Things to remember fur next years holiday..,

[WipsGlitter]

Just like the post Christmas ones this is things I need to remember before booking / going on next years holiday...

Yes, you do need to bring a big beach bag. It will come in handy for carrying crap from villa to pool. The one you looked at and then rejected 10 minutes before leaving would have been perfect!

Being a plastic cup for DS2 - if I have to listen to him clatter a glass onto a glass table top one more time. My nerves are in shreds.

Two weeks is too long in one place.

You will not use the uno cards.

You know when you are looking for the anthisan and can't find it and think "oh not to worry, we probably won't get bitten if we do we can buy some anthisan there," ?
Well STOP.

KEEP LOOKING until you have found it.

You WILL get bitten. To buggery, indeed.

Local bite cream is USELESS.

Next year when booking a campsite remember: CAMPING IS SHIT. Book a hotel or a lovely cottage instead

Only take comfy, flattering clothes that fit and look good. I have learnt this year!

Thick denim skirtsy in Mellorca at 30 degrees = waste of packing space. Stretchy jersey shorts at Netherlands center parcs = good choice.

The older I get, the more stuff I bring from home. Eg this year : whole canister of tea bags, my own pillow and blanket for the car, dressing gown, cling film etc. I'm becoming my mother 😂

Before heading to Scotland, make sure your daughter 's waterproof trousers for and do not slice her in half. Also make sure your own waterproof trousers are actually waterproof...

@MrsJBaptiste we had no choice baby ds is a clothes destroyer and even though I packed every item he owned, it wasn't enough!

Buy pool inflatables/toys/ball etc on Amazon before you go.
They cost £££ in the hotel shop.
Take a plastic cup/tumbler to hold toothbrushes in the bathroom.

@rainbowfudgee I'll know when I've finally turned into my mother when I pack my own potato peeler

Remember to actually pack for yourself after ensuring the children have everything they need......

Not just clothes, entertainment stuff too!

Take a pop up laundry basket.

Packing cubes are the key to travelling hand luggage only - I’m a complete convert!

A bag of Yorkshire teabags and a good mug means you can have one proper cup of tea in the morning, and then you’re set.

The extension lead trick is amazing and a keeper - also, don’t assume toothbrush charger plugs are European sized even though they look it!

Ooh yes. Packing cubes. I used them for the 1st time this summer and I'm a total convert.

Remember that the holiday cottage frying pan will NOT be non-stick, and either take one with you or buy a cheapie once on holiday.

(sorry, our holidays are far less exciting than those above - bikinis definitely not required!)

I did all the washing on holiday and came back to an empty washing basket so just folded it and put it away.

We use medium sized IKEA blue bags as beach bags. Cheap and perfect.

This thread is so useful it should be put somewhere like Travel so that it doesn't disappear!

Love the look of packing cubes!

You really do not need more than one pair of beach/pool flip flops.

After breakfast return flights are definitely the way to go.

Matalan hamman-type beach towels (2 for £8) take up minimal space and dry quickly.

No sharing of chargers, one each.

If hotel has a laundry service, let them do it for you on your penultimate day. (Pack an ikea bag specifically for this.)

Split everyone’s clothes between all the suitcases. That way, if one case gets lost en route, everyone still has something to wear.

That holidaying with a 3 year old is harder work than being stuck at home with them. Buy more wine (the two may be related) Stay in a place that does breakfast as part of the package so there's no pre 8am hungry meltdowns from the entire family about what to do for food

A couple of bin bags for dirty washing.
Bug spray.
Two travel plugs and multi plug extension cables.
Put all liquids in hand luggage together before security checks so you don't have to empty your bag to find them. Then forget one and have your bag checked, while your dc asks loudly 'are they looking for bombs?'
Don't decant fizzy drinks into ordinary water bottles. Don't open it in the queue for the security check. It will explode with a loud bang.

Its actually not all about you though might feel like that right now.

Packing cubes are good. I've used them on our last few trips. Hopeless for teens though. I prefer to adopt a Zen-Like attitude towards clothes related mess. As long as it's contained in one area, packing up to go home NEVER takes as long as packing to go away.

Microfibré towels are not that much smaller and when they inevitably fall on the ground (camping) EVERYTHING sticks to them. Just take normal ones.

Somehow fit a clothes airer in. You will end up doing a wash or two anyway (leaky night nappy and bad stomach, both dd1 on separate occasions) so you don't need to worry about having enough clothes.

Don’t take the Avon spray-it smells disgusting and the mossies still bite you. Get proper mosquito repellent.

Take reusable bags for supermarket/souvenir shopping.

Take a shower puff for the kids to lather up with.

Take packets of biscuits for the mid afternoon munchies.

Pop up laundry basket!! Excellent idea!!

The place we are staying in needs to provide a laundry basket and a tub by the front door for arm bands / flip flops / pool balls. So they're not scattered all over the house!!

Lose a couple of stone, grow long beautiful swishy hair, have a gorgeous golden tan before you leave and just become generally stunning and then, maybe, you won’t spend the whole holiday looking like a tragic sweaty mess when your holiday destination has thirty three plus degree temperatures and, worse, much worse, ninety odd percent humidity