Must haves on holiday

No food or drink. High factor suncream and dry shampoo, which isn’t on sale in some places, and paracetemol, since it cost a fiver to get rid of my headache in Italy. Chargers. Bath plug. Plastic beaker in case I need to wash my hair over the basin (the one with no plug).

And shorts....

Currently in a gite in France so as we drive usually bring tea bags, porridge, and any other bits we already have in the fridge at home which can travel.
Thing I wish I had brought was long trousers, a warm jacket a jumper and kagoule as it has rained every day and I am frozen in my shorts tee shirts and dresses which I havnt even been able to wear, it’s hard knowing weather has been so much better where we live in the uk. Am currently in tee shirt, cardi, fleece and husbands socks. It will rain again tomorrow but Tuesday should be ok. We drive back Wednesday.

Have just had a holiday in a hotel in Ibiza. I tool Sainsbury's Red Label tea bags as the ones supplied in the room and the dining room are not to my liking (been before) and cereal bars in case I get hungry on trips out.

I had to buy a large mug in the supermarket across the park when on an hotel break this summer , the wee cups were no good to me in the morning , but there were plenty of nice tea bags and coffee sachets with the kettle in the room

Some years ago an aunt and uncle of my ex went to Spain for the first time. They packed a portable TV in their luggage- about the size of a large portable radio. They were very disappointed when they couldn’t get their favourite soaps on the Costa Brava. One of my aunts had two very fussy boys. They travelled by train to Normandy. At gare du Nord they had to rush to get their connecting train. One of the suitcases burst open, and my aunt, uncle and the two boys had to scramble to collect all the tins of beans and spaghetti hoops that went rollingall over the platform, to the bemusement of French travellers.

This year we are self catering in this country and are taking the coffee pod machine ( with Costa Americano coffee pods for DH ) will probably save a fortune as he won’t have to go to onsite cafe for a decent coffee.

When we went with our small choir and shared a SC house in France, the first thing that we had to dash out and buy was loo roll. We found a stock of the stuff in a hidden cupboard when we were tidying up on the day we left!

If going to a European hotel, tend to take my travel kettle and small cafetière, also ground coffee and teabags and biscuits, as they often don't have any 'drinks' facilities in the rooms. If self catering, take my cafetière - just in case there isn't one in the property, though there usually is nowadays. In the 80's and 90's, when we went on self catering holidays with three children, we did take some food with us. We certainly couldn't afford to eat out all the time. We also didn't want to go shopping the minute we arrived. Having said that, we always enjoyed shopping locally in other countries. Once, when staying in a suburb in Prague. We joined a queue outside a small self service shop ( as in not a supermarket). We thought we were waiting for them to open after a lunch break, but it turned out that there was a limited number of baskets, so shoppers only went in if there was a basket available just inside the door! It was probably a good idea, as space between the aisles was limited - as was the stock! That would have been about 1993.

One thing I'll soon be taking on a SC UK break is loo roll - having once arrived at a holiday let with 2 loos and not a sheet to be had! And I was bursting - dh had to be instantly dispatched on an errand of mercy to the Coop, which luckily wasn't far away.

I do invariably take preferred teabags/coffee/milk, to any SC place in the U.K., since putting the kettle on will be first priority on arrival - unless it's the loo, of course. If it's anything like a long drive I will have put a plastic bottle of milk (a little emptied out) in the freezer the night before - also serves as a handy ice pack for anything else,perishable.

Marmite!

Oh great, thanks PECS! Nothing I like more than standing in the kitchen, doing a full roast dinner and casserole and baking bread and cakes in 30 degrees heat and I don't get to eat any of it!

If driving, a large roll of kitchen paper has a multitude of uses. Tissues are indispensable too.

Chewbacca I'll send you the dates of my holiday in Newquay, it's coming up soon!

We once went on a flotilla holiday in Greece and one of the other couples brought their own potatoes and tins of corned beef as they didn’t fancy eating in the tavernas

cheers lemon!

Chewy will see you right PECS

Crumbs! I only took basic groceries when going to a self catering place in UK but now tend to get an order delivered to where we are staying.

DS and family have just gone on a SC holiday. I sent them off with a roasted chicken, roast potatoes (packed in a Tupperware box), vegetables and gravy; a casserole (again in a Tupperware box) and a home made cake and a home made loaf of bread! I thought it would be a help that they'd have a couple of meals ready to ding ding and they'd spend less time in a supermarket and more time enjoying their holiday. maybe they're cursing me!

morethan my mattress topper goes everywhere with me.
Also Earl Grey teabags.

My mil always packed her rolling pin when going to Butlins.

Think you are wrong there HillyN there are lots of plain biscuits available in French supermarkets even in rural areas and most stock McVities digestives now.

Teabags - peppermint and green tea.

Always take our favourite tea bags to France and a couple of packets of digestive biscuits, as you can't get a decent plain dipping biscuit there.

Wet toilet paper, just in case, especially if travelling to places where sanitation may be different or difficult. Am tempted to put in a jar of Marmite, when you yearn for a salty savoury taste. It really depends where you are travelling to.