Drying a wet swimsuit and checking out of the hotel

In the old days, swimming centres had machines which spun swimsuits dry. But the machines took their toll on elastic and fabric, and hanging straps. I imagine that was why the machines got phased out. In theory you could put a wet swimsuit in the dryer of a hotel with a laundry room. But I would not risk damaging my costume.

Nowadays, what can you do to dry a swimsuit when going from one hotel to another?

On my 2024 trip to Spain and Portugal I had to dry out a wet swimming costume. In theory you should rinse it out in cold water first, to remove any chlorine which might damage the swimsuit fabric.

You can then wring it out, or you might prefer to simply lay it flat between two ends of a hand towel or bath towel. 

If you have already checked out of your room, you might use the downstairs public toilets to change, or the pool changing area, and use a hair dryer on your swimsuit briefly.

At this point, I place the swimsuit in a waterproof bag for transfer to the car.

In Car Drying

Sometimes, if you are driving by car, you can hang up a wet shirt, or tee-shirt. You need to pack a plastic hanger. Check which hanger has a neck which fits the car.

I manage to dry lots of underwear. I squeeze it out, roll it up in a dry towel, than hang it near a radiator or window. If I am staying a week, I hang we items on plastic hangers in a wardrobe. Occasionally there is a hidden drying line above the bath which can be pulled out. 

You can finish off with a hair dryer. Of wear something damp in hot weather.

Another method is to lay it out in the sun on a balcony. But write yourself a note to check the balcony before you leave. Also check behind bathroom doors.

Some people buy disposable panties. Others wear old underwear and wash it and leave it behind.

Hangers

To dry clothes more effectively, after wringing them out and rolling them in a towel. hand them on a hanger. 

To be sure of not leaving anything behind, remove clothes on hangers from the wardrobe, and hang them visible from the open bedroom door when you cast your last look into the room to check.

-ends-

Please share links to your favourite or most useful posts.

How to have crisp, creaseless clothes when travelling

Problem
Clothes creased. No time to iron or no iron?

Answers
1Car Hanger
If travelling by your own car or a hire car, hang a jacket on the hook you find inside many vehicles for that purpose.

2 Suitcase Hangers
Pack clothes on hangers (the flat thin sort from dry cleaners) so you can hang everything up instantly when you reach your destination. the result is fast unpacking, less time crumpled, time to check if anything needs fixing.

3 Five Star Hotel Service
On checking into your hotel immediately ask if there's an ironing service or valet unpacking service. You might find that by joining the hotel's club you can instantly upgrade to a club lounge or a suite which comes with a valet service.

Check the collection and delivery times. The hotel might offer same day service, either for an extra charge or if you send it to the laundry before a certain times, such as before 8 am, or before 6 pm. Once I was told my room was not ready. I sat around waiting in reception. By the time I checked in, I had missed the collection time for the lower priced service. When I pointed this out, the housekeeping department waived the higher charge for the express service.

4 Borrowed Iron
In some hotels the suites have irons but ordinary rooms don't. In one hotel I saw the irons and asked if I could borrow one. They gladly loaned me the iron and ironing board on condition that I returned it within the hour for guests who would be checking in to the room which was supplied with the iron.

5 Hidden Iron
At another hotel I phoned down to ask about borrowing an iron and they said it was in the wardrobe. As I was only staying for one night I had not bothered to unpack. There it was!

6 Secret Guests' Ironing and Laundry Room
At hotels in the USA and hostels in New Zealand, when I checked out and took the back exit to the car park, I passed a laundry room used by guests, with a washing machine, spin dryer, ironing board and iron.

7 Borrow A Travelling Iron
On another occasion I was telling other guests in a coach group that I wished I had an iron. Another guest was travelling with a tiny travel iron in her suitcase. She travelled light but took a travel iron wo she could wash out one of her two dressed and dry it overnight and iron it.

8 Buy A Travel Iron
Make sure you have all the adapters. Set an alarm so you are sure to cool it down.

9 Buy Drip-Dry
Invest in drip-dry shirts and dresses for all the family.

10 New Clothes
Go straight to the nearest cheap supermarket or market and buy ready-packed cheap shirt and tee-shirt pack.

