It’s a few days before you’re about to set off on holiday.  With trepidation, you open the door to the spare room and cautiously peer around the door….

.. as you feared the scene that confronts you looks as if a deranged burglar has rifled through your drawers.  There are jumpers, tops, trousers, shirts, underwear strewn across the bed – and, dwarfed by the volume of clothes, stands open one standard size suitcase.  Yes, it’s the pre-holiday nightmare, otherwise known as PACKING.

It’s a well-known law in the travel world that the size of luggage you propose to take will always be about a third of the size required to take all that you’ve laid out to take.

Of course there is one obvious solution – buy a bigger case – simples!!! Not always an option, which leaves a second –  pack smart, culling that third from your clothing pile.  A friend of mine once lamented having to leave out her cream corduroy trousers – even when I pointed out she was taking the burgundy pair, the black pair and the pink pair (and was only going for a week).  Decisions are hard.  I feel your pain.  Can I live without that special, supersoft jumper that only goes with one pair of trousers which only go with one pair of shoes – you get the picture.

There are some ways to conjure, as if by magic, some extra space in your luggage. Rolling rather than folding your clothes really DOES work – here’s the proof……

packing

Some golden rules to ensure your luggage arrives holiday-ready!:

• shoes at the bottom (stuffed with socks)
• as many non-iron fabrics as possible
• your best clothes laid (not rolled) on the top
• and finally, ladies, sneak some clothes into his suitcase when he’s not looking

Happy packing!

Image courtesy of Girls Trips Tips http://www.girlstriptips.com/blog/how-to-pack-backpack-or-suitcase-light-pic)