Overnight Travel: My Top Tips

How do the travel bloggers do it, eh? Jetting off from one Instagram-able destination to another and living out of an immaculately packed suitcase that contains an abundance of magically crease-less linen dresses. Show me the ways! I’ve recently come to the end of a travel-packed stint and am quite chuffed that I can now get back into my routine of being glued to Love Island at 9pm every night and screaming so loudly at it that Mark comes and checks to see if I’m ok, only to find that I’m squealing at the boys doing a Magic Mike routine for the girls. It’s glorious. The past month has not only included some trips further afield (see my tips for packing for them here), but also some overnighters, which in a way I feel like it’s harder to pack for. I often end up with a ball of wires (a.k.a my chargers that I don’t really need), 15 different outfit options and me wondering if it’s outrageous to pack my fleecy purple dressing gown with me.

However I’ve been reeling myself in because if anything, overnight travel should be quick and easy. Painless packing-wise and something that doesn’t take up two hours of the day before and the day after. So I’ve been asking myself – what would a travel blogger do… 

PLAN YOUR WARDROBE

I’ve been trying to marry my itinerary with the weather and levels of casual-ness/formality and try and formulate outfits before I’ve even begun to pack. Sometimes this involves having a little try-on session which is always fun (if you haven’t eaten two bowls of Coco Pops before and feel like a balloon), sometimes I just reach for formulas that are tried and tested. Either way this puts pause on the whole ’15 outfits for one evening’ thing. I even sort out the bag, jewellery, underwear and shoes that I wish to wear with each outfit and then roll up the clothing and underwear into their own little sausage so they’re easier to fit into my bag and easier to find when I want to wear them. Realistically for overnight travel you only need an outfit to wear there, one for the evening (or accessories to jazz up your travel outfit), PJ’s and something to wear on the way back. Outfit packing SORTED.

DOWNSIZE YOUR SKINCARE

I’m a sucker for travelling with an absolute boat-load of skincare and toiletries, but here is where mini’s become your best mates. If you can’t find miniatures of all your favourites then head on to Amazon and get yourself a Travel Bottle Set. I used to get these from places like Boots, but online you can find bigger sets that contain a whole host of different sized bottles and jars to decant your skincare, shower products and hair and body best bits in to. I love to get my label maker out to keep things real organised. It’s also great to keep this decanted set in your suitcase replenished after each trip so you can keep it there and not have to worry about repacking it every time you head out on a trip. Oh you little jet-setter, you.

CHOOSE YOUR BAG

Now this really depends on your method of travel. If I’m heading to my destination via train, tube or bus then I find it better to throw my items into a wheelie suitcase and keep all my en-route essentials in a smaller handbag that I can keep with me at all times. But if I’m going via car and there’s not that much luggage lugging involved then I prefer to throw everything into something like my Saint Laurent Tote Bag. You can fling it over you shoulder, plus it doubles up as a handbag to use whilst you’re at your destination. Turns out I’m quite the cabin bag collector (I’ve just offloaded three to my friends and family – HOW!?), but I’ve got to say that on first impressions the Away Suitcases live up to the hype. I was lucky enough to be gifted one during our visit to West Elm HQ because they have a limited edition colab releasing towards the end of the year (Did someone say gold suitcase?). I can’t comment on longevity just yet, but in terms of packing they’ve got the process fine-tuned; firmer items like shoes, toiletries and electricals go on the left and squish-able items on the right which can be compressed down via the straps. Along with the portable charger it’s all just very thought out and makes you feel like you have this whole travel expert thang down.

FIVE THINGS I ALWAYS PACK & NEVER USE

Reading material. I always lob a magazine in my bag, but unless the journey to my destination is a long one, a good scroll through the ol’ iPhone does the trick.

More than one lip colour. I’m always tempted to pack a bold and a nude lip colour, but always reach for the nude. When will I learn?

Hair tools. Open up my suitcase and the chances are you’ll find a pair of straighteners (I tend to make do with the hotel hairdryers). I can count the times I’ve actually used it during a one or two day trip on one hand.

Hair products. The same goes for hair products in general. Mainly because I CBA and when my hair reaches the stage of gross-ness I flip it up into a bun and pretend I’m going for ‘undone chic‘.

Extra layers. I enjoy going to bed in layers that make me resemble a mummy and so often pack hoodies and bed socks, however most hotel rooms have AC and therefore climate control which means I can rank it up to get super toasty before I hit the hay.

Photos by Lauren Shipley

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