Everything but the kitchen sink (10 indispensable things to take on holiday with you)

Member Name: KLockwood75

Product:	10 indispensable things to take on holiday with you
Date:	12/06/09 (277 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Everything I need

Disadvantages: Not being able to lift my case

I'm in one of those Friday moods where I'm dreaming of a holiday somewhere hot and sunny, preferably with a long stretch of golden sand, a beautiful clear blue sea, a scattering of palm trees and a waiter who brings me tropical cocktails without me having to leave my sunlounger! Of course, the reality is that life with a two year old means that I'll have to put dreams of a lazy, self-indulgent holiday on the back burner for a long time but I need to keep my little fantasies to help me through a long day in the office. Anyway, while I'm day-dreaming about holidays, I thought I'd write a review on my top 10 indispensable things to take on holiday with me.

Firstly, let me stress that I am NOT a minimalist packer. I'm the girl at the airport with the over-stuffed case that I can't even lift off the baggage carousel, casting envious glances at those people who can fit a whole week's worth of stuff into one of those little wheely cases that can work as hand luggage. I do have one of those cases, but I struggle to fit all my stuff in it for a weekend city break, let alone a week in the sun.

So, these are my essentials - for me, not for the family as a whole.

1. Passport and Travel Tickets
OK, might be a bit predictable but, let's face it, I'm not going to get far without them. Luckily, we've never managed to forget our travel documents (so far) and my husband is obsessive about checking we've got them. One time, on our way to Gatwick, he checked he had them four times - which would have been understandable, but we were sitting in a taxi the whole time so I'm not sure where he thought they'd have gone!

2. Holiday Money
Another basic requirement. I like to be organised, set a budget before we go and just take one credit card in case of emergencies... like spotting cheap cosmetics! We've done city breaks where we've just used cash points as and when we need them, but if we're in a small resort, then I think taking cash is very important.

3. Sun Cream
I am lucky enough to go a golden brown in the sun (apart from my legs which stay resolutely white), but I still need a lot of protection. We tend to have a variety of different factor creams in our luggage - Factor 30 for those early days, Factor 15 for when we've got used to the sun, Factor 50 for our little boy, plus I usually have a small tube of facial suncream and a lip protector stick in there as well.

4. Sunglasses
I don't go anywhere without my sunglasses - even on a cloudy day I usually have them in my handbag, just in case the sun might break through. The only problem is that I wear them so much I tend to end up with a brown face and white circles where my sunglasses go, but I feel it's important to protect my eyes from the glare.

5. Sun Hat
In my younger, stupider days I thought nothing of wandering around in the sunshine with my head exposed to the sun. Then I got a hairstyle with a parting, and it got sunburnt - it hurt to brush my hair, it hurt to wash my hair and, when it inevitably peeled, it looked like I had dandruff. Now I always take a sunhat for a holiday in the sun, or wear a headband which covers my parting if I don't feel like wearing a hat.

6. Clothes
I find packing for holidays hard work - I never know what to take, and I always end up taking too much. I'm trying to reduce the amount of stuff I take but essentially I always take a selection of day-wear, beachwear and clothes for the evening, plus something cool to sleep in on those hot summer nights. These days, I need a bit less evening wear and a bit more day wear (as I might not spend the whole day on a sunlounger).

7. Shoes
Comfortable shoes for travelling / walking in, flip-flops for the beach, strappy sandals for evenings - I need at least three pairs of shoes in my suitcase, and the reality is I usually take far more than that. My personal record is eight pairs of shoes for a week in Italy, only to find that Sorrento was so hilly I couldn't walk far in my heels anyway, so I ended up leaving most of my strappy sandals unworn in favour of one pair of flip-flops and a pair of wedges.

8. Day Bag
Sometimes I forget this and just end up with my very practical cross-body Radley bag which I tend to use for the journey (just to keep those travel documents where I can find them). It's a lovely bag, but black leather and hot sunshine is not a good combination. I don't like to have a big day bag though - just enough for my purse, my sun-cream and a few other bits. I've learned from past experience that a big day bag is a bad idea, as it means I end up lugging everyone else's stuff around as well as my own.

9. Holiday Books
An integral part of a summer holiday for me is to stretch out in the sun with a good book or two. I used to take four or five books for a week in the sun, but now I've got a child I don't get so much time to read. I will still be taking a couple of books though - there's always time to chill out once he's asleep! I like fluffy, unchallenging chick-lit for the beach, although I will occasionally take the chance to educate myself a bit with something a bit heavier.

10. First Aid Stuff
I like to be prepared for emergencies so I always take plasters, a tube of Savlon, a tube of bite cream (for those inevitable mosquito bites - why do they always bite me and never bite my husband), ibuprofen (for hangovers and sun-induced headaches) and Imodium (just in case). In the old days, our suitcases used to be full of hangover remedies but now it's just a few basics.

If I had a few more choices, I'd probably add my iPod, the Tom Tom with European map downloads if we're hiring a car (this was invaluable in France), a local guidebook, a big bag of cosmetics and all my make-up... but let's face it, I'll be squeezing most of that in my suitcase even if it's not on my essentials list. I just hope that this time I can close it without resorting to sitting on it!

Summary: I'm sure I've forgotten something....