11 Wash Cotton /Viscose And Flatten
Many of my clothes can be flattened by washing them in hot or cold water and hanging flat over a plastic hanger or towel rail. Just pull them in both directions. They dry flat like new.

12 Check And Label Drying Times
Wash all the clothes you are thinking of packing. Note which ones dry overnight.

If you have marker labels, or write-on labels, you can label your clothes in an inconspicuous place with 'Dries overnig't, or 'Dries 1 night', or '2 days to dry'.

 You can either pack only those items which dry overnight. Or save one item which dries overnight for the last day before leaving the holiday or work destination for home.

Some people like to support the local shopkeepers and leave the tee-shirts behind for a charity shop or shelter or even low-paid staff.

13 Buy New From Home Supermarket
Instead of paying for ironing services at the destination, buy packs of tee-shirt or shirts and underwear, which comes ready neatly folded in bags. I used to buy packs of ladies' underwear, four or five to a pack, two packs for a longer trip. They were sold in supermarkets and the special offer reductions were rotated so every month or two the design and size I needed would be reduced and I stocked up. When I went on a trip I had brand new underwear. Easy to pack. Easy to find in your suitcase. Looks smart when you unpack. Made me feel good on holiday.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Woman Overboard, Delays, Compensation - Is This Good News?

Problem
A woman fell or jumped overboard from a cruise ship off Croatia in August 2018. She was miraculously rescued ten hours later. Ten hours in the water! On Facebook a friend reported that somebody was claiming compensation for two days delay in Venice. The comment was, Lucky or not.

Lucky for the woman being picked up from the water. However, as for the delay, at first sight it could be good news for some.

What could go wrogn, go wrong, go wrong?
I wrote:

Lucky to sit in the sun. Lucky to postpone going home. Not so lucky if you have to sit all day in the hall waiting for the call, because the coach to a ferry or plane or muster point might collect you any time they arrange it.

I remember one year when we were on a flight from the USA at Xmas. We were on an American airline leaving American soil, so we knew our rights for compensation, or at least our fellow passengers did. On a flgight into the USA, or on another airline from outside the USA, the rules might be different. Check the latest.

The flight was overbooked and the airline staff made repeated requests for volunteers to be bumped. The compensation was a free flight. Plus, of course, a free night in an airport or city suburb or city centre hotel, but we were in transit, in a cold city, where good restaurants were all fully booked, and would miss a day of our short Xmas break in the Caribbean by the beach.

As the compensation increased, still not enough volunteers. As our hours of delay increased, I asked the people next to me why they had not rushed to volunteer. You'd think there would be a Ruby scrum of people fighting to get the free return ticket.

I heard these stories:
1 'I can't extend my long weekend break and take time off next week. I'm a surgeon and have operations booked. I would lose a lot of money, lose my reputation for reliability, and endanger seriously sick people.'

2 'I don't want to lose a day of my holiday. I can't take another day off. I am a teacher. I have to be back in school teaching my class. I can't abandon 30 children and upset them and their parents and the head teacher organizing a supply teacher, which costs the school more money.' (Again, she had to consider her own reputation for reliability, not to take a free holiday at the expense of being responsible to the pupils, parents, and staff.)

3 I am seeing my fiancee for a long weekend. We haven't seen each other for months. We had a special celebratory dinner planned for tomorrow. We'd miss the dinner and we wouldn't get our money back for the missed dinner.

4 What makes you think they will get you on tomorrow's flight? It will be overbooked like this one - with all the extra passengers bumped off today's flight as well?

We ended up getting a free flight.

On another occasion we were unavoidably delayed coming back from a beach resort to our home city. It sounded great. Unfortunately, I was dressed for the destination, Cold London, England, at Christmas. So I was plodding around a tropical hotel in boots and long socks, warm clothes and a coat.

The swimming pool looked lovely.

However, I had no swimsuit.

We had spent all our cash at the airport. At the hotel, for small items we could not pay with a credit card.

From then on we always made sure to carry onto planes: spare underwear, a swimsuit, and a book to read. I don't spend every last cent. I keep it for the next journey.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Please share links to your favourite posts.)

I Forgot Packing List

Problem
You always forget something, even when you make a packing list.

