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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask for your most unhinged packing lists?

422 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
5
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.

Show quote history

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?

Show quote history

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?

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