How much is 20 kg??

[Piggywaspushed]

I was trying to save money when booking holiday to Spain which was achieved in 2 ways : not paying extra for holiday company to provide 'bath towels' (usually just enough to hide one's modesty!!) and only buying two 20kg cases between 4 of us (me, DH, two DSs aged 16 and 13). I freely admit to being the guilty party when it comes to overpacking and every year take stuff I don't wear!

But I definitely need to pack at least 4 beach towels (I normally take 5 or 6) and 4 bath towels. I have already bought toiletries etc as the one time I planned to buy them in the airport I found that stressful and expensive.

Should have said , we are going for 11 nights.

Does anyone know more or less exactly what equates to 20kg in fairly lightweight cases? I'm sort of trying to decide whether I need to bite the bullet and order a few towels. This would be annoying as we are only doing the camping bit for 4 of the 11 nights!

I did nearly get stung for extra charges a couple of years ago but the airline actually let me off a few extra kilos and let me check in some hand luggage that definitely was not hand luggage. Don't think I'll be that lucky again!

I do have luggage scales so can weigh ; I just wanted an idea before I pack if anyone can offer their insight!

it was so much less stressful last year when DH let me book a package holiday with flights and baggage allowance included sigh

If you're taking less then it can definately all fit in carry on. Summer stuff is light and takes up barely any room.

You need traveller / camping towels. Mountain Warehouse is the best. Second Haman towels - they are good but can be more pricey. I have those and two sons and husband have the travel ones (bathsheet sized), Can I recommend board shorts for menfolk. They come in very very light material which packs small and they can go in the water. Clean quickly. I wore mine all week when in Greece. Two pairs each, two pairs of swimming shorts, couple of pairs of nicer shorts for going out, wear trousers to go. You never need tons of mens socks. I always bring back clean ones (glares at husband).

Wear hoodie/fleece to go in and pack one plus one light jumper for evenings. I always make the mistake of somehow thinking that I will be going on nice glamerous meals out in the evening. We do eat out but once in holiday mode the idea of glam goes out of the window so therefore a dress and shoes become redundant.

@Piggywaspushed But I definitely need to pack at least 4 beach towels (I normally take 5 or 6) and 4 bath towels.

You really don't. You are going to be in Spain, it's a hot place. Just reuse the beach towels after showers and/or throw on a t-shirt/PJs/similar out of the shower, you will dry quickly whatever.

What are the airline's hand luggage rules? If they restrict size but not weight like some airlines do now then make sure you pack the hand luggage densely with heavier things. My best tip for doing this is Ikea food bags like this www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/cookware/food-storage-organising/istad-plastic-bag-red-art-20339284/.
Pack underwear into the large ones seal the majority of the top of the bag and then squash (I kneel on them) before sealing the rest of the top. They have a double seal so they work as vacuum bags. You can do the same with other smallish fabric items. I used it to squash down a big puffy petticoat thing that went under one of my dresses on my last holiday. It ended up just a smal flat rectangle and this method keeps hand luggage small but dense. It seems like your priority for hold baggage is to keep it light and for hand luggage is to keep it small so pack lighter, bigger things in the hold and heavier, smaller things in hand luggage. I know liquids and toiletries in hand luggage can be a faff at airports but it might be with sticking to little bottles and spreading out across the carry-ons as toiletries are relatively heavy.

Dont pack toiletries, buy them in a local shop once you land, and chuck them before you go home. They take up so much space and weight, plus they aren't expensive in Spain.

Thanks all - we have 20 kg allowance for tow people and the hand luggage is done on size, yes, not weight so squashing will occur!!

My DH is very hairy!! He therefore hates not being dry do he will need a bath towel - I am thinking he DSs will share one (so long a MN pearl clutchers don't descend on hygiene grounds!!)

It's mazing how quickly I don't dry out in hot countries : the humidity I guess.

I have just gathered together all my hair products. Oh dear. Might need to rationalise later...

Thanks for bag tips. And towel tips. I am not wilfully ignoring all the useful stuff : just don't want to spend more money to save money, if you get my drift.

I have some stolen hotel bath towels that are quite lightweight.

I've just been to Greece for two weeks with DH, two teenagers and a large child. We took two cases, 20kg each as that's all we needed, even though we had five cases included.

And we didn't pack particularly light.

You have 40kgof luggage plus 4 times hand luggage. That's loads.

And why on earth do you need beach towels AND bath towels? We took microfibres beach towels for the children even though the hotel provided them, as they love them so much and they are very small.

For four of us we book one 20kg case.. then 4 hand luggage (no weight limit with easyjet). I put one beach towel plus shoes etc into each hand luggage and pack clothes into main 20kg bag.

Forgot to say we took all toiletries with us ( including 6 large bottles of sun cream ) as we have a lot of allergies. And snorkelling and watersports stuff and football boots.

My teen boys just wear board shorts and t shirts all holiday. DH isn't much better. And summer dresses for me take up hardly any space.

