How do I pack for a week away with a family?

Family packing goes wrong in two specific ways: everything for one person in one bag, so a delayed case leaves someone with nothing; and packing per person from scratch, so four sets of sun cream, four hairdryers and four first aid kits go in. Fixing both is mostly a matter of deciding what goes in which bag before anyone starts folding.

What you'll need

• One case per two people, or per adult
• Packing cubes, one colour per person (optional)
• Luggage scales or bathroom scales

Step by step

1. Make one shared list before anyone packs.Sun cream, first aid, medicines, chargers, adaptors, washing liquid, a small kit for repairs, beach or wet-weather kit. These are household items, packed once, not once per person.
2. Count outfits per person, not garments.Work out what each person actually wears each day and pack that plus a margin. Children need more of everything, particularly under-fives, and adults consistently need less than they pack.
3. Plan a mid-week wash for anything over four or five days.One machine load, or a sink wash and an overnight dry, removes several days of clothing per person. On a family trip that is a whole case.
4. Split each person across two bags.Half of everyone's clothes in one case, half in another. A delayed bag then leaves everybody short rather than leaving one person with nothing at all — which is far easier to manage.
5. Use one colour of packing cube per person.It makes the split workable. At the destination you unpack cubes into drawers instead of unpacking cases, and repacking on the last morning takes minutes.
6. Put heavy items at the wheel end of each case.Shoes, toiletries, books. The case stands on its wheels, so weight near them keeps it stable instead of top-heavy and constantly falling over — which matters more when you are also managing children.
7. Pack one accessible day bag for the journey itself.Snacks, drinks, wipes, spare clothes for the youngest and for whoever is holding them, entertainment, medication and documents. Not in the hold, not in the boot.
8. Keep the irreplaceable things in the cabin bags.Medication, documents, glasses, chargers, the comfort toy. Spread across the adults rather than all with one person.
9. Weigh every bag before leaving.Per bag, because that is how the limit works. Rebalance rather than paying — moving two kilos between two cases is free.
10. Photograph the packed cases and their contents.Thirty seconds, and it is the best evidence there is for a delayed or lost baggage claim.
11. Leave ten to fifteen per cent of the space empty.Things bought, wet swimwear, sand. Bags always come back fuller and heavier than they went.

Tips

• Let older children pack their own small bag from your list. They carry it, they know what is in it, and it removes an argument.
• Take an empty folded bag. It costs nothing and solves the return journey when the cases will not close.
• For self-catering, check what the property already provides — cots, high chairs, washing machine, hairdryer, beach towels. It routinely saves a whole case.

Common mistakes

• One bag per person — A single delayed bag leaves one person with nothing at all. Splitting each person across two bags makes that a shared inconvenience instead.
• Packing four of every shared item — Sun cream, first aid, chargers and toiletries are household items. Packing them per person is where most of the excess weight comes from.
• Not planning a wash — One mid-week load takes an hour and removes several days of clothing per person from the bags.

Questions people ask