holidays

[Braddy 160]

A group of us was talking about holidays and suitcases.When you go on your hols when do you pack your suitcases, on the day you go or days before, some said on the day others said between 1 and 5 days also one said they wash the clothes before packing the suitcases to come back home,[hols in uk only] What do you do?

[poohbear 1,360]

Wouldn't know...is the sea still there?

[katyjay 5,091]

I try and pack most of my clothes the day before, someone once said, if you pack early, your clothes 'settle' and you have a bit more room in your case. Then put the last minute stuff in before closing the case.

[MelissaJKelly 2,124]

Pack 5 days before. Never wash before coming back though! Do it all when we get back

[carni 10,094]

First of all, I write a list with every thing to be taken with us on it, and things to do. Checking; Doors, Windows, lights etc

All our clothes etc are laid out in the spare room during the week before we go. The night before we go, I pack and tick off my list as I go along.

The day of departure, I finish packing and tick each item on the list before we leave the house.

I'm afraid lists are essential now, because my memory is very unreliable these days.

I still only wear a third of what I take. I never learn.

[LizzieM 9,514]

The night before we depart. But I lay awake wondering what I've forgotten to put in the case!

[mercurydancer 1,104]

I dont really unpack. I have certain essentials that I never remove from my pack. First aid kit, battery back up, adaptor plugs, spare SIM card, spare network SIM, A very cheap Pay as you go phone, (For the SIM card) toilet paper sealed in a plastic bag, some nappy bags ( extremely useful for all manner of things) three bags of peanuts and several packs of the little bags of orange juice with straws, several foil blankets (for the cold - invaluable and they are waterproof too, so can be used in a downpour)

I am certain that in some part of my pack there is a pair of underpants which have been there for at least a couple of years. Clean of course. Well, they were then.

I always collect the little bags that the airlines give you with socks and toothbrushes and stuff as they are extremely useful.

[piggy and babs 544]

i start to pack on the mondy before we go away start with dressing gowns nightwear towels yes i know most boarding houses and hotels provide them but i like to use my own as i always know theres plenty of room in them to cover me up in case of emergencie and i have to leave the room with them on, toletries , underwear. then other clothes go in . leaving room for slipers shoes batery charges ect on the top like most people i always pack much more than i ever use on my long weekend away in sunny skeggy vagas for rockers reunion first weekend in august every year .if you saw the size of my suitecase just for four days you would laugh at me and i always take extra pillows coz i can only get confy on my own . good job we go in the car is all i can say.

[colly0410 1,181]

I let SWMBO do all the packing, then if owt gets forgotten it's her fault, then I can look all smug coz I'm not to blame; this time..

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

I hope nobody uses zipper type suitcases....

[LizzieM 9,514]

It's pretty difficult to buy a suitcase that doesn't have a zip fastening. A few years ago I just used an ordinary little lock on a case when flying to the USA. All fine on the journey from LHR but on the return trip from Miami the Airport Security broke not only the lock but also the little metal things that you use to close the zip. Of course you don't actually find out this has been done til next morning when you get your bag off the carousel. After that I bought the proper TSA locks and who knows how often my case has been opened up for inspection. A friend of ours had a camera go missing from his bag on a flight from the US to London. My husband only ever travels with a carry-on bag, no matter how long he's away for, because he has so many flights on a business trip that he just doesn't want to be hanging around waiting at the carousel at every airport. I'm afraid I can't do that !!!

[colly0410 1,181]

The reason you 'can't do that' is coz you're a Girl, & Girls always take everything but the kitchen sink. It's true you do..

[LizzieM 9,514]

Not quite true Colly, I've learnt to pack pretty well over the years but it's the shoes ...........

[StephenFord 866]

Shoes? You don't need to pack shoes - just wear 'em - one on each foot - easy!

[FLY2 10,109]

Don't panic, I'm back off my hols ( stop yawning you cheeky beggars )

Had a fantastic but tiring time. Baltic Capitals and Scandinavian Delights.

From Calais to Antwerp, Berlin, Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga, Tallin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Helsinborg, Copenhagen, Lubeck, Antwerp and back via Calais.

Highlights, Warsaw, brilliant but sad history and cheap. Vilnius, Riga and Tallin, stunning beyond belief, and reasonably priced.

Copenhagen, amazing bacon. Lubeck, fantastic buildings and the best scrambled egg ever. Antwerp, great beer and steak. Ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm, amazing ferry and beautiful scenery.

Low points, Berlin, shi7 hole. Rough toilet paper everywhere except Antwerp. Copenhagen, very expensive, but who cares.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant !!!!!!

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Been a fair few years since we went on holiday. When we lived in Oz, we'd get away a couple of times a year, plus the odd weekend, but we had a caravan back then, so it would be got ready a week prior to leaving. fridge powered up, propane cylinders filled, clothes packed in the closet etc..

[FLY2 10,109]

Had some great caravan hols when the kids were little (1970's) and we were in the Caravan Club. Cheap hols then.

[FLY2 10,109]

Welcome Home !!!!!!

Disposable nappy in gutter, fish & chip wrapper in drive, styrene tray under hedge, nub ends galore, fag packet cellophane under bush, flattened energy drink can in drive, sirens by the minute, endless exhaust sounds from chav retards in their clapped out Suburu Imprezzas, then Mrs red tells me the outlaws are coming round Saturday evening to chat over our hols.

Effing marvellous !!!!!

[LizzieM 9,514]

No dog muck neatly tied up in poo bags and tucked into your hedge then?

Sounds a great trip around Europe Basfordred, something I wouldn't mind doing some day as there are lots of cities I haven't visited. See you down town Thursday evening then?

[FLY2 10,109]

Dog poo in bags in Basford, that'll be the day !

[Bazza 123 34]

School holidays for me was a couple of weeks with my Nan and her partner in the country in Surrey near Guildford,where Nans partner Jack was a gamekeeper for the gentry.It was the time of year in August when the pheasant chicks would arrive and we'd take them out to big pens where Jack would raise them up for the October shoot.Amongst other things we'd lay traps for fox and wild cats also send his ferrets in to the burrows to flush out rabbits and poor bunny got shot,Jack gave a rifle to me once and tried to get me to shoot a bunny but I just couldn't do it.Then in the evenings I would hop on the back of Jacks ancient Francis Barnett and head of to a very shallow lake where he taught me to swim.Happy memories wished I could have stayed forever.

[darkazana 1,736]

Still not too bad for pitch on Caravan Club Site....Top rate is £24.10, per night, for two adults on a pitch with leccy. Quite funny at the moment as all the retirees are frantically calling in, mainly on their way back home to lock the doors before the school hols start in earnest, and because we are not a bucket and spade site we will have a fairly quiet time of it. Then come September we will start filling up again!

[FLY2 10,109]

Mid November, it's that time of the year when all the holiday brochures come crashing almost daily through the letter box. 

No long holidays I'm told this year as the mother in law is in need of almost constant care, but I'm sussing out several European short city breaks. I'll begin hopefully with Bruges as I've been a couple of times previously and it's beautiful. Right, where next ?