Thanks Kr1stina - that's made me feel a bit better.

We need both types of towels as we are not going to a hotel so there will be no towels at all. Therefore the yucky beach towels (whether microfibre or not) do need to be separate from the ones aimed to get one dry and not dirty again!

You can get Hamaan towels in Matalan at £8 for two and they take up no space at all. They're great as beach towels/mats and for drying off after swimming - they're one of my favourite Mumsnet recommendations even though I was skeptical at first.

We don't take normal towels, but we always stay in either hotels or apartments where they are provided without extra charge but we use the hamman towels on the beach and they can be rinsed out if needed and dry quickly.

Two big cases plus a hand luggage bag each is plenty, honestly. I can easily do a week to 10 days with hand luggage only, the only thing I struggle with is suncream because I use a lot and buy it cheaply here, so it always looks expensive to pay 8-10 euro a bottle on holiday.

If it wasn't for this, I would alwasy be hand luggage only, but as it's usually me and DP, we usually have one hold case between 2 (a medium suitcase full of clothes and a few toiletries probably weighs about 13 kg, a large one should be under 20) but then just use small/medium rucksacks to go on the plane - it's actually quite nice to be able to get rid of most of your luggage as soon as you get to the airport and not have to lug a trolley case round the airport and fight for space in the overhead lockers.

How much is the holiday company charging for hired towels? If it's more than a couple of euros each, how about buying some thinnish bath towels from somewhere like Ikea or a supermarket to take with you that take up a bit less space? if they save you having to pay for another hold case, the cost could be worth it and you'll always have them for future holidays, swimming etc if the towels you have at home are big bulky ones.

Hope your DH doesn't sneak anything like this in the suitcase!

Sorry, it was the very hairy comment that made me think of Sir Sean!

Hahaha!

That's so funny!

That is exactly what he is like! (That hair not the velour jumpsuit, although I am tempted : smaller than a towel...)

The hired towels would add a tenner : which doesn't seem all that much, but given we have already also paid them for bed linen, I sort of resent allowing the company to keep pushing us up from base cost...

Plus they are a terrifying Dutch company who make you clean your caravan until it is spotless.

I am the same as you re suncream Barbara

Off to Matalan later to inspect the towels!

i know buying new towels is not money saving but i would justify it by been able to get much more use out of them on future trips and saving luggage allowance.
we take minimal clothing when going to spain, 2-3 pairs of underwear and same amount of swimwear, i tend to handwash everyday as it dries so quickly and we take a few thin tshirts and shorts each plus 1 workout/sport outfit which is handwashed daily. we only have 1 outfit a day so save on that front, tend to travel in trainers, then take birkentsocks/flip flops in hand luggage to change when we arrive if its warm. we use travel towels, for shower we take decathlon large towels which are 5.99 decent size and current ones have lasted many holidays
for the beach we use dock and bay beach towels from amazon (XL) about 17.99 each (cheaper more you buy) but very good quality and nice colours too
for toiletries we always buy before we go from supermarket or superdrug as we find offers are the best and just take a set of full size for us all to use, the same with sunscreen

Used to do seasons, 20kg for six months. It is bloody heavy. Are you taking staff?

I have no idea what you mean by seasons!

20kg is the standard for airlines; some do 23 so it can't be that heavy.

There are four of us and two cases - one large and one medium case : not excessive. And no, I rather think I am the 'staff'...

Going for six months is a different prospect to going for a week or two. many people want to relax, dress up a bit and not bother with washing while on a short holiday, while you would expect to be doing your washing as normal during an extended period and may even go shopping a few times so can buy anything extra you need or want.

OP take your wedges if you want, or wear them on the plane if you can manage the walking you need to do in them. Make sure you get your fair share of the luggage space and that everyone compromises equally. Your clothes are likely to take up less room than all the males travelling with you so make sure they don't hog it all and you get similar choice of outfits and shoes while away.

Seasons = holiday rep.

The point is not that you are taking too much but how much it weighs. I would not take 20kg on a two week trip. You can be smart and not do washing without all that, knickers and clothes dont weigh that much. Just don't take umpteen pairs of clumpy shoes.

I repeat. Find something that weighs 20kg and carry it about.

I think it will be the towels and toiletries which weigh a lot. The clumpy shoes have been ditched as pavements etc tend to be very uneven abroad!

Am now so stressed about flight delays that the luggage seems unimportant : it'll probably end up on a plan stuck in an airport for hours :(

may be helpful to know... can buy cheap hand scales that hook on to a bag & tell you weight. Like this. I have seen them for £1 in poundland.

Symphathies. I had to get teen DD's 26 kg bag down to 19.6 yesterday morning! we are in a hot place to which she insisted on bringing a wool coat (sigh).

Ha ha lljkk. I hope you're making her lug her own case and wear the coat at least once .

YY to weighing luggage - we had that exact machine until it broke. Paid a few quid for it from Amazon rather than Poundland sadly, but it's still paid for itself several times over by helping make sure we're within the luggage rules.