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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask for your most unhinged packing lists?

507 replies

badhabitsleadtolate · 05/08/2026 15:17

Trying to cover all bases.

I’m not talking the “oh yeah I whack a teabag in my baggage”, i’m talking the type of stuff most people would never dream of taking.

OP posts:
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9
Olive123456 · 06/08/2026 11:04

I pack 3 bikinis, 3 pairs of shorts, 7 vest tops,7 pairs of knickers, 2 dresses, 2 pairs of sandals, 3 pairs of sunglasses, 1 hat, 2 books,2 travel plugs. I buy anything else i'll need when I get there.

XYZroundabouts · 06/08/2026 11:00

I have a couple of blue cotton draw string bags that I paid 50 pence for a few years ago.
Use these to put dirty laundry in

fizzyroselemonade · 06/08/2026 10:48

Prawnalicious · 06/08/2026 10:12

For self catering, I always pack rubber gloves, a flat clothes peg airer from pound shop (for drying hand washed underwear), ice cube bags, travel type hotel slippers, big reusable bags for shopping and also a larger IKEA type bag for keeping all beach stuff/sandy stuff in the car so it doesn't go everywhere.

One of my pet hates is tiled floors in hotel rooms and there being no broom to sweep up. There’s always hair and bits on the floor and a once a day sweep doesn’t do it for me. The answer, that was blindingly obvious to all but me, is to take some lightweight hotel style slippers. 🤦🏼‍♀️

XYZroundabouts · 06/08/2026 10:44

My paetner carries a tiny, micro fibre towel on his key ring

We have used it multiple times

Think of Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy

You have always got to be ptepared

LancashireButterPie · 06/08/2026 10:37

LakieLady · 06/08/2026 08:04

I take a small torch after staying in a cottage in Cornwall where it was pitch black at night.

The first night, we walked to the village pub in the early evening light, and the walk back in absolute darkness was challenging, to say the least.

Show quote history

Most phones have a torch built in.

Doodledoggle · 06/08/2026 10:33

Verv · 06/08/2026 10:24

Argh why hadnt i thought about an aeropress!
Ive been taking an old bodum travel press for years and its leaky. Time to replace it 🙂

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You could always just replace the metal part on your press as that's the bit that leaks.

But yes, otherwise aeropress!!

We have one at work and keep one at home for holidays.

Verv · 06/08/2026 10:24

Doodledoggle · 06/08/2026 09:05

I always take fluncanazole, clomitrazole and canesten cream as holidays often give me thrush and require a triple approach.

I always take an aeropress and PACT coffee, full caf and decaf.

When we stay anywhere with crap mugs such as hotels, we go and buy decent but cheap mugs and leave them.

None of those are odd though.

Argh why hadnt i thought about an aeropress!
Ive been taking an old bodum travel press for years and its leaky. Time to replace it 🙂

Prawnalicious · 06/08/2026 10:12

For self catering, I always pack rubber gloves, a flat clothes peg airer from pound shop (for drying hand washed underwear), ice cube bags, travel type hotel slippers, big reusable bags for shopping and also a larger IKEA type bag for keeping all beach stuff/sandy stuff in the car so it doesn't go everywhere.

Fairislesweater · 06/08/2026 09:58

ZippyPeer · 05/08/2026 17:06

I know someone who takes an extension lead. They hate not being able to charge their phone by the bed

Actually this is genius, because this always winds me up too and I would never think of taking one

StarlightLady · 06/08/2026 09:55

Sahara123 · 06/08/2026 09:14

We take an extension lead ! My husband uses a cpap machine and we’ve discovered you can’t rely on there being a suitable socket by the bed.

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An ultra long phone charging lead is far more compact than an extension lead.

Bananacrepewithnuts · 06/08/2026 09:24

BauhausOfEliott · 05/08/2026 20:02

I think if I required this level of paraphernalia to go on holiday, I would simply not go on holiday.

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Blimey. I'm staying at home - that all sounds very stressful!
X

JaceLancs · 06/08/2026 09:24

Extension lead
Gluten free crackers
Small jigsaws
Telescopic fan - even with air con it’s often needed
Small Lego kits

Sahara123 · 06/08/2026 09:14

ZippyPeer · 05/08/2026 17:06

I know someone who takes an extension lead. They hate not being able to charge their phone by the bed

We take an extension lead ! My husband uses a cpap machine and we’ve discovered you can’t rely on there being a suitable socket by the bed.

Doodledoggle · 06/08/2026 09:05

I always take fluncanazole, clomitrazole and canesten cream as holidays often give me thrush and require a triple approach.

I always take an aeropress and PACT coffee, full caf and decaf.

When we stay anywhere with crap mugs such as hotels, we go and buy decent but cheap mugs and leave them.

None of those are odd though.

CatBooksWineInThatOrder · 06/08/2026 08:58

Never been on holiday without canesten since a memorable episode that involved visiting multiple pharmacies in Turkey and trying to explain the problem to the male pharmacists. I was offered toothpaste, shaving cream, deodorant and hairspray before I found a female pharmacist who, with the help of Google, figured out what I needed. Never had it since but never want to go through that again.

Stompythedinosaur · 06/08/2026 08:54

The carbon monoxide alarm is genius! I'm going to start doing that

I've just realised I often bring a washing line and a universal plug, are those unhinged things to holiday with? I think they're practical!

Cherrysoup · 06/08/2026 08:51

ZippyPeer · 05/08/2026 17:06

I know someone who takes an extension lead. They hate not being able to charge their phone by the bed

My DH does this and we really needed it last time.

I pre-grind coffee and take it in a little tupperware container, plus the cafetière because the place may say there is one but there isn’t. I take our favourite glasses/mugs too. We went to an airbnb and the only cups really were cups, delicate little things with saucers. We hoofed off to the supermarket and bought mugs. We like a good amount of coffee in the morning.

StarlightLady · 06/08/2026 08:48
  • stretchy clothes line
  • clothes washing leaves
  • sink/bath plug
  • condoms
  • mini sudocrem
Doodledoggle · 06/08/2026 08:44

Bananacrepewithnuts · 05/08/2026 18:57

I pack on hangers.

Get to the hotel. Pull out the clothes on hangers put in the wardrobe.
Job done. Unpacked in 3 mins.

Does everyone else do this?

X

No. We stay in villas. I dress out of my bag every day. And clean laundry goes back into the bag to be worn next time!

I dress off the dressing room floor at home 😂

DonaldWheresMaTweezers · 06/08/2026 08:30

LemonSnail · 06/08/2026 07:58

Who would have planned the funeral while you were away and how long do you go on holidays for?

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Two weeks usually and my sister and I will be arranging the already-planned funeral. There is unlikely to be a long gap between death and funeral as we expect them to die of their illnesses, though obviously if something else happened then it might be different.

Mooselooseinmyhoose · 06/08/2026 08:26

eggandonion · 05/08/2026 23:10

If you are flying can a monitor go in the hold? Or in hand luggage?

Either but take the batteries out and carry them separately so the test button isnt accidentally pushed!

ParsleySageToiletDuckAndBinBags · 06/08/2026 08:18

bordersarebest · 06/08/2026 07:40

My grandad used to go to Tenerife for a month every January. He always took 2 or 3 large blocks of Cathedral City cheese & his brother took a large cooked gammon joint !
He tried to bring the cheese on holiday with us in the summer but my mum made him bin it at the airport 😂

.

To ask for your most unhinged packing lists?
Eastie77Returns · 06/08/2026 08:16

NotAnotherScarf · 05/08/2026 15:52

If I am going to somewhere I am not sure of safety wise, I always pack a rubber door stop. I use it to wedge the hotel door closed. Its very difficult to push thd door open with it in place especially on any type of carpet

I do this whenever I stay in a hotel (I travel for work) regardless of location. On my last work trip my colleague woke up in the middle of the night to find a man entering her room when we staying in a very nice hotel in Hamburg. Thankfully he was as horrified as her and immediately exited the room. He had checked in late at night and due to some mix-up we never got to the bottom of, the receptionist put him into the same room as my friend.

LakieLady · 06/08/2026 08:04

Kickinthenostalgia · 05/08/2026 22:30

DP always makes us take a torch, has done since I’ve been with him, we’ve had to use it once in the 22 years but he still insists on it 😊

I take a small torch after staying in a cottage in Cornwall where it was pitch black at night.

The first night, we walked to the village pub in the early evening light, and the walk back in absolute darkness was challenging, to say the least.

LemonSnail · 06/08/2026 07:58

DonaldWheresMaTweezers · 06/08/2026 07:51

Well, I live about 200 miles from my parents, so if the worst happened while I was away, I wouldn't want to divert home to pick up clothes. I do keep a packed suitcase at home anyway (including funeral clothes) for that eventuality. If I were on holiday I would want to get to my parents' town ASAP, not go home first, and I certainly wouldn't have the time or inclination to go shopping for suitable clothes, but nor would I want to be wearing beach clothes.

Show quote history

Who would have planned the funeral while you were away and how long do you go on holidays for?