To think it can't be done (holiday packing)

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasHorrid]

Argh. Dh has just looked at my pile(s) of packing for one week in France. He has just informed me that he has not booked us any luggage allowance (flying Ryanair).

So I have to pack for two adults, dd (3) and ds (8 months) using only two carry on cases and dd's trunkii (sp?)

Never mind that they both have emollient creams and suncreams that is easily bigger than 100ml

Is he being overly optimistic or am I being a bit high maintenance

So you're going to spend your week's holiday washing and drying clothes? Fun! Not.

Just bloody book a case! How on EARTH would that look ungrateful. (Rhetorical question. It wouldn't)

Do you spend the rest of your life over thinking things that are so easy to sort out? I can't understand it.

You both sound bonkers OP!

Competitive packing now? "I only take one teeny tiny handbag with me, don't see the problem."

I think you've got the right idea, OP. Pile EVERYTHING up that you need, get him to do the same and give him a deadline for getting it packed. When we go away to Spain for 10 days (2 adults, 2 young DCs) we take 2 cabin bags and 1 large suitcase and we use pretty much everything in it, and we wash twice during the holiday.

However, I really don't see why you can't phone your PILs and say "I'm sorry to inconvenience you at this late stage, but we really do need to take a suitcase. Please will you book one and I'll give you the cash when I see you" .

You are going to France for goodness sake - all those things you list for the kids are easily available in France! I'd take enough nappies to see you through the journey and buy everything else there. How many toys do you need to take? it will be a short flight - you'll no sooner have taken off than you'll be landing again! A Kindle takes up no space. If you run out of clothes and you can't be bothered to wash you can always get a few bits fort the kids there - French supermarkets have great clothes for kids and are quite reasonable.

Do people really spend precious time on their holiday shopping for stuff they already have and washing clothes to save paying for a suitcase?

Exactly Chicken. Very odd people.

How on earth is it more cost and time effective to buy stuff when you get to your destination rather than paying to check in a case?

Exactly - unless you are very familiar with the country and the shops, you won't know what brands are available and how much they will cost.

As well as not pissing about with washing on holiday, I don't want to be trailing round for essentials on the day of arrival when i could have just thrown everything in a suitcase at home.

It is likely that you will need to go for the smallest packs sizes, because you can't bring any home, because you haven't got any luggage space and aren't allowed liquids in your hand luggage unless in tiny bottles.

So despite having an enormous value pack of your favourite nappies at home, you need to buy a small pack on holiday, which is likely to cost more per nappy. Same for creams, wipes etc.

There was a thread on here a while ago complaining about the cost of painkillers and other medications abroad. They seemed to average 5 to 10 times the cost. We buy ibuprofen for about 30 pence a pack in any supermarket. In Spain, and probably France, you can only get them from pharmacies, that have quite limited opening hours and they cost several Euros per pack.

We do the the same with ear plugs. I've just brought quite a few pairs from EBay for DH when he swims rather than pay the high prices in the hotel shop. I also brought a couple of lilos and beach balls for a total of 8 and will leave them there for another family to use?

The flight isn't necessarily short either Lillian. She hasn't said what her route is.

OK, London to Paris might only be less than an hour for example, but Edinburgh to Marseille is 2.5 hours, so not that short for bored 3 year olds.

And the Ryanair cabin case is significantly smaller than that allowed by other airlines, so those saying I went to the US or China with hand luggage are likely to have had a case or bag with nearly twice the volume.

This is not worth the stress. Book a hold bag and take what you need.

OP - don't forget you can take on two bags per passenger (one cabin bag, one small bag).

Adding a 20kg hold bag will cost you £80 BTW.

Amateurish not with easyJet and Ryanair you can't. They are absolutely explicit about this.

yellow - yes you can. Check the website if you don't believe me.

I'm flying with easyJet this summer. Trust me I've checked the website more than once. See here
www.easyjet.com/EN/Planning/baggage

You can with Ryanair.

You can with Ryanair. They changed their rules and I've been on 4 flights with them in the last month. In addition to your trolley you can take a small nappy/hand bag/rucksack.

1 of the cabin bags I used when I went to the US for 3 weeks with only hand luggage was a trunki. Exactly the same size as the Trnki the OP has . You can get a surprising amount in them if you pack carefully. The other was a nappy/change bag, as dd2 was only 14 months, so didn't have a seat, so not baggage allocation, just a change bag allowed.

Given the flight length (I had a 3 year old and a 1 year old) those 2 bags were: 1 for food for the flight duration (multiple allergies meant the airline couldn't cater) plus drinks as dd1 had issues at the time and so we had a medical exemption to take a specific drink through security, again for the flight. And the nappy bag also had toys and activities on the flight - even I, as a minimal packer couldn't contemplate a long haul flight without stuff for the dc to do! But these doubled up, eg dd2 had a set of bath toy dinosaurs, which she then used as pool toys on holiday.

Which left me with 2xcabon bags to pack all our clothes into. My motto is wear one, take 3 or 4 (depending on type of holiday or duration). It works, as long as you are happy to (and have the facilities to) bung a wash on every few days - hardly an arduous chore.

Btw, it wasn't my choice to use only hand baggage that time - we were flying the day after T5 opened, and couldn't risk anythign getting lost - dd1 has severe ASD so it was important to be able to pack familiar items, and it would have been a nightmare to be caught up in the chaos which happened. But, it worked. It wasn't the end of the world, and it opened my eyes to what you really need to take on holiday.

I think its fine, how much stuff do you need to take?
filling up a washing machine and turning it on takes 2 minutes, , hardly precious time!
ryan air charge a huge amount for baggage, totally unnecessary!

Agree with Girl, we have been caught out with the weight of our hand luggage even though our cases were small.

A lot depends on your destination OP. Guaranteed sun or possibility of rain and damp. Had the central heating on in the Dordogne at the end of June last yr. It was frickin freezing.

You'll manage, the kids might look a little grubby for a week so don't pack any white shorts

I'd check if PILs have hold luggage booked for themselves. If you have to wait around for theirs to arrive on the carousel anyway, you may as well book a bag or two in the hold. I like to do carry on where I can but you already have to carry a baby FGS, plus shepherd two other children and all their stuff on a plane.

I agree with the posters who mention people who would buy clothes out there and all that just to save money on a hold luggage.

A holiday for me is a luxury, something which happens every now and again, I save up money and go out there to relax, eat out, have a few drinks etc... and don't want to spend my time doing laundry just to save a few pennies. A holiday is to enjoy!

I love the competitive minimalistic packing that rears it's head on threads like this! I buy things I need for our hi day as I go along eg toiletries, no way would I do this out if our spending money, it would be just too much! Thankfully we drive to France and can take what we like but last year went to California for a fortnight, me, DH and our two boys, we all had a hold and cabin bag each, my cabin bag fitted a cardi, pair of shoes and a few books and not much else.

My DH is an over packer and i could be a writer of a magazine article called 'take these 10 holiday essential and create a look for every occasion'. But then I go and ruin it by packing about 48 pairs of knickers and 20 hair scrunchies.

Make him drive all your luggage there!

Love the competitive minimalist packing tales, it's possible but not great!

If you think the children's stuff needs a case, book one. Agree with pp saying I'd rather have some of the stuff I like to wear, with me.