What Would You Pack Inside Your Ultimate Holiday Suitcase

I do not know about you, but I often struggle knowing what to take with me on holiday. Having to pack a suitcase with everything you need for one or two weeks away is hard to do, and I always end up taking something I did not need, and also wishing I had taken something else that I really needed.

If you decide to fly by plane to reach your holiday destination, while being a much faster way to travel, you are limited with what you can take with you luggage wise. making it essential to research the best carry ons to buy in 2019, if you’re travelling. I am always packing and repacking, checking how much my case weighs and then having to remove a few things to keep it within the allocated weight allowance. We travelled to Sweden by plane earlier in the year, and this meant having to pack lots of warm but bulky clothing, which resulted in us not having much room left for the other essential items you need for a holiday. I cannot tell you how many times I got told that the case was too heavy by my OH!

Then when you have children to take on a plane too, packing becomes even harder because they need (and want) so many extra things. Extra spare clothes (because my boys are very messy!), a favourite cuddly toy, not to mention all the things they try to sneak in to their cases! It makes me laugh when I go to check on the boy’s suitcases to find they have packed mostly toys and hardly any clothes! Then I am a mean Mummy because I have to remove favourite toys in favour of things to wear! That is why last summer when we flew to Spain, we ended up buying inflatables and buckets and spades once we were out there, because they would not fit into our suitcases or hand luggage.

However, if we were to travel by P&O Ferries instead, then the sky is the limit with regards to how much luggage we could take on holiday with us, because there are no luggage restrictions. It would be like having a suitcase that was a bit like a Tardis, or like Mary Poppin’s carpet bag where it held everything bar the kitchen sink to take on holiday with you. This would allow you to take things you would not usually be able to due to weight restrictions on your suitcase, or not enough room inside, which is common with flying.

P&O Ferries recognises how stressful it becomes when packing for the whole family. They asked me to create the ultimate suitcase – where you could take things you wish you could normally.

My normal holiday suitcase when travelling by plane would look something like this:

My ultimate holiday suitcase if I was travelling by P&O Ferries would look like this:

It would be amazing being able to take several pairs of shoes: sandals, flats and a pair for going out, a hairdryer, hair straighteners and curling tongs – usually I only have room for one of those. I would love to take my coffee machine, my favourite tea mug and tea bags because tea on holiday never seems to tastes as nice as it does back home! I would love to take my duvet because sometimes bedding on holiday can be uncomfortable. It would be great to take my camera, rather than just use my phone’s camera to capture those precious holiday memories. Books I love to take books on holiday to read, but they are heavy and take up room. It would be brilliant to take more than one bag: a beach bag, a practical rucksack and a handbag. A sun hat for sunny days and an umbrella in case it rains would be handy too. Plus the little extras that I usually have to remove from my children’s suitcases, like some inflatables, cuddly toys, bucket and spade each and some LEGO would keep them happy.

I asked a couple of fellow bloggers what they would take inside their own Ultimate Holiday Suitcase if space was limitless:

I absolutely HATE packing so I would take all our clothes and then I wouldn’t have to spend time working out what to take with us. If I could take them in the wardrobe to save me having to fold them into a suitcase that would be even better!
Kirsty

I’d take all my shoes and handbags so I didn’t have to choose just a few to take with me.
Cass

Great grandma -she is 97 cannot walk or move much at all and needs nursing care daily BUT she is one of my bestest friends and we love her so much and of if she could come to Portugal with us and sit in the sunshine and watch the kids swim how wonderful that would be.
Becky

Being able to have the freedom to take more of your belongings away on holiday with you, would mean that your holiday began the moment you left your house. How wonderful to have everything you need to take with you packed for your journey, and to know that your suitcases do not need to be removed on a ferry, or need to be checked in and then collected again when you arrive at your destination, and then bundled in to a hire car/taxi or on a bus or train. This is a much easier option for families who have children and lots of luggage to worry about. You want your holiday to be as hassle and stress free as possible after all.

Travelling by P&O Ferries offers you the opportunity to depart from 4 different ports across the Uk, taking you with ease to 5 different destinations: Dover – Calais, Hull – Rotterdam and Zeebrugge, Liverpool – Dublin and Cairnryan to Larne. I have to be honest, now we have a camper van we are thinking about travelling by ferry to Calais next summer for a road trip across France, and it is so reassuring to know that once our van is packed were can just board the ferry at Dover and enjoy the crossing without the hassle or having to check all our luggage in, or be limited as to how much we can travel with. Which when you are going on a self catering holiday is such a relief and makes it less stressful.

Of course another option would be to pack your children inside your luggage, and then your ferry journey would be much quieter LOL!!