Suitcase With Co-ordinating clothes and Bags

 

Most people co-ordinate naturally. Some bpoeple stick to all black. Cn't be bothered to choose colours. DOn't want tostand out. DOn't want to keep washing and cleaning. Look businesslike.

Other like rainbows. All colours. Indeisive. All embracing.

Ohter go for one colour. All red. All pink. All purple. All blue. All turquoise.

Bottle Holder

I thought the suitcase came with a contrast colour bottle. Silly me. That is just to demonstrate and draw attention to the bottle holder for your own bottle. Maybe next time they could add on a pound or dollar or two to the price and include a bottle in a contrasting colour with a rim colour and logo matching the suitcase.

Similarly, the picture of the product, the suitcase, shows a tote bag on the side. Again, to demonstrate the handy hook for your duty free bag. You don't get a bag, just a hok. But they really have thought of everything. All it took was one person in the company taking a journey, or photographing people at an airport. 

(What about somewhere to put the jacket which you take off when flying from a cold country to a hot country, or one you carry with you in the reverse dirction from a hot country to a cold country, when you arrive in freezing Heathrow from Asia.) Or maybe even sell matching jackets, bottles, tote bags? And baseball cats, sunhats. 

Five ways to travel light

Everybody has a different way of travelling light. Here are some choices:

1 Business Traveller (male)
Wear one smart suit to travel in business class. Get them to hang up your jacket. In business class sleep in the onesie provided (Or in track suit or silk long johns and silk t-shirt hidden under blankets).
Keep gym kit in travelling bag and one white tee-shirt and jeans for time off to blend in with locals.

2 Business Traveller (female)
'Spinner' (four wheel) suitcase carry on bag like the airline staff - Samsonite or similar. Put travel outfit into laundry evening of arrival and claim on expenses the extra cost for overnight next day laundry service.

Co-ordinate clothes outfits. Colour scheme black skirt, black trousers, white blouse, red scarf and jewellery for evening. Blouse with detachable collar and cuffs, which can be washed in any toilet washbasin and dried or half dried under hand drier or using hotel bedroom hair drier. Wear two pairs of underclothes on trip, silk or thong panties and second larger pair. Reversible dress and reversible jacket, plain black for day, colour for evening or vice versa.

Wear two silk tops, one as tank top, another three quarter length sleeves, to keep warm in warm destination and dress in layers to discard into carry bag on arriving at hot destination (and vice versa on return). Bikini doubles as underwear. Jump straight into shower in bedroom or gym on arrival for two minutes and be dressed for dinner while most people are still in the queue to check in.

3 Student
Wear new t-shirt from London. Wash and press on arrival and offer to give it to your hostess or donate to charity.

Buy t-shirt to wear home. Wash and press your worn once garment to give to family member or flatmate on return. Or donate to charity or keep in stock for next trip to same continent.

Alternatively, have on smart dress which you wear when travelling. Hang it up in the shower to remove creases on arrival.

Roll up clothes in a soft sided bag. Or use a backpack (ideally one which coverts to wheels).

4 Practical Lady
Pack one outfit for each day with one set of co-ordinating jewellery which you wear all the time. Wear a dress, to save decisions, with a matching bolero.

Alternatively, one black jacket to match all outfits, so each outfit must have black in the pattern, or black and white, or plain black. Alternatively to match the black jacket, you have black accessories, necklace, bracelet, belt, shoes, bag, eye liner, hat or cap or headband.

Put each outfit back in your suitcase at the end of each day. On the last day, no packing is needed, because it's already done. When you reach home, put all the clothes from your suitcase straight in the washing machine, no sorting needed, because each outfit has been worn once.

5 Jungle traveller
Pack light but duplicate every item including camera and phone backing each one to the other camera/phone. Sleep with one bag under you as pillow, the other with strap around your ankle. If one bag is stolen you still have everything you need in the other.

Specialist travel firms can supply trousers which zip off to make shorts, jackets with zip of sleeves, reversible raincoats, hats with removable brims, roll up packable reversible sunhats.

You can also buy reversible belts, rings, bracelets and pendants. Long necklaces and those with magnetic catches can be doubled over to make bracelets to match different outfits or create a new effect for variety for pleasing yourself or your fellow travellers.

Packing
Socks go inside shoes in order to save space. This also speeds dressing. Most important, it ensure you don't end up with shoes and no socks, or no matching socks - red sandals with yellow airline socks. If you are short of socks, most long-haul flights give you a pair free. Another member of your family or travel group might donate their socks to you. When packing check the current colour of airline socks. Singapore Airlines used to give you plum socks.

I went away wearing burgundy sandals. When the purple socks I'd worn on the journey were washed and still wet, I looked for my latest free socks. I then found the socks I was hoping to add to my week's collection were yellow.

If you can't reduce the number of clothes, watch the videos on you tube which show you how to pack items flat, alternating directions.

ANGELA Lansbury, B A Hons, travel writer and photographer, speaker.