes on I'll then decide on which accessories will work.  This, of course, saves loads of time when I'm away, as I'm not dithering over what I'm going to wear with what. 
• When I think I've made my decision I'll check that it all fits into my case and then hang everything up on the back of the bedroom door (this is where those over-the-door racks really come in handy!) Occasionally I'll take something out or swap something over but I'll never add more. I take the same amount of clothes for a week away as I would for six. Only packing clothes I love and feel good in means that I'm happy to wear them on repeat. If needs be I can always wash my clothes in the shower and hang them up to dry.
• Finally I photograph everything I'm taking and create a Pinterest board, adding photos of me wearing my outfits when I return. This visual reference really helps when I'm packing for my next adventure. 

• Toiletries and make-up : Always check the airport rules with regards to liquids - at the moment Birmingham (like most UK airports) still limit containers to 100ml or less (although you can take as many as you wish) but these now stay in your carry-on and do not have to be separated into a clear bag. However, every European airport I've returned from in the last twelve months still demand liquids be presented separately in a clear bag so I pack my liquids in a clear bag within my toiletry bag so I don't forget the clear bag for my return journey (its also an additional safety measure against spills.) Don't get caught out and be that annoying person in the queue - check, check and check again! 

• To save the faff I try and reduce the amount of liquids to an absolute minimum. I decant liquids and pastes into smaller containers wherever possible, use Lush's shampoo and conditioner bars and although I don't love them, take biodegradable facial wipes rather than eye makeup remover and cotton pads. I'm always scouring the charity shops for sample-sized toiletries - the Korres body butter in a handy 60ml tube (still sealed) was a recent find (as was the illuminated 30x magnifying mirror with handy suction pads). Even the most remote village in rural India has somewhere to buy a plaster or a painkiller so I just pack the essentials.

• Beauty: Eyebrow pencil, blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick, mascara, 2 x brushes, tweezers and a pencil sharpener. Much as I love playing around with different shades of eyeshadow, eyeliner and lipstick I limit myself to one of each when I travel. I have a gel manicure so I don't have to worry about my nails chipping (or breaking). Don't forget that mascara and lipstick both count as liquids.

• Hair: Tangle Teezer, velvet scrunchies (in the same colour palette), hair pin, Wonder Bobble ( the item that looks like telephone cord & the best thing ever for keeping your pony tail in place) and invisible bands for securing my bedtime plaits. When I wash my hair at home I plait it and leave it to dry naturally. As we'll be going out at night and the evenings are chilly, I'll need to blast it with a hairdryer. I have got a little travel hairdryer but I shall email the property owner and ask if they have one I can use, which should save a few inches of precious space. 

• Luggage: I've recently upgraded my charity shopped wheelie bag to a hard shell case. I wasn't sure if I wanted a hard case but after reading a billion reviews I've been converted, the contents won't get damp when I walk down to the railway station in the rain, the outside won't rip and, as the case is made from carbon fibre, it's ridiculously light (but super tough!) I bought my case from TRIPP which very handily has a list of the airlines who will accept this size of bag as carry-on and every airline I book with says yes to this size (55 x 39 x 20). The website often has deals, I paid £35 for mine - and no, I'm not sponsored to say that!  

So what am I taking? 

Three maxi dresses which can be worn alone or layered with the three tops below. The shirred cotton blouse looks good under the dress with the velvet bodice or worn over the dress in the middle. The velvet tops can be worn as wrap-overs or left open as a jacket, you can even wear them backwards with the crossover at the back. 

The embroidered velvet waistcoat works with all three of the dresses. Although the jacket is a slight deviation on my general colour scheme, the cropped shape looks good with my maxis and the sleeves are wide enough to accommodate my massive sleeves. 

We're off to The Med where the weather is generally warm (around 20°C) during the day but cools down after sunset, although the forums say its light jacket rather than the woolly jumper kind of chilly, certainly a damned sight better than here. 

As it's still quite early in the season, I'm taking trainers as well as sandals. Not that I need an excuse, Jon found me these amazing gold Adidas Continentals (a reissue of the 1980s classics) in a charity shop the other day and I love them! 

Jewellery: Six rings, two bracelets, a necklace and three pairs of earrings. I'll wear the turquoise studs to travel in and put the bracelets & rings on when I'm through security. I was thinking about having my usual greenish blue nail colour for when I'm away but I'm loving the colour they currently are (Charlotte, my nail technician reckons that the shade, Stylish Brown, is named after me!)

I'm also taking my Kobo, my phone, a cloth tote bag, my reading glasses, earplugs, sunglasses, an umbrella, a recycled sari silk wrap, a bikini, a sports towel, a shower cap, 2 x trainer socks, 2 x ankle socks and two pairs of knickers (one pair of each will be worn to travel in). 

Which all rolls up neatly into my bag with room to spare should I be tempted by a souvenir or two!

We're flying with Jet2 who include a 10kg hand luggage allowance so I'm well within the limit.

I'll travel in my Anokhi maxi with the olive velvet wrap top, my quilted jacket, wool fedora, Frye boots and the fringed suede bag. I'll also wear my thermal leggings which will be whipped off on arrival and hopefully won't see the light of day until the journey home!

As you can see, you don't have to compromise on style to travel light. I hope this inspires you to give the carry-on option a go. 

I'm not going away just yet so I'll see you next week.