Answer
Keep a list of things you forgot previously - and where you left them and why.

Stories
My I Forgot Packing List

My passport
1 At home - I was so busy making sandwiches for the trip down to Dover I forgot my own passport.

2 Visiting our au pair girl in France, I left behind in my hotel bedroom my passport hung on the back of a chair.

3 visiting the USA, I left behind my passport in the box art security.

My Underwear
On a trip across Russia to Japan, I had only one set of underwear which I was wearing for a four week trip.

Sunglasses
On a trip to a ski resort I forgot sunglasses. Sunglasses are not just for summer. Snow is blinding white. I found it a nuisance to have clip over sunglasses on sighted glasses, and the same applies to goggles. Now I order photochromic lenses, so I can never go on a trip without sunglasses.

(Not photo chronic, photo chromic. I must remember to check the blog post after it appears.)

Now I have travelled all over the world. I should be the perfect packer. I should never forget anything, right?

Nope.

2016 - I forgot lip salve.

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Author and speaker. Please check my other posts and other blogs. Like and share. Also on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram. Youtube videos. Books on Amazon.com and Lulu.com

Photographs - check to make yourself and your family and friends look their best

People often say, "Don't take my photograph. I look terrible in photographs."

Practise taking your own photo. If your spouse or child does not like photos, try to get them to learn to use a camera and practise taking photos of themselves.

Best of ten or twelve photos
The old Polyphoto principle for taking toddlers, and the one used by many photographers from local papers in a hurry, is simply to take a dozen photos and pick the best one. Time is money, so the newspaper photographer who is a freelance wants to be quick.

Posing and Editing
The studio photographer who wants to take lots of time posing, setting up a white umbrella to reflect light,  and will charge accordingly. He may also spend time editing the photos, selecting the best one, removing blemishes, enhancing colour, adding a frame.

Three Outfits
A wedding studio photographer or TV programme often asks you to bring three outfits, one formal, or glamorous, or a national dress or uniform or sports outfit or swimsuit, one funny or favourite.

The mixture of outfits gives three different looks. It also means if you have one disaster outfit or disaster colour there is an alternative, totally different shape, colour, style.

Best of Three Poses
You could tell somebody to pose and say you aren't taking it yet, just pose. Take one before your joker makes silly grins and V signs over your VIP.

With and Without
Remember to take photos with and without the baby and family pet. Why? Several reasons.

Why no Babies and Pets?
The baby or growing children will date the photo. Pets and babies may move. They may be unsuitable for a formal photo. (Why did this man applying for a job send us a photo where he is blocked by a picture of his pet?)

Babies are beautiful
Babies may look ugly to you. They may look interesting to far away relatives.

Pets are Popular
They create interest and sympathy amongst other pet lovers. The pet picture will be vital if the pet is wanted because the owner reports it missing or stolen. Or if a neighbour says the pet has killed their pet. If you want to report something, or get paid. Now where is that snarling photo?

That is either because:
1 The photographer needs to take more care
2 The person being photographed needs to make more care

Looking at group photographs as well as photographs of individuals, that includes myself, I have made the following observations. Call them Angela's Answers if you like to think of them that way.

1 PICK THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHER
If you don't look good in photographs you need a better photographer (or a makeover - more on that later).

2 TAKE A GREAT PHOTO
If the subject claims they don't look good in photographs, it is your opportunity to take a photograph of them in which they look good. This might involve spending more time. (More on this later.)

3 FILE FAVOURITE PHOTOS
If you don't look good in photographs, take some good photographs so that next time you apply for a passport or a job you have some good, recent photos to hand. (Keep them in a large colourful box or box file labelled Important photos and documents. If you fear that will attract burglars, just write Favourite family photos.

4 POSE FOR A PHOTOGRAPH
Ten tips

1 Smile

2 Closed and open mouth photos.
Close your mouth if you are the subject and have bad teeth. The subject's mouth is better shown both ways for speed and less embarrassment. Ask them for one pose mouth open and one pose mouth closed. Especially if teeth are badly shaped, wonky, discoloured, showing fillings. Have one smiling and friendly photo. One serious photo for passports (some now ask for unsmiling photos). Also for job intervals, or photos when you have had a family bereavement or national tragedy a grinning picture might not look suitable.

