And #TuesdayTwirl
Dear friends. It's part 2 of my summer holiday posts and this time I'm focusing on what to take, plus a few of my lifesavers.
I'm headed for a relaxing holiday in Greece. Days will be spent on the beach, reading, swimming and listening to podcasts. Evenings, we'll take the water taxi into the nearby town and go to our favourite places for dinner.
There'll be no sight seeing. We've been to this island several times and have done all the sight seeing. A lot of you will hate our mega relaxing type of holiday, but I love it, particularly after all the recent cycling.
I know a few of you dread packing. Although I'm an inveterate list maker, I have occasionally left the packing until the day of departure, grabbed things off hangers and then regretted it later.
What I do now is write a note on my phone of the actual outfits I'll take for daytime and evening, starting with the airport outfit. I always wear trainers on the plane rather than sandals: they take up room in a case, and they might be needed if I decide to use the gym or go for a walk. I'll also wear a jacket or poncho because it's usually chilly on a plane (and chilly returning home!).
Most of my clothes and accessories are warm brights because I've been seasonally analysed as Spring, and tend to wear a lot of yellow, coral, orange and lime. These are the colours I'll mostly be taking.
This year I liberated a large plastic box by giving its contents to a charity shop, and I've been popping my holiday packing in it. Seeing those colours lifts my spirits! I'll take my gold sequin beach bag which will be hand luggage on the plane and my beach bag at the resort. I also take a small crossbody bag for evenings.
I usually carry a fan in my bag, a small mirror and of course my Kindle. I have a spare Kindle which goes in the suitcase, just in case. On the plane the bag will also contain travel money (zipped compartment), passports and GHICs (Global Health Insurance Cards), my tablet and my headphones.
A new purchase this year is two
Dock & Bay eco friendly towels for our loungers. I also found some giant pegs on Amazon to attach the towels. I absolutely love my Dock & Bay hair turban towel. It's particularly good on cycling holidays. Often we only get given 2 towels each, and I need the large one to roll up my wet cycling gear. The turban comes into its own, and dries very quickly after use.
So what will I be wearing? For daytime, I have some colourful kaftans from Seafolly which I pop over a swimsuit. Or I'll wear white shorts with a selection of tops.
In the evening, I have 3 dresses, two Boden skirts (one will also be worn to the airport), a Kettlewell blue skirt and some more dressy tops. I'll take a couple of necklaces too. Below: I have this top in 2 colours. It's a little more dressy, particularly with a necklace, for evenings.
This is one of the Boden skirts. It's identical to one I gave away (and then regretted), so I found it on eBay. Hello old friend! The top is new, from Kettlewell; it can be worn 2 ways as it has two different necklines. I wore this outfit on Saturday on a fun day in Whitstable.
A couple of hats are essential. The big straw hat came from John Lewis last year. The yellow polo cap is new, from Ralph Lauren.
Footwear wise, there'll be the trainers (although I'll probably only wear them on the plane), some new brown sandals, gold Vionic flat sandals, flip flops and a pair of embellished sandals which I either buy at Gatwick on the way, or at the resort.
Make-up and Skincare
Make-up, hair care and skincare take up a lot of room. I buy travel sizes for shampoo and conditioner, and for cleansers and moisturisers save the various small sizes I get in beauty boxes throughout the years. Body lotion is a must as my skin needs it after a day in the sun. I'll also take some nail and cuticle oil and hand cream.
My makeup bag will contain a mascara, concealer, blusher, 2 lipsticks, tweezers and a darker than usual foundation which I apply just to problem areas. As I try to keep my face out of the sun, it's very pale compared to the rest of me, so the foundation helps. I don't use fake tan nowadays.
I always buy our SPF in advance from Boots online, taking advantage of any of their savings. I find that if you buy it in the resort, they often don't have the right level of protection or the right formulation. Plus the price is double. I use Nivea SPF30 on my body and Skinceuticals Advanced Brightening UV Defense Sunscreen SPF50 on my face. I also have a spray, Garnier Super UV Overmakeup Mist, SPF50, which is great to spray over my face as I head off in the evening.
Other essentials are Boots silicon ear plugs, travel detergent, a couple of plastic ziplok bags to store our wet costumes in, a set of Amazon packing cube bags and all the chargers (toothbrush, phone, smart watch etc).
What are your top packing tips for a 10 day or 2 week beach holiday? Do tell in the comments.
Sharing my posts with these
fantastic sites. Nothing was gifted for this post.
I'm back on Thursday with a great selection of books for June which would be ideal to take on holiday.
Now it's time for #Tuesday Twirl.
Welcome to #TuesdayTwirl
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We also went so many times to the same place, Rye, that we don't do sight seeing either. Just spending time at sea, and enjoy going out for dinner and a lot of walking! I wish you a fabulous time in Greece!
ReplyDeleteGlad we are not the only ones Nancy! Sometimes I feel guilty when people ask what we did on holiday...but if it works, why change it?!
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