1. Underwear for a week (for girls this is a pair for each day & a pair for each night, but I suspect significantly fewer pairs if you’re a guy..) 🧐 plus several pairs of socks. I usually wash socks whilst I’m on holiday so I don’t take a pair for each day 🧦👙
2. Tops – never underestimate the ease of a cute top and jeans! I have a couple that are fancier for when we go out in the evening, but most are okay to be slightly abused when at the track. 🔧⚙️ I’ve also got a long-sleeve base layer. I love me a base layer! I’m thinking it’ll be quite cold there (and Cartagena track is a windy one), so I need a thin jumper around to chuck on when I get chilly.🌪☁️🌧
3. One pair of denim shorts. Tbh, looking at the weather forecast, it’s not going to be much warmer than it is here now, but juuuust in case, I come prepared. I’d be really sad if I go there and it’s lovely and all I have are jeans. 👖
4. Harry Potter pyjamas! Pyjamas are something I always forget to take with me on holiday, but given that we’re normally with friends and we end up in each others’ rooms, it’s polite to have SOME sort of clothing to hand 😉
5. Solid shampoo & conditioner bars. James and I travel hand luggage only, so trying to make sure we only take the liquids that we need to (all of mine are makeup and contact lens related) means looking for alternatives to standard stuff. Lush sells these bars, as well as solid moisturiser, and toothpaste tablets!🛁
6. Sandals. I’m going to travel wearing my trainers ’cause they’re bulkier. I don’t need a million pairs of shoes with me – trainers for if it’s colder, sandals for if it’s not!☀️👟
7. Makeup! This one is always a struggle for me because I LOVE my makeup, and I enjoy doing it, but when you’re travelling light you need to make sure you’ve pared your stuff down. I’ve taken the Huda Beauty Desert Dusk palette, the Too Faced Sweet Peach Glow for my highlight & bronze & blush, NYX HD Studio finishing powder, plus the fab Makeup Revolution concealers which I have as a concealer and a contour in a darker shade. I’ve also got my eyeliner & mascara, but there’s nothing I can do to take less of those! I also put my foundation into a small pot so it takes up less room, even though the bottle would be okay to take in hand luggage. 💄Also, always have a lip balm in there! James gets really dry lips when he’s been on track, and I do when it’s windy.
8. Makeup remover wipes. These double as makeup wipes and also general face cleansing in the morning because I got the @garnier miceller cleansing wipes. They also don’t count against you in your liquid allowance so that’s a win!👩🏼
9. Medication bag! I always take paracetamol, ibuprofen, co-dydramol, and antihistamines with me whenever I go away, along with plasters and surgical tape just in case. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a minor ailment and having to go to a pharmacy to sort it. I’ve also found that pharmacies in Portugal and Spain tend to be a lot more expensive for simple pain relief than anywhere else. Similarly for tampons etc – if you think you’re potentially going to need some then definitely take them with you! I also normally take tissues ’cause I get a stuffy nose on the plane. 💊
10. Sunglasses, a spare pair of glasses, along with two sets of contact lenses. If this seems like overkill on the vision front, please be aware that I managed to lose a pair of glasses without ever taking them out of the van when James and I were at Donington for a race weekend. I’ve never found them, and have no idea where they can have gone. One of the things that has always made me incredibly anxious is the thought of losing my glasses and not being able to see properly, so this is something I don’t mind going overboard on because I do sorta need to be able to see… 🤓🕶
11. Handbag for when we get there. I love my rucksack, but I don’t want to have to empty it all out and then use it everyday for going to the track. For one, that’s a faff, but secondly it’s a super cute rucksack and I do naaat want it getting oil or petrol or any other weird goop on it that hangs around at track days! 👜
12. Chargers and cables for daaaaaayz. Between us, James and I have two phones, an iPad, one Apple Watch, a camera, charger cases for both phones, and a portable charging block. That’s a lot of cables and plugs. I do have a couple of dual USB plugs, but one easy way to do it when travelling is instead to take a UK multi plug extension lead, one EU plug converter, and then plug all your bits and pieces in that way in one place in your hotel room. It also makes it a lot easier not to forget to take stuff home with you. ⌚️📱💻
1. This is a 12.1 ’cause it’s still a charger but deserves its own mention! My friend Jo bought a portable charger, and we both loved it so much that I bought myself one. It was £28 and is quite hefty, but it is an absolute lifesaver! It’ll do around 7 iPhone 7 charges, which is perfect when we do track days or race weekends and don’t necessarily have access to mains electricity all the time.
13. Headphones. Obviously essential when flying so you don’t have to listen to people/you can watch films. I’ve downloaded some stuff from Netflix to watch on my iPad, and it’s only a short flight (2hr 30) so I should be fine! I just bought @beats Solo Wireless (rose gold, ofc 🤩) to try out. I bought them from @appleuk who have a fab returns policy of 2 weeks, even if you’ve opened and tried something. 🎧
14. Cameraaaaaa! Can’t go anywhere without my camera! I’ve got the @canon Powershot G7X Mk2. It’s a fantastic camera, and can manage some really good shots! 📷
15. iPad! I’m still so in love with this, and it’ll be great to be able to take it to the track with me to play around with editing and stuff whilst James is out on the bike! 😍
16. Travel wallet. This is super cute from @estellabartlett , and is nice and small to fit in my (very full!) rucksack. I’ve got my cards, my passport, and my money in here (notes only, cash is in a small purse). We don’t have actual tickets for the hotel or flights etc, but if any of those things come along I’ll add them in! 💷
17. Last but not least – a pen. This seems like a very small thing to mention, but the amount of times I’ve needed a pen whilst travelling and not had one….! 🖊
Now that you know how much I’ve got….have a look at the size of the bag:
This is by no means a large bag. In fact, holding it next to James’ rucksack I realised just how much smaller it was. Still, I’ve fitted everything I need for a week on holiday in there…which I don’t think is half bad!
James and I are off on holiday (super early tomorrow morning) for a week (ish), and hopefully by the time I come back I’ll be refreshed and rejuvenated, and totally ready to head back to work…!
World through my window 