3 Take a better bust photo
Looking at photos of myself - oo - er. If you are the photogprher, make sure you are also in one of the group photos. Unfortunately the VIP visitor is most likely to offer to take a photo. You might want somebody else to take you with the VIP. You can also get the complete stranger out of the photo of the committee by asking them to take a photo with you in it. Stand to one side and then edit yourself out.

4 Take Cuddles and Separate photos.
The more photos the better. You don't want to send a photo of yourself with somebody else's arm around you on a job application or after your divorce to a dating site.

Together and Separate
Couples often hug each other. You then get the wandering hands look. As if the man is trying to get too friendly with members of the opposite sex, the same sex, under age children. As if the glamorous lady won't let go of her millionaire husband. you get disemboded hands. Pictures with people who seem to have three arms, three legs, or even four legs and four arms. You can't ask people to unclasp each other. You can ask for two different poses. First ask them to cuddle up close, even closer. Then ask them to pose separately.

Vary expressions. Tell them to smile, then look serious. (Sometimes telling people you have finished, or to smile, just makes them grin more, or frown more. So then you have to give the opposite instruction.)

4 Front and Side views
Try to get face on and left and right views. This is especially important for people who have lopsided faces. They might have a birthmark, a scar from an accident, a mouth which is lopsided because of a stroke. Most people have a good and a bad side. They often know it. If they don't, they might still prefer one side to another in the final result. You might want to emphasise it or minimise it, or have a true picture for identity purposes or medical analysis.

5 Near and Far
Take a close up of the face and one of the whole body. The whole body picture may show the face rather small. So you need a close up. The face photo might be missing their amusing outfit or fabulous figure.

A face photo only can conceal their dropping burst or protruding paunch. The whole body photo may show that the girl with bad teeth, which could be fixed, has a fabulous figure.

A close up shows teeth in detail, and eyes. Beautiful eye colour. I have seen two accounts of people whose lives were saved because a photo on Facebook told a friend or even a stranger that the person posing had signs of a problem which could be solved if it were caught fast.

6 With and without make-up
Those forties photos with the latest hairstyle and heavy red lips look so forties. Excellent if you want to show the era. But an extra plain photo, without fashionable hairstyles or make-up, would be good to show your family or friend looking natural, to make you feel closer to them in any era, regardless of fashion.

7 Clothes Style
Take photos in successive weeks at your club or family gathering. You might not want to tell aunty or your helper at the club that her baggy dress looks awful. On the other hand, the picture of her in a shapeless dress, with horizontal stripes going diagonal because she stands lopsided, with her hands in her pockets, will show her the effect without your needing to say anything.

8 Colours
If somebody looks great in an outfit, don't just tell them so, take a photo.

For stage performances at a comedy course we were told to wear white around the face. This applies to all colours of skin. White picks up the light from the overhead spotlight, reflects white onto your face, makes people look at your face rather than your shoes, draws attention to you rather than others on stage.

9 Best Underwear
Oops - who has the droops? Before a photo, tighten your bra straps. Get your bust higher, and horizontal, not drooping to one side. Keep shoulders level. If you have a protruding bust, tum or bum, wear a minimiser bra, support bra, underwired bra, corset, body shaper.

Go on a diet. Take the photo before the big lunch or Xmas dinner, at the start of the week's holiday rather than the end when you have put on a stone in weight. However, take a photo at the end if you are at a spa or active holiday and fighting fit at the end.

10 Groups
You need three or four pickers of a group. Most modern mobiles have a burst function. You may find that a person who closes their eyes in one picture can have open eyes in another.

11 Time Delay to Include Photographer
Look around the room for a table where you can set up your mobile on a tripod or fixed surface to prevent camera shake. You might want to set this up early and take photos before the event or at break time.

12 Early Photos of People
The advantage of the early photos is that you can get the early arrivals, people who arrive early and  who leave early. You might also have extra time, if your car / lift/ other transport is leaving early.

13 Early Photos of Places
The room or theatre where you meet may look better empty. Before the person with the large hat sits in front of you blocking your view of the stage. Before the sign goes up banning you from taking photos of the performers.

