I've arrived at the Gold Coast airport with a suitcase filled with kaftans and swimsuits and it's bucketing down with rain.
As well as the summery garments, I've also packed a ridiculous amount of shoes and books that made my carry-on case too heavy to, well, carry on to the plane, so it's an extra 20 minutes before it comes off the conveyer belt and I can make my soggy way to the hotel with my inappropriate luggage for the unseasonal Queensland weather.
I travel a lot for work, and as a style writer I've definitely mastered the art of packing for fashion weeks around the world, which as you can imagine involves stuffing as many shoes and bags into a suitcase as humanly possible. These trips often involve a lovely chauffer who does the lugging of your luggage for you – I know; my work is terrible – so I rarely have to confront the physical reality of my chronic over-packing.
Yet where I always struggle is packing for holidays and work trips outside of the international fashion circuit that involve varying climates, activities and occasions and demand a wardrobe that is up to the task of dealing with all three.
As my Gold Coast trip happened to be to a Mr Porter event, I decided to take the opportunity to ask a globetrotting expert at the luxury menswear retailer and other people who jet-set for a living to share their insider tips and tricks when it comes to packing.
Do your homework
"I always do a bit of homework on the climate of my destination, what the weather forecast is and what my itinerary involves," says Mr Porter international client relations manager Joe Ottoway.
There are my first three mistakes right there.
Ottaway has just stepped off a long-haul flight from London via Singapore, but looks fresh as a daisy in a creaseless cream blazer, chambray shirt and chinos that he describes as his "travel uniform".
His secret is to ensure his luggage is never overweight – "unless I'm travelling with the missus and I take the hit with her shoes" – and always to pack a change of clothes in his hand luggage, just in case.
"If you lose your luggage, it will turn up eventually and a few essentials in your carry-on mean you don't have to stress," he says.
How many outfits?
Whether the trip is three days or three weeks, fashion designer Bianca Spender employs a strict seven-outfit policy.
"You never need more than seven outfits because you only wear a single outfit once a week so it never gets boring," she says. "And I never go beyond three pairs of shoes: a day shoe that goes with everything, a casual pair for walking and then your nice heels for dinner."
Spender packs a carry-on case for most trips and only takes a a medium-size wheelie suitcase, even for month-long trips in winter.
"I love being mobile and independent as a traveller. There's nothing more limiting than lugging a big suitcase around," she says. "And if you limit the size of your bag, it forces you to limit what you pack."
Spender decants all her toiletries into travel-size containers – "I was absolutely dumbfounded when I travelled with a friend recently and she opened her bag and there were two massive Pantene bottles of shampoo and conditioner."
She only ever packs the night before departure.
"If you pack quite close to the time of departure you are forced to be efficient and you're not tempted to keep adding things," Spender explains.
Books are the only exception to her frugal packing, but even then there is a system – "I take two and my husband takes two so we have four books to read between us" – in line with her minimalist mantra.
"I am officially the meanest packer of all my friends and I get hired out a lot to come over and bring people's suitcases down," she laughs.
The perfect bag
Jeremy Grey and Jon Gourlay created a new travel bag altogether in their quest to make packing and travelling easier. The duo's two-in-one Henty CoPilot consists of an outer garment bag and a 20-litre inner utility bag that can be used together with the garment back wrapped around the utility bag, or worn separately as a stand-alone backpack and garment bag.
"The bag fits into the overhead locker or hanging space on a plane, so there is no need to check your luggage," says Grey. "It will carry two suits and three shirts, a laptop, shoes, toiletries and accessories. Clothes are rolled to minimise creasing."
Other travellers clearly share the duo's vision that packing and travelling should be simpler: more than 1000 backers pledged over $320,000 in a crowdfunding campaign to bring their two-bag system to life.
Shoe space
Melbourne Fashion Festival CEO Graeme Lewsey finds extra space in shoes and travels with no more technology than a smartphone.
"Down the shoes go socks, undies and the odd fragrance and moisturiser and the belts," he says. "I've travelled with iPads and laptops in the past but I really feel I can do everything now on an iPhone."
As you would expect, Qantas flight attendant Tracey Frame is a font of useful information when it comes to packing.
Never go without...
"Every cabin crew member always takes their swimwear, because the hotel pool or an ocean swim is great for jet lag and to unwind," she says.
"We always have a wine opener for if you're racing through duty free and buy a bottle of wine that isn't a screw-top. We take nail polish and hairspray for runs in our pantyhose and I always have a skipping rope in my suitcase in case our hotel doesn't have a gym."
Four simple rules
Los Angeles-based Australian artist George Byrne employs four simple rules when it comes to packing for his trips back home and to international art fairs.
"Check the season and weather of your destination, never drink and pack, use your bed as a packing platform, and don't rush it," he says.
Byrne, who attended the Mr Porter event at Halcyon House to launch his latest exhibition, Colour Field, takes a Zen approach to lost luggage.
"I've lost, misplaced or forgotten more of my personal possessions than the average human could lose in 34 lifetimes. I've learned the best way to cope with lost luggage is to surrender to it as an integral part of life experience and just hope that things come back around."
Packing order
As the founder and director of luxury art tours company inART, Jenny Garber packs from the top of the case in descending order of her tour itinerary.
"I go through my itinerary to work out what I need last and put it on the bottom then I work up from there with the things I need immediately on top," she says.
When it comes to travelling with sentimental items to ward off homesickness, Ottaway packs English breakfast tea bags, musician Steve Smyth takes a favourite small object – "it could be a feather, a crystal or a small stone from a favourite beach" – while interior stylist Steve Cordony packs a mini-size scented candle and a new fragrance.
"I buy a new fragrance for every trip, so then each time I wear it when I'm back home it reminds me of my holiday," he says.
"I went to Africa recently on safari for the first time and I packed Tom Ford Oud Wood fragrance. Now, when I wear it in Sydney, it transports me back to Africa."
AFR Contributor
