Packing experts share their top tips for holidays such as packing corners first

WOMEN take longer to pack than men, whether it’s for a work trip or a two-week holiday.

A study of 2,000 adults found females spend 31 minutes packing their case for a weekend break while men take just 23 minutes.

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For a business trip, women spend 34 minutes organising their clothes compared to men who take 28 minutes, while a single night away sees females packing for 25 minutes and men for just 19 minutes.

Similarly, a fortnight away sees women spend nearly an hour packing at 51 minutes while men take 10 minutes less, a total of 41 minutes.

But two-thirds of people said that what they wear has changed since the start of the pandemic, with 46 per cent believing workwear is now more casual.

As a result, the research by Premier Inn found a third find it stressful trying to work out if they have enough outfits when packing, while 46 per cent try to take versatile items.

And 33 per cent choose things which can be dressed up or down.

It also emerged more than a third of women tend to pack a few days in advance of a trip, while 41 per cent of men leave it until the day before they go away.

Following the findings, organisation gurus the Style Sisters have teamed up with Premier Inn to reveal their top 25 packing tips.

These include writing a list, checking ahead to see what essentials hotels already have and packing delicate items in your shoes.

The handy ‘how-to’ style video features Charlotte Lilly and Charlotte Reddington offering advice on how to pack efficiently.

The Style Sisters said: “It’s always useful to plan ahead when travelling for work or leisure to check what hotels provide – this can avoid you having to squeeze in the likes of toiletries or hairdryers.

“We typically pack in order of shoes, clothes and then toiletries and also advise putting water-resistant materials around the edge of a case, such as a waterproof coat, to protect against any spillages.

“You’ll never regret writing a list and packing in advance, we’d prep a week before for a two-week holiday.

“When it comes to travelling for business, there has definitely been a shift in work attire and we’re typically more casual now, it’s ideal to buy key staple pieces to dress up or down.”

They also suggest packing cases from the corners inwards, starting with shoes and finishing with toiletries, and putting outfits together to make unpacking easier.

The girls swear by the ‘fold and roll’ method and revealed their key items to pack for a business trip are a laptop, pyjamas, sleep mask, toothbrush and clothes.

The research also found the most popular way to pack clothes is to fold them (59 per cent), while 22 per cent swear by rolling and 10 per cent simply lay items flat.

But despite the varying approaches to packing, 47 per cent typically arrive somewhere with creased clothes.

The trickiest items to pack were found to be jackets and coats (29 per cent), boots (25 per cent) and trainers (20 per cent).

It also emerged more than a quarter find packing a ‘chore’ and 43 per cent get frustrated if they can’t fit everything into a case.

While more than a third of men have let their partner pack for them, compared to just one in five women.

Of those polled via OnePoll, 27 per cent also travel for work, with 43 per cent of them packing the same clothes for work and leisure.

Premier Inn’s spokesperson said: “Bleisure style travel is on the rise – mixing business and leisure – and it’s great to see how the packing hacks make it easier to be prepared for both.

“Workwear has become more casual in the past couple of years with one in five people dressing differently now, mainly down to the pandemic and working from home.

“Less formal looks are now acceptable for work, which can be easily transformed to leisure outfits.

“We understand how tricky it can be working out what to pack, but hopefully this switch in trends makes it easier to choose key items to suit both work and ‘life’.”

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