Before people strew their bags across the aisle. Before the banner of a rival or unknown organisation is set up at an angle.

14 Set Up
This also enables you to set up a table; before somebody shouts, 'come on - we have to go, because you have to clear the room and lock up, or the next event starts gathering outside or streaming into he room. Before a rival or official photographer gets their tripod in the best position and blocks your view.

15 Sending Photos
Get the names of people for captions. Ask them the spelling. Ask their phone number or email so you can send the photo. Send it straight away, to save hunting through all your photos later and to check the email they have given you is correct. (A great way to get somebody's email - send them a photo of themselves.)

16 Hiding Photos
If you have photos of children, don't put them up on social media such as Facebook, where the photo could be seen by predators, or parents, teachers, bystanders or others could object.

17 Photographer's Credit
Make sure your name appears as credit on good photos. This has at least three advantages:
1 You establish your reputation
2 You prove that you have copyright and it is not a stolen photo
3 People know who to contact to receive more photos or ask for persimmon or pay you.
4 You know which photos were taken by you and which were taken by somebody else.

18 Dating Photos
Modern cameras date photos. This is a mixed blessing. The advantages are that you can identify the venue by the date. You can compare this birthday with the last birthday. You can quickly find a photo of an event when somebody asks for a copy.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Packing List For Summer Courses

If you take a summer course, writing, songwriting, painting, sports, etc you may wish to make a packing list.

PASSPORT/ID/driving licence
MONEY/local currency for taxi?
Taxi and hotel address.
Friend/relative/conference organiser phone number and email.
Check family or friends have not moved since your last visit.
Hotel at destination open 24 hours where you could go in case of overbooking, or arriving delayed, in the night.

Address checks
Check local hospitals in case you have to be taken to hospital for minor injury and have a preferred hospital, or whether you'd prefer to drive home.
Check address and opening hours of local pharmacy (US name is drugstore).
Check address of local stationery shop/bookstore.
Check address of nearest coffee shop/restaurant for a break or entertaining hosts or entertaining networking contacts.
Take addresses of family, colleagues, businesses you could visit nearby if staying longer.

TICKETS
for train, plane. Take printed copy even if it's online in case computer breaks down.
Check time changes - are you arriving a day later? Check tickets match. Check day of week travelling.

I once flew home from a trip to the Isle of Man on Saturday, expecting to set off on a Monday to meet a group - but on Monday found they had left on the Sunday. I missed a trip to Venice to stay at the famous hotel. PR was so angry she refused to let me pay for myself for another flight and join them a day late.

On another occasion we flew to Asia, having given our hosts our departure date instead of arrival date. They cooked us a special local dinner prepared by a local lady on Saturday night, but we arrived on Sunday.)

Packing List For A Short 2-7 day educational summer course

For a songwriting course
Book on songwriting
Laptop with online songwriting course
Your songs filed alphabetically
Packet notepad for ideas
Pens
Folder
Business cards
Smartphone or device for recording song ideas
File of websites/addresses to share with new contacts
C.V.

For a writing course
A4 pad
Pen
Pencil
Pencil sharpener
Stapler filled with enough staples
Paperclips
Rubber bands
Loose leaf file
A5 or A4 box file
Briefcase or paper holdall or tote bag
Luggage tag (to distinguish your conference bag from other people's)
Dictionary
Draft of your book
Poem to read at open microphone night
Plot book or poem outlines
Flyers adverting your books
Business cards
List of your published books in date order
List of your favourite authors and books
Not of books you already own so you don't buy duplicates

Speakers /Authors giving readings
Address cards
Copies of your book
Copies of previous books to hold up during talk
post-its placed in passages you wish to read.
(Or large print photocopies of the section you wish to read as bookmarks)
Speeches and poems with highlights for important words.
Mark pauses for laughter.
Printed copy of your speech, hard copy and on line, so if you fall ill or are delayed somebody else can read out your speech and give the audience your shared advice and website.

