How to supercharge your packing skills
Nedahl Stelio -Mar 25, 2016
What to pack when you're not a Kardashian for a long weekend away.
I went camping for first time recently with a bunch of friends and our children (before you imagine me lounging fireside next to a fully decked out tent complete with lush, Moroccan-style cushions, no, it wasn't glamping. It was pure, bona fide, bush camping. The kind where you sleep in a mosquito-filled tent and have to take a big breath in before going to the loo so you can breathe out slowly the entire time you're there. That's right, camping).
Anyhoo, packing for camping was finally the travel packing experience I've craved. Because, and this may shock you, even though I'm quite the fashion expert, somehow I'm a hopeless packer and always take the most unrealistic wardrobe along.
I used the extremely inefficient method of going through my entire wardrobe, item by item, and if I think I might remotely wear a piece out for cocktails/by the pool/shopping/out to dinner, I take it. This might mean I pack things I haven't worn in years, but truly believe that on holiday, I might magically lose five kgs/suddenly get glamorous/finally stop wearing denim shorts/get out of my thongs. None of those things happen of course, and I end up not having enough staples to see me through, but rather, lots of useless clothes for a fantasy life I don't lead.
Camping, however, eliminated all of those silly packing errors. There was no need to take the backless, jersey halter dress I have never worn but still bring along every holiday in the hope I'll look effortlessly chic at dinner, because camping is hardly the place for backless dresses now, is it? Nor is it the place for heels or even wedges. I could put back the extra bags (unless you count plastic bags, because they are useful for garbage on a camping trip I have since learnt) and could simply take with me things I would wear. Yes, that included my trusty denim cut offs, two pairs if you really want to know, with a bunch of T-shirts. But the point is, there was nothing superfluous. Finally! A successful pack! Here's what else I've learnt over the years.
Five top travel packing tips
1. Never take anything for "fantasy you". The woman who exists only in your head. She's not real and you won't mysteriously become her because you're on holiday.
2. I worked with a stylist once who used to dress in theme with her destination. So if she was going cruising, she'd wear blue and white stripes. On safari in Africa, she wore khaki and camouflage. In New York, it was black. If this helps you hone your wardrobe into a smaller suitcase then, by all means, steal this strategy.
3. Take only shoes you need. One pair of flats and one pair of low heels or wedges should suffice, not a different shoe for every outfit. You're not Paris Hilton and don't have her luggage capacity.
4. Pack clothes that have more than one use: black pants for day or night. A white shirt to cover up on the beach and wear to a bar later. A full piece swimsuit that doubles as a body suit. One long dress you can get away with to shop in during the day and at dinner at night.
5. If all else fails, shop. Did I just say that? Whoops.