The short answer: documents, phone, charger and medication go in the bag you carry, never the hold.
Pack for three days and wash the rest. Nobody in Faro has ever judged a repeated t-shirt.
Check the airline’s size and weight on their own site before you leave the house. They differ, and they do check.
Keep these within reach
Passport, boarding pass, phone, charger, any tablets you take every day and a pen. The pen is for the landing card, and somebody always asks to borrow it. Don’t be the person who asks.
The clothes
Pick one colour family and everything goes with everything. Two tops per three days, one jumper, one light jacket. The fourth jumper is fear, not planning. You are going somewhere warm, and if it turns out not to be, the shops there sell jumpers too.
Shoes
Wear the heaviest pair on the plane. The second pair is for the evenings. A third pair is a hobby.
The bits people forget
- A small bag for dirty clothes, so the clean ones stay clean.
- A phone cable long enough to reach the bed, because the socket is never where you need it.
- A hat. The sun is stronger than you remember.
- Your medication in its original packaging, in the bag you carry.
- A photo of your passport on your phone, just in case.
Liquids
The rules vary by airport and they change from time to time, so check the current one on your airport’s page before you pack. Start with our airport guides.
Seven things nobody tells you
- Whatever you buy at the airport has to fit too. Leave a bit of room.
- The bag that looks fine at home looks enormous in the sizer. Weigh it the night before.
- Wear the jacket with the big pockets on the plane. It is a free bag.
- Roll your clothes. It does not make them smaller, but it makes you feel organised.
- Pack the charger last and take it out first. It is the one thing you will need in the first hour.
- Leave space for the thing you will definitely buy and definitely not need.
- Nobody on holiday has ever wished for more luggage on the way home.
If you can’t carry it up the stairs yourself, you’ve packed too much.
General advice, not tied to any one airline. Always check your airline’s current baggage rules before you travel.
