Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Thread gallery
9
Beingseenisneedy · 06/08/2026 07:54

BMW58 · 05/08/2026 16:07

Even £20 is cheap to save your life.........🙄

What's with the juvenile rolling of eyes to potentially saving £15?

DonaldWheresMaTweezers · 06/08/2026 07:51

Shinyandnew1 · 05/08/2026 21:14

I was baffled, too!

Surely if the worst happened to a parent, you’d go home and be involved in planning a future funeral. You wouldn’t drive or fly back straight to the funeral ?!

Show quote history

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.

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 😂

Woodfiresareamazing2 · 06/08/2026 07:05

PaperPanama · 05/08/2026 17:45

A humidifier.

Aircon is so desiccating that I sleep really badly in some hotels. This little humidifier fits into an ordinary bottle of water, or even just a glass of water, is powered by a USB cable, and runs for 8h. Makes such a difference having it on the bedside table.

This is a great idea - can you tell us the brand, or give a link to the one you use?
Thanks!

Woodfiresareamazing2 · 06/08/2026 06:59

Globules · 05/08/2026 17:12

I'm currently on holiday, having been away for 10 days so far.

I've got a handful of washing line pegs in my case and a chest torch.

I've used both already.

When/what for?!!

Original poster
badhabitsleadtolate · 06/08/2026 06:35

Shinyandnew1 · 05/08/2026 21:14

I was baffled, too!

Surely if the worst happened to a parent, you’d go home and be involved in planning a future funeral. You wouldn’t drive or fly back straight to the funeral ?!

Show quote history

Think it’s ala the royals, to fly back in black?

OP posts:
notsureofname · 06/08/2026 06:31

My husband once took some unripened tomatoes to Portugal to ripen them. also brought washing line(for me to use)

fandjango · 06/08/2026 03:32

Thick black bin liners and tape to make windows black out in the children’s room and ours if needed

Tanyasfatmate · 06/08/2026 03:05

My own thin 2.5 tog duvet and a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle

mathanxiety · 06/08/2026 01:32

Shinyandnew1 · 05/08/2026 21:14

I was baffled, too!

Surely if the worst happened to a parent, you’d go home and be involved in planning a future funeral. You wouldn’t drive or fly back straight to the funeral ?!

Show quote history

My aged DM and several other nonagenarian relatives live in Ireland, where funerals take place soon after the death (same week, usually within a couple of days of the death). When I travel to Ireland I always bring funeral clothes. DM doesn't know this.

I'm sure there are other MNers whose very old relatives also live in places where you don't plan a funeral for weeks after the death

mathanxiety · 06/08/2026 01:16

I'm here for some good ideas. I like to be prepared for almost any eventuality.

Verv · 06/08/2026 01:01

dudsville · 05/08/2026 18:17

I misunderstood "nail puller", for a wild second there.

Show quote history

Hah. For tyres and DIY not torture!

elfendom1 · 06/08/2026 00:44

I bring an entire medical assortment for every eventuality. I bring toilet rolls, tea, mugs (because they are never big enough anywhere else) a penknife etc. but where it gets bad is that within 4 suitcases everybody has to have some stuff, in case one person's case goes missing. The logistics and organisation are horrific. I can't stop myself. Yet every single time, nothing is used.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 06/08/2026 00:43

sweetpickle2 · 05/08/2026 23:20

Travel white noise machine. Partly as I have to sleep with white noise and my at home machine would take up too much room in my case, but also because it drowns out the noise of other guests/door slamming/all the kinds of noises you might hear in hotels.

Eye mask to block out any gaps in curtains/lights from TVs etc- but I sleep with one every night so I don’t think this is too weird.

Edited

Yes I’ve never really got used to eye masks.

Besidemyselfwithworry · 05/08/2026 23:35

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

Yea I absolutely do this as there is never enough hangers in the hotels!

supercrone · 05/08/2026 23:28

DonaldWheresMaTweezers · 05/08/2026 18:04

A bit morbid but I have elderly, unwell parents so I always pack a black dress and black jacket in case one of them dies while I am on holiday.

Surely this is not serious? I say this as someone with a 93 year old mother.

supercrone · 05/08/2026 23:25

Globules · 05/08/2026 17:12

I'm currently on holiday, having been away for 10 days so far.

I've got a handful of washing line pegs in my case and a chest torch.

I've used both already.

What is a chest torch?

Besidemyselfwithworry · 05/08/2026 23:24

notwhingingjuststatingfacts · 05/08/2026 15:36

Just me quietly adding my spare carbon monoxide monitor to my luggage

Brilliant idea!!

Show quote history

This is amazing - adding to my packing list notes - thankyou

supercrone · 05/08/2026 23:23

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 do this but for my DHs CPAP.

sweetpickle2 · 05/08/2026 23:20

Travel white noise machine. Partly as I have to sleep with white noise and my at home machine would take up too much room in my case, but also because it drowns out the noise of other guests/door slamming/all the kinds of noises you might hear in hotels.

Eye mask to block out any gaps in curtains/lights from TVs etc- but I sleep with one every night so I don’t think this is too weird.

Goingmadddd · 05/08/2026 23:18

Trip to France a month ago and we bought a full size AC unit 🤪 It literally weighs a bloody tonne, is 1m tall and must be kept upright at all times. That was interesting. People laughed as we lugged it through a centre parcs. Then probably silently fumed in their 40c plus bedrooms melting 🫠

Ereshkigalangcleg · 05/08/2026 23:12

Jaxhog · 05/08/2026 21:11

I take spares too, ever since I forgot my Fitbit charger. The cruise line didn't have one, so I had to buy one for £40!!!

Show quote history

I had to get a spare Fitbit strap delivered to an Amazon locker in Sydney (I got two, didn’t have a spare with me so was out of action for a few days) then on the same trip the bastard charger broke in Bali and I had to go and get another one in a random shop in the middle of nowhere as I couldn’t find one (they were v good and I was impressed, again I got two)

eggandonion · 05/08/2026 23:10

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

LancashireButterPie · 05/08/2026 23:10

I always carry a little tick remover tool in my purse and it's been used so many times abroad by people when their kids have got bitten.

My most stupid item would be an air freshener on a camping trip! In my defence it was for the shared toilets!