What to pack

Trying to work out what to take, what to carry it in, how much, how little, and what to wear can be quite confusing. You simply can't prepare for every eventuality but when away it's important to have the odd home comfort.

Use these simple rules to stress free luggage!

Choose your luggage: First and very important is to consider what are you going to pack everything in. Suitcase or rucksack? Wheels or no wheels?  How strong are you? What sort of trip are you having?

Can you carry it?: Whatever you decide and, if like so many of us, you have a tendency to pack too much MAKE SURE you can carry your luggage with relative ease.  Steps crop up everywhere and not all countries, particularly in the less developed world are as well equipped with ramps, lifts and escalators as the UK.  It’s a good idea to do a practise run with you case – a trip on the London underground is a good start!

Divide and conquer: Divide your possessions into sections , preferably in something like those classy laundry bags often found in hotels. Shirts in one, underwear in another, socks in another etc.  It does make it much easier when you arrive somewhere late at night and just need to crash into bed.

Bag it up: Always put toiletries into a well-sealed plastic bag before putting them in your spongebag, which is useful if it is a transparent one. And, boring as it is, always religiously check all lids and stoppers are securely done up.

Plastic fantastic: Have spare plastic bags for wet and dirty clothes. In fact, just always have spare bags, they're useful for almost everything - sitting on damp ground, cleaning mud off shoes, wrapping food in etc.

Bubbly fun: Bubble wrap is an infinitely useful item to carry – keep it in one of those little pockets that you have no other use for.

Less is more: Don’t try to take everything for every occasion.  Every country, particularly the newer developing ones, are great at being market-driven.  If it unexpectedly rains you can be sure there will be plenty of people selling you umbrellas and waterproof plastic macs!

These boots are made for walking: Don’t take new shoes.  Comfortable familiarity is the best – anyway, be honest, how often is it you remember someone’s shoes? A pair of reliable and sturdy sandals or shoes are essential for walking and sightseeing, as are a pair of flip flops for everything else.

Carry on flying: A decent small carry-on back pack for planes, day trips, sightseeing and carrying shopping.

Towels: A lot of people take modern micro fibre ones which dry in an instant, they’re great, but they don’t really do it for me. If you fancy something else a baby’s muslin and a towelling nappy are invaluable.  Both have served me superbly in every country and on every occasion.

Money: Where to carry your it. Money belts are popular, but personally I think they’re too obvious and it’s dangerous keeping everything in one place – thieves know exactly what they need to grab to get everything from you. I much prefer trousers with a few pockets in which I put a variety of things, and split my money in at least two of them. You’re a much more complicated target then.

Dress code: “Clothes for the life you lead” is a mantra my mother always said to me and nothing is truer when travelling. What looks good and is acceptable on a hot sunny Mediterranean beach is  completely unsuitable in many countries, even if it is hot and sunny.  Remember to respect the local cultures and try not to offend, particularly if you want to feel part of the place and get a sense of how they live. It is great fun buying the clothes produced in and for the country.  They aren’t expensive and I have always found that the locals really appreciate it if you make an effort to wear their style of clothes.

Life electrical: Chargers - the curse of the modern traveller. There is a plethora of them and they take up a lot of room and weight, but are essential. Where would we really be without our phone, camera, video, ipod etc? You can now buy universal adaptors which have a number of attachments and do reduce space. Either way, keep everything together in an easy accessible but sealed bag and pack them to one side of the case so that when you arrive somewhere late at night and everything needs charging it doesn’t require unpacking everything to find a stray leads.

 For more top packing tips contact the Guru.