CLOTHES
Check dress hire shops for last night fancy dress party at conference/birthday party/New Year's Eve.
 Walking shoes/sandals/evening shoes/beach, gym or sports
Socks/tights

OUTERWEAR
Coats, jackets, raincoats, rainhats, umbrellas, overshoes, waterproof boots or shoes
Dresses/caftans
Skirts
Blouses
Shirts
Shorts/Bermuda shorts/cargo pants/culottes
Trousers (USA pants/cargo pants)

Underwear pants (UK - in the USA pants are what the British call trousers so for you reading in the USA pants and underpants or panties), bras, vests, slips.
1 Neutral pair co-ordinating with all outfits
2 Special evening pair or co-ordinating with special outfit
3 Spare shoes in case others get broken or dirty
Slippers for hotel
Beach shoes
Scarves, belts, and jewellery.

BITS AND PIECES
4 Picnic: plate, cutlery, lidded box, plastic bags; water bottle./ Emergency kit: tinned sardines, grapes, orange, Kendal mint cake.
5 First aid kit
6 Cosmetics
7 Toiletries: washbag; facecloth; microfibre towel/turban;Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shaver, shaving gel, shampoo, conditioner, soap, bacterial wipe, hair tint (for long trips), comb, brush, nail file, manicure scissors, tweezers, emery board, toenail clippers, nail varnish remover pads, nail varnish, moisturiser.
Pills (regularly taken with daily pill dispenser)
Emergency pills for stomach ache or colds, antibiotics, hay fever, allergies

SWIMWEAR
Swimsuit and swimhat -
Beach towel or wrap/sarong

Nightwear night clothes night dress pyjamas/wrap (even if you sleep nude, wrap helps if fire alarm
Spare bag fold-up suitcase/tote bag/carrier bag, for souvenirs/books/newspaper/wines/literature/ gifts for others/gifts you're given/certificates won
Wrapping paper for gifts and
Spare card for unexpected birthday/wedding/baby arrival/new home/local festival

Outfits for each day, with matching underwear and socks, shoes and coat and hat
(Unless your colour scheme is all black, or black and white with red or blue scarves, and ties
Belts to match all outfits

STATIONERY
Phrase book and dictionary for all destinations (If on laptop, find them and mark as favourites to find them easily and fast when needed.)
Print phrases you are likely to need at destination to please hosts
(Greetings, thanks, my name is, welcome, translation of first line and punchline of your speech to audience or thanking hosts for a meal)

SECURITY
Jacket with zipped inside pockets (or sew in pocket, or sew zips into inside pockets.
Belt with concealed pocket
Change purse

CLEANLINESS & SAFETY
Clothes washing gel/powder
Fly killer spray
Fly repellent for skin
Fly repellent clothes from specialist camping/trekking shops
UV clothes for outdoors
Sunglasses
Sunhats
Suncream
Calomine
Sting relief
Picture of local venomous snakes or wildlife so if you're bitten but can't catch it (dead!) you can point to picture or tell hospital what bit you.

Thank you card to post from destination country or leave behind with host.
Note of host's favourite chocolates, wines, authors colours, for buying gifts at airport as you depart to see them (or to send after you have left).

Make your own list in two columns for day and evening. Day of week (or date for longer than a week).
Rule a line left margin for ticks for when you pack to go, and on right for ticks for when you return.
Copy list on phone and email it to yourself/your family.
You could photograph the contents in the suitcase, and the suitcase showing brand name, in case your luggage is lost.

SELFIES
Finally photograph yourself at the doorstep as you leave.
Check when you get home you are still in the complete outfit, have not left your hat, coat, gloves on the plane or in the taxi.

LABELS
Label your clothes and your children's clothes with name tags or half tags which you can use to prove ownership at lost property without revealing to thieves where you live if your home is left empty or you don't want granny and the babysitters and dogs alarmed by burglars who were hoping the place was empty!

TURN OFF/THROW OUT
Leave 30 minutes extra for turning off heating, checking gas, fridge, waste bins, locks.
Before you go, turn off heating/air con or set on low. Set alarms.

Throw out milk and fruit or give it to neighbours. (We once were glad we had not thrown away the milk. We had a delayed flight, drove home, reclaimed the milk, made coffee. Then got a call to say come back for another flight. Gave the neighbours/family the milk a second time!)
 Leave door keys with trusted family. Tell hosts at other end you are leaving on time/delayed.

Angela Lansbury, BA Hons, travel writer, author, speaker.