Packing5 minute read

How to plan a holiday packing list

The problem with every packing list on the internet is that it does not know where you are going or what you are doing when you get there. It is a list of things people generally take on holidays generally.

Your holiday already contains the answer.

Count against your actual days

Look at your itinerary and count the days that involve a beach or a pool. Halve it. That is your minimum swimwear, because it rarely dries overnight in humid places.

Count the evenings out. That is your evening outfits, plus one. Do the same for daytime plans, which is the number people consistently underestimate.

Attach things to the plan that needs them

When you add the boat trip, add what it needs at the same time: swimsuit, ID, sunscreen, water, towel. You are thinking about the boat trip at that exact moment, which is the only time you will remember what it needs.

Two weeks later, staring at an empty suitcase, you will not.

Let outfits count as packing

If you have decided you are wearing a black dress and gold sandals to Friday's dinner, that is two items already packed as far as your list is concerned. Deciding the outfit and listing the items should not be two separate jobs.

Merge the duplicates

Sunscreen appears on the beach day, the boat day and the pool day. That is one bottle, not three.

Any list built from multiple sources needs to collapse duplicates, or you end up double-packing and ignoring the list because it is obviously wrong.

Keep it personal

Six people on the same holiday need six lists. They share the group's bring items but their clothes are their own, and one person ticking off a passport must not mark off anyone else's.

Split shared kit explicitly

Hair tools, adapters, speakers, first aid. Decide who brings what and write it down, or you get four of the first three and none of the fourth.

Try it on a real holiday

Free to start, with a day created for every date you are away.

Create your Holiday Board

Free to start. No card needed. £6.99 per holiday if you want the lot.