I had noticed that in previous years I would often pack clothes that I might wear if I was on holiday in a hot country, a just incaser, but this year I've had a lot of practise in choosing summer outfits so I came to the conclusion that 'if I haven't worn it this summer, it ain't coming on holiday!' However, I am not a light packer....
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| A handful of garms for our family holiday wardrobes |
The Guardian fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley put it best in her 2017 article Don't pack light pack clever about holiday packing essentials, where she announced that she 'didn't trust people who pack light, they are smug gits!' Correct! If I want to take everything on my holiday with me, I am going to bloody take everything on my holiday with me!
If you are happy washing out your families pants and t-shirts whilst on your holiday then good for you! I won't be joining you. When I'm on holiday, I've got an important meeting with a sun bed, a good book and a glass of Sangria.
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| Obligatory plane selfie |
Whilst researching peoples compulsion to pack light, I came across the phenomena that is environmentally friendly packing cubes....Can I ask what is this obsession (especially with pinterest users) with packing cubes? WTAF? They were apparently designed to replace those plastic carrier bags you've been popping your shoes and dirty washing in, I am a big supporter of getting rid of plastics but surely by now we are all owners of canvas style bags for life and if we really need extra bags we can use one of those? It's more environmentally sound to use a bag you already own, isn't it?
Before packing cubes were invented were people going out of their way to purchase plastic bags for their holiday packing? I think not. If pinterest is anything to go by these cubes were designed for the packing obsessive, a person who has far too much time on their hands, a person who is happy individually packing little bundles of garments and gubbins into separate packing cubes, just to make their case look nice and neat. Stand aside saddo's I've got a handful of socks that need wedging down the sides of my already heavily packed case!
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| It's late but we arrive at the most beautiful Majorcan Finka |
I have three kids (four if you include my husband who seriously packs more beach toys than the kids do! He even managed to ram his skateboard in the case this year!) so yeah, we have a lot of stuff. One good thing we do for the environment is we reuse our inflatables and don't dump and buy like so many seem to do on each trip. So that's four kids, Me and lots of clothes, we usually go for around ten days, maybe we'll go out at night, will we need two outfits on some days? How much stuff do we take?
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| Family beach selfie with the kids and my Mum! |
I find we double up and reuse t-shirts and shorts (that don't get ice cream all over them) and the kids practically live in swimwear so that's ten outfits for ten days, that covers any trips out and ice-cream spillages, no need for extra garms and certainly no need to spend my holidays washing clothes!
I've not worn heels for about two years, it's all about the comfort right here, so I only need to take sliders and a couple of pairs of trainers, that's practically all I've worn all summer anyway. We are not a family who glams up to go out, we dress comfortably, it's not about how pressed and brand new we look. You can tell when a family has bought a whole new wardrobe for their holidays, it makes me nauseous, I imagine the waste and the big bag of garms sent to the charity shop as the winter approaches.
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| One of the few moments we weren't wearing swimwear! This Duvet Days co-ord was just perfect for hot summer nights! |
So, how did we cram our whole lives into these five cases, yes five! My husband Phil even got us extra carry-ons this year, even I thought that was a bit extreme! Although I will never consider a carry on case each unless we were going for a shorter holiday, I do take one swimwear item, toothbrush, minimal make up and any meds, as well as the usual travel stuff passports etc, in my carry on bag. Ever had your luggage go missing when you reach your holiday destination? We have, and guess what was in the missing case?! Never again!
In conclusion, now we have returned from our amazing summer holiday, in all seriousness how successful was this years holiday pack?
I have to confess to bringing home a case with many unworn clothes inside! This year Majorca was very, very hot, this combined with it being a different kind of holiday for us, less resort holiday and more laid back hanging out at our beautiful Finka in the Majorcan countryside, we literally spent the whole day in swimwear, unless we ventured out in the car to the beach or to a restaurant. We did use all of the inflatables, towels and beach paraphernalia that contributed to a large part of our holiday packing so it's never over-packing to take these items.
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| My morning view |
Personally, I had a few pairs of trackies and loose trousers I didn't wear due to the heat, Phil wore less short sleeve shirts/ t-shirts as we didn't go out every night and the same with the kids. Sylvie had two super cute hareem jumpsuits that she refused to wear as she was too hot.
We totally lucked out on the weather so I don't mind lugging back the unworn clothes and I am still standing by packing what you want! As a Brit we always say 'Be prepared for every weather eventuality' and yes, I did pack an umbrella and it did rain.....once (umbrella unused).
Why shouldn't I pack lots of garms? I am a fashion blogger and a fashion editor, I need to look good and have a variety of outfits to choose from, I took a wardrobe of swimwear garms alone and I am happy with that! Capsule wardrobes just don't seem to work for me, I change my mind too much and don't like to be restricted in fashion!
I think it's amazing how we managed to fit our whole life into five cases for ten days, my gosh you should see how much we take for a weekend camping!
Hope you had a great summer!
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Emma Gorton-Ellicott
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ND xx
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