Holiday packing list

Clothes fill a suitcase faster than anything else. So count by the days rather than by feel: underwear and socks for each day, plus one spare pair. You need slightly fewer T-shirts, and fewer trousers and jumpers still, because you wear them more than once.

From about a week onwards, it is worth doing one wash while you are away instead of packing two of everything for a fortnight. A laundry bag keeps worn clothes apart from the rest. Choose pieces that go well together, and you need fewer of them. A light jacket and a jumper belong in a summer suitcase too, because evenings, planes and trains are often cooler than expected.

What goes missing is rarely the thing you can already see. It is the small things that have a fixed place at home: the charging cable in the socket by the bed, the glasses on the bedside table, the medication in the bathroom cabinet. Pack them where they live, and only tick them off once they are really in the bag.

Just as easy to forget: a travel adapter for sockets abroad, nail scissors, lip balm, copies of your travel documents and your health insurance card. The house keys are on the list as well, because after the holiday you want to get back in.

A few weeks before you leave, look at your passport and ID card to see whether they are valid for long enough. Which documents, visas or vaccinations your destination asks for depends on the country and changes over time. Check with the official sources, such as your government’s travel advice.

For first aid, a few basics are usually enough: plasters, painkillers, something for diarrhoea and travel sickness, a thermometer. Anything you take regularly goes in your hand luggage, with a little more than the days you have planned. Which remedies suit you is best discussed with a pharmacist or your doctor.