Muscles not required! Travel light - and leave quickly.

Mr PetMan finds it cute that I like to unpack the minute I arrive at our destination.

As I travel with hand luggage only, and because I take few clothes with me, it’s easy to unpack everything. I enjoy ordering my clothes in the wardrobe: things that can stay folded go on the shelves; things that benefit from being hung go on the hangers. My shoes sit at the bottom of the wardrobe where usually my suitcase fits as well. I'm not a madly tidy person, but I feel at home in the hotel or wherever we’re staying if I know where all my clothes are packed.

I don't like to live out of my suitcase, which is why I pack my things in the wardrobe. Once they're there, it's easy to find and match the items exactly as I intended when I was planning my travel wardrobe. And because Mr PetMan is an action man - I have to be ready to jump out of a plane or get into a boat at a moment's notice!

As I travel with so little, it takes five minutes in the morning to repack my suitcase. Even if I only stay in the same place for one night, I feel comfortable. No need to trip over a suitcase on the floor.

How I pack my toiletries

I pack my cosmetics in a rectangular toiletries bag that has a little handle at the top - kind of like a suitcase itself. My niece gave me this bag as a gift a few years ago and I recommend the shape and size. Carrying the bag by its handle means that it’s easy to lift straight out of my suitcase and into the bathroom where there is usually enough space to leave the bag for the duration of my stay - on a shelf, or behind the bath, or perhaps on top of the toilet cistern (if appropriate).

I unzip and pack my toiletries, if space permits, ranging the bottles and items on the bathroom shelf, but if space doesn’t permit, leaving my toiletries in their case is fine. As with my clothes, it's easy for me to re-pack my toiletries quickly and efficiently. Ok, Mr PetMan! What's that you say? We're going microlight flying? I'll be there in a minute.