So you’ve done the hardest part. You’ve finished trawling the internet for the perfect holiday. If you’re anything like me you ended up choosing one of the first ones you came across and everything else was a complete waste of time. So, now it’s time to start the holiday prep. For me this usually starts as soon as I’ve finished entering my card details. Let’s get started…
Body:
Depending on the time you have I think it’s nice to aim for beach body readiness. This will mean different things for different people. Check out my post T Re: Life Change & Fitness for the tools I used to shed the pounds before my holiday.
Travel Documents:
I am severely OCD when it comes to this. The absolute first thing I put in my suitcase is my passport (my boyfriend’s too, we must all play to our strengths in life…). I then set about printing everything boarding passes, Booking.com itinerary, the hotel shuttle confirmation and the purple parking confirmation for when we park our car at the airport.
T Re: Airport Parking – one of my number one tips is to drive to the airport. It saves so much hassle and is far better than lugging your suitcase through the underground. It’s definitely cheaper than a taxi. Both times I’ve done it it’s come in at around £40 to park (my hols were 7 and 10 days each). There is nothing better than getting off a long flight and immediately jumping into your own space. Clearly this only applies if you have a car.
Shopping
The best place to start is with a plan. Think about your holiday, how many days is it? Are you likely to spend most days at the beach in which case you need mainly bikinis and cover ups or, perhaps you like visiting local sites so shorts, tops and sun dresses are most appropriate. Moving into the evening do you plan on fine dining? Perhaps you need some outfits for the restaurant or the club…
Point is, you should go shopping to purchase select outfits. No use just picking up random items you like and hope they work. Further, the best place to start shopping is in your wardrobe. Who knows what treasures lie in there from your last summer holiday.
Packing
I learned to pack from my mother. She is the queen of all things life related. A lot of the home tips in posts to come will be taken directly from her teachings. Before KonMari there was Beverley (my mother) the principles are similar but let’s go step by step.
Following your shopping trip you should have everything you need and each outfit has been organised. I was actually on holiday when I started this post, but the principal of repacking your suitcase is the same. Below I made my outfits:
KonMari meets Beverley – so, the main focus of my mom’s method is rolling each outfit together, in keeping with Marie Kondo’s KonMari way of organising. This way I can count my outfits making sure I’ve packed enough and when I get to my destination I don’t have to think ‘what did I plan to wear that with again?’.
Roll your underpants and socks – it’s so much neater and takes up far less space. Same goes for swimsuits. I didn’t here, but a good tip is to use zip lock bags for these. It keeps them all in one place and doubles up as a dirty laundry bag.
Leave a hole for your toiletries bag – as a girl with Afro hair there are a few things I cannot go on holiday without i.e. my hair moisturisers, no sulphate shampoo and conditioner and coconut oil. I’m not talking travel sized quantities either for some of it, so I need to be able to put it all in the checked bag. Same goes for body moisturiser, shower gel, deodorant etc. I like to put all these things in my suitcase.
Bulky items – I like to layer these on top. This includes beach towels and as it turned out my boyfriends shorts – only God knows why they were so thick, ha! As we were going on a 1 week holiday, we only had one checked bag and a piece of hand luggage each. My boyfriend doesn’t even carry a wallet most of the time so I had no problem packing hand luggage for him i.e. he carried our shoes. I could have fit these in the case… they would go at the bottom and you pack little rolls of clothes around them.
Done!
Pampering:
As far as pampering goes I like to have everything packed early the day before my hols so I can get to pampering. I run a hot bath and fill it with bubble bath, I sprinkle either Epsom salts or Radox bath crystals. I soak for a good 5 to 10 mins then I get a body exfoliation pad and start scrubbing. I like the antibacterial properties of hibiscrub as a body wash, but it can be a bit drying so I don’t use it everyday. I use it with my exfoliating pad to get all the dead skin off my legs arms elbows etc. Under the shower I’ll wash my hair and then get started on my face. I use the St Ives Even & Bright scrub with lemon and grapefruit. Then I’ll cleanse with my all natural Aloe Vera soap. Once out the bath I drench myself in coconut oil, including my hair. I also apply some Mixed Chicks conditioner to my hair and let it sit for a few hours under a shower cap and head scarf before washing it out. During this time I’ll tweeze, pluck and shave all the bits that need it. I like to do my own manis and pedis, picking out my colour is part of the shopping ritual. I’ll do my hands and feet letting them dry before I wash out my hair and style. If you want to hear more about my hair routine let me know in the comments.
Mind:
I always make sure there is enough down time in my holiday plan to allow me to focus and think about my goals. I’ll usually jot some thoughts down in my journal. I’m using the Day One app at the moment. I’ll be posting about my recent trip to Portugal which inspired me so much I actually bit the bullet and started this blog.
Loads of great packing checklists are on the web especially Pinterest. I would really recommend picking up the Marie Kondo book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: A simple, effective way to banish clutter forever I might even buy it… writing this I’ve managed to convince myself hehehe!!
Nb: I’m new at this so comments welcome!
Xxx
