Holiday Must Haves

Who knew that packing could be so stressful or take so long? All that I can say is that I’m glad I didn’t leave it until this evening, like I’d planned! For those of you that don’t know, I am off on holiday tomorrow morning (leaving my house at 4:20AM!!!!!!!!!!!). Because of this the posts may be a little less frequent- but I will try and update the Instagram account as much as possible. Needless to say I plan to be drinking copious amounts of wine and eating plenty of delicious (but still healthy) food! On Wednesday you are all in for a special treat……….My dad (whos staying in England as its just my mum, my grandma and myself going away on our annual girls holiday) will be doing a TOTAL TAKE OVER! I am giving him free reign with my Twitter, Instagram and website so watch this space!

Much like everyone has their desert island list, most of us have a holiday list- the few things that we just couldn’t go away without…so I thought that I’d share mine with you.

• Bikini- well this is an obvious one. I’m not a ‘city break’ kind of girl and even when I go skiing I take swimwear, as there is usually a spa in the hotel to take advantage of. Admittedly I am a bit lazy when it comes to wearing matching top and bottom so I tend to stick with string bikinis in various colours. That way I can mix and match my top and bottom half without looking too silly. Be careful though, if you have had a piece of swimwear that has been your loyal companion for your past couple of holidays…make sure the chlorine hasn’t killed it. I made the mistake of taking only ‘old, faithful’ pieces of swimwear two years ago and by the end of the holiday (which was only a week!) they had all either gone see-through or the elastic had snapped…not a good look.

• Millions of Books- I am not normally kind enough to myself to allow reading time when I am in England but I am a total bookworm. I would be totally lost on holiday if I ran out of books so I like to take at least three with me (I get through them quickly) and then do swapsies with family or friends. I have attempted to get into ‘The Girl on The Train’ by Paula Hawkins over the last couple of weeks and as much as I am gripped by it I just cant seem to find the time to read it so mark my words IT WILL BE READ ON HOLIDAY! Most of the girlies that I know aren’t massively into reading on holiday, they’d rather pop their iPod in and flick through some glossies…but if you do like to read try and mix it up a bit. I am a die-hard ‘chick lit’ girl, Cathy Kelly being one of my favorite authors, but I forced myself to buy a couple of thrillers (alongside the ever present chick lit’s) to take away this year. I have never been a fan of fantasy books, goblins and vampires don’t really do it for me but The Radleys by Matt Haig was one of the best books that I have ever read.

• Wedges- Regardless of how formal or informal the hotel is, I like to doll myself up a bit in the evening…wedges are essential for that. I also always travel in a pair of wedges, nothing too high. Not only does wearing wedges to travel in save massively on space in your suitcase but you’ll feel more ‘sassy’ walking through the airport at 5AM. Ok, wearing wedges while travelling with little ones isn’t exactly practical but that’s not something that I have to worry about yet (cross that bridge when we come to it and all).

• Flip Flops- Flip flops were sent from the gods. I love them. Say no more.

• Sun cream- Too many people in my generation don’t take good enough care of their skin. My mum was always enfatic about me wearing sun cream as she didn’t and has always regretted it. Not only is skin cancer a growing concern, on a superficial level- nobody wants to be wrinkled and covered in sun spots at 35…so slap that sun cream on!

• A Nice Bag- My Lulu Guinness clutch bag is coming with me. A great bag can really dress an outfit up!

• Conditioner- Chlorine and salt water can really damage your hair. I know that most hotels provide those mini conditioner bottles but your hair knows what it likes and it’s important to keep it soft and healthy. I would always choose to take my own conditioner on holiday than my own shampoo.

• Marmite- Marmite, like flip-flops, was sent from the gods! In actual fact I don’t buy the brand Marmite- I buy Asda’s own Yeast Extract as it tastes better (in my opinion). There’s nothing worse than arriving at breakfast on the first morning to find that they don’t have any marmite for your toast so by taking my own little pot I eliminate that ‘highly stressful’ situation from ever occurring as I can just whip out my own pot (discreetly, of course because I know that it’s a bit weird). I could also smother marmite on just about anything, I’ve even been known to slap it on chocolate cake, so it would always be in my suit case…no matter where I am going.

• Adapter- We all take our phones, or straighteners, or curlers, or laptops, or whatever’s away with us. Don’t forget an adapter (if you are going on holiday outside of the UK) if you want to be able to charge and actually use the devices!

I'll be in touch

xo