We look forward to them all year but so much can go wrong. Flights get cancelled or delayed. The accommodation isn’t what you’re expecting. The fun friends you’ve decided to travel with turn out to be exhausting when you’re with them 24/7. I could go on and on.
The other truth is that we all want different things from our holidays. For years I would race around seeing all the sights and looking for things to do day and night.
© Glynis BarberNow, I just want to relax. I want to get away from my usual routine and be free to just do nothing. I want the luxury of lounging and reading a book for hours. If it’s hot, I want to swim. I want someone to cook for me. I want to be brought a chilled glass of wine.
All these things need to be considered when planning a trip. If you know what you want, you can set about making sure you get it.
Over the years, I’ve become more organised. I find it makes life less stressful and gives you the space to finally relax and enjoy yourself. I’ve now started applying this to my travels.
Accomodation
Staying with friends
Unless they are extremely close friends that I know very well, I always make sure that my stay is a short one. While it can be fun to stay with people, you must be prepared to have very little free time and to go with their agenda. Their house, their rules. That’s why I only usually do short trips staying with people.
I do have a very close friend in LA who I’ve stayed with many times over the years. She is the perfect hostess, in my opinion. She’ll give us our space to stay and then leaves us to it. She knows we have lots of friends to see and things to do. However, if we’re ever at a loose end, she pops up and invites us to join them for dinner. Or we go out and have a great meal. But, in my experience, she is pretty much unique in this way.
© Glynis BarberRenting a house or apartment
Renting means you’re going to probably have to do some cooking and clearing up. Some Airbnb’s expect you to strip beds, take rubbish out and they don’t clean your apartment during your stay. So, it does entail a bit of work.
There are also pros to this choice, as it’s nice to be able to rustle up a salad for lunch and not eat out all the time. It also means you have the space to just chill. However, it very much depends on how conducive the surroundings are. Is it somewhere you can lounge around and feel like you’re on holiday? I’ve stayed in some apartments over the years that were not that nice and others that were quite wonderful.
On our recent trip to France, we rented a traditional old stone house that was very rustic and charming. It was in the middle of the countryside but close to a little village. Ideal in every way. However, there were a couple of things that made it a little challenging.
As it was so old, it was quirky rather than comfortable. There were perilous ladder stairs to get to upper levels which my husband felt very unsteady on. When he did get to the upper level, he promptly banged his head on a beam. I spent my time dodging and ducking these beams. He gave up and kept to the lower parts of the house.
And then there was the heatwave. In these old traditional houses, there is never any air-conditioning. The stone is meant to keep it cool, and we were told to keep all the windows closed during the day and curtains drawn. While that makes sense, it means that the inside of the house was like a dark cave. Not somewhere you want to hang out.
The outside was beautiful. We had a big table and chairs, loungers, a barbecue and even an outdoor kitchen. The problem was that with the heat, we couldn’t sit out there. Not even in the evening. It only started to cool down at around 10pm.
We ended up going to a friend’s house to swim or to the river which was nice but even that was challenging in the heat. It also meant we spent a lot of time in our car driving around. Mind you, it was the only place that was air-conditioned, so we didn’t mind too much.
In the end, we got tired of having to go out all the time and started using our patio for meals, even in the heat. We found we began to climatise to it and could tolerate it more each day. However, I will never go to that region in July again. The heat was just too much.
© Glynis BarberHotels
Most people will probably take this option and what’s not to like? Your room is serviced (and usually air-conditioned), you eat out and don’t have to lift a finger.
Once again, it depends on if it meets your expectations. Research and personal recommendations are always helpful.
The packing essentials
My pillow
I take it everywhere with me and am usually very relieved I did. Pillows come in so many varieties of firmness, height and even size. Mine is flat and soft. Faced with a bouncy high pillow, I would not be able to sleep. And sleep is paramount to a good holiday. I always bring my silk pillowcase as well, so I wake up with a smooth, uncreased face.
Supplements
Being an enthusiastic supplement taker, I do like to bring these with me. However, I’ll usually do a pared down selection as I take quite a lot. In a hot climate, I’ll leave behind the Vitamin D. I’ll include Magnesium to ensure good sleep, Milk Thistle to boost my liver from any holiday wine, and Quercitin, a powereful anti-oxidant, to ward off any viruses as well as ease hay fever. I’ll decant what I need into little bags instead of taking lots of bottles with me.
Natural mosquito repellents
If there’s anything that bites, I’ll be the first to be bitten. I’ve had many a sleepless night on holiday scratching at swollen, red bites. I like deet-free, natural sprays and then something that eases the itching. I recently discovered a wonderful perfume spray by Alfresco called Power Anti-Bug Bite Spray, £40. It’s made in conjunction with a perfume house and smells glorious.
I also found an amazing little gadget by Incognito called Zap-Ease Instant Bite Relief, £7.99. You click it onto your bite, and it neutralises the histamine which is what causes the itching.
iPad
I download shows (mostly from Netflix) onto my iPad and have found this brilliant for travelling. Stuck in the airport for a few hours? No problem. Long flight? Sorted.
Once you have WIFI available, you can watch anything. Great to have something to watch in the evenings after dinner, or even mid-afternoon at siesta time.
Books
Having some great reads is obviously a must on a chilled holiday. These are the holiday books set to take over the summer sun loungers.
Sunscreen
I’m particular about what I use so I take it with me. Evy Suncare is my go-to product when it’s hot. It’s brilliant because it comes out as a mousse, but when you rub your hands together, it turns into a light cream. It lasts much longer than other products and doesn’t need topping up for six hours, even if you swim and sweat. Perfect for the beach. You can use it on sensitive skins and it’s reef friendly.
© Glynis BarberClothes
Packing used to be my least favourite thing. I found it incredibly hard to know what I was going to feel like wearing in advance. Now, I plan ahead and get organised.
The first thing I do, is I always put a few clothes items in my hand luggage, just in case my suitcase goes missing. And let’s be honest, that happens quite frequently. If it’s a summer holiday, I’ll put in my swimsuit and flip flops. I’ll throw in some underwear and T shirts and maybe one pair of trousers. That way I’m ok for a few days.
For my main packing, I work out what outfits I’ll need for each occasion. If you’re going to a city and have occasions to go to, it’s essential to have all your outfits carefully planned. If you’re going to a place where you’ll know some people and will be socialising a lot, once again you need to plan for those dinners and get togethers.
Some beachy places can be a bit of a scene, and you need to be prepared. I’ll have at least two swimsuits with nice cover ups. If you don’t want to show too much flesh, try a see through or mesh maxi dress over the swimsuit. Add some gold earrings and you’ll look sophisticated and cool. It’s important to assess the place you’re going to and match the clothes to it.
On the other hand, some places are just super casual and all you have to do is have clothes suitable for the heat. But even when very casual, you can up your game by including key pieces. White trousers in either linen or a soft denim work well. Wide flowing trousers are a great option as they are comfortable to wear and stylish.
Dresses really come into their own in the summer and are always a cool option in the heat.
Hats are essential too, especially in the heat when you’re walking around. For the beach I always have a cap with a large peak.
© Glynis BarberThe takeaway
Planning ahead so you know what to expect, takes away nasty surprises. Having your favourite items with you makes a real difference and being prepared for sun burn, bites and lurgies, means you’re ahead of the game.
Then, all you have to do is sit back and relax and pour yourself a nice chilled glass of something. Fingers crossed.
