Pack Less. Live More.

The suitcase is the last frontier of over-consumption. Here, professional organiser Anna Gladh shares how to pack for the summer season with intention, and what to leave behind.

Words by Anna Gladh
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There is a certain kind of freedom that comes from a well-packed bag. Not the kind that skips the second pair of shoes just in case, or the one that folds in the dress bought specifically for the trip. The kind that has thought it through, chosen carefully, and left everything else at home.

As a professional organiser, Anna Gladh spends her working life helping people create calm at home. Packing, she says, is simply the same logic applied to a smaller space.

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1.
Build a capsule, not a wardrobe.

The most common mistake is packing too much. Instead of thinking outfit by outfit, Gladh recommends building a small holiday capsule, where everything works with everything else. Choose a palette you feel comfortable in, beige and white and denim, or navy and sand, or black with cognac, and let that be your edit. Two or three bottoms, four or five tops, one dress, a thin knit. Shoes that are already broken in. The rest is accessories.

A scarf, a pair of earrings, a good pair of sunglasses. These are the things that change a look without adding weight.

2.
On shoes: only the ones you trust.

A holiday is not the place to break in something new. Take only shoes you already know, ones that have walked cobblestones and long evenings and still felt fine. Blisters are not a minor inconvenience when you are trying to explore a city at your own pace. Two or three pairs, maximum. One for walking, one for evenings, one for the beach if relevant.

3.
The small things that matter.

Travel-size everything. Decant your products into small bottles before you leave, it takes ten minutes and transforms how organised the bathroom shelf feels when you arrive. Pack cubes help too, one for underwear, one for beachwear, one for anything you might want to wash and re-wear. Having a dedicated laundry bag means you always know what is clean.

For skincare, pare it back. SPF, a serum, a good moisturiser, lip balm with protection. The skin tends to do better on holiday anyway. Let it.

4.