Pack It In
How do you feel when you know you've got to start packing? Excited about the trip, but quietly dreading the suitcase? You're not alone.
I'm heading to Portugal for a week's holiday and I can't wait. So here's how I approach what to pack and how I pack light without missing a thing.
I've been prepping for about a month. It starts with a mood board and a list. Clothes get selected and I hang them together in a space in my wardrobe, going wide so I can pull back. Then I try on and build outfits. When they've made the cut, I fold them and place them on the bed, before they finally make it into the suitcase.
With the amount of personal and work travel to my name, I'm a pretty polished packer.
My system started back on work buying trips in the 2000s. Over the years I've packed for New York, India, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Brazil, Italy, France, Tokyo, Vietnam and more trips to LA than I can count, from two days to two weeks, sometimes taking in several countries and cities in one trip. There was no room for a case full of maybes. I was caught out on my first trip to Mumbai, never again. I learnt to pack in outfits, well connected pieces that could be reworn and reinvented and a few pairs of hard-working shoes. Those habits have stuck. This time it's a holiday, a week of slowing down and I’m nearly there.
Shortlisted and ready to pack.
We're staying at Terra Rosa Country House & Vineyards, tucked away between the villages of Ponte de Lima and Vila Verde in the heart of Minho, northern Portugal. It's set on a family estate dating back to 1758, with only seven rooms. I'm looking forward to vineyard walks, exploring the surrounding areas, a few dips in the heated outdoor pool, and dinners where the locals eat so we can fully immerse ourselves in Portuguese life.
Sole Selection
As a former shoe buyer and lover of shoes, this is where I have to be strict. The bulkiest pair goes on my feet for the journey. These JW Anderson loafers are practical and stylish at the same time and work with nearly everything in my wardrobe, and they are comfortable too. I’ll take a more delicate pair for a couple of dinners, where I want my feet to be fancy and the rest of my outfit to take a back seat.
Outfit Options
My technical fabric shirt shows how one item can create completely different looks. For breakfast, it's untucked with a few buttons undone and track pants. A couple of days later, it's tucked into jeans with my vintage pearl necklace for dinner. Denim works the same way: two pairs of jeans, six outfits, swapping shirts, blouses and a knit, from travel days to a wander round Ponte de Lima. If you read Jean Genie last week, you'll know how much a good pre-loved pair means to me.
I stand by these Packing Pointers:
Plan by occasion, not by day. Breakfast, walks, town, dinner, pool. Most trips need far fewer looks than the number of nights suggests.
Make everything work three ways. If I can't picture it in three outfits, it stays home.
Go wide with your selection, then take a third away. We all overpack for that just-in-case moment. But if one item keeps going in and out, keep it in. I've had that before, and thank goodness I went with my gut, as I lived in it.
Let accessories do the work. Pearls, a scarf or a belt change an outfit completely and take up almost no space. You can pack them in your shoes.
Photograph your outfits before packing. It saves thinking time once you're there.
Leave a little room. There's usually something worth bringing home.
Lighter Loads
Looking ahead, my favourite way to travel will be lighter still. We've bought a home in Cape Town that we're renovating, and I can't wait for the day I fly there with just my handbag, knowing my wardrobe is waiting for me.
Until then, I'll keep packing like a buyer. And if there's something special you'd like for your own trip, holiday or weekend away, have a browse of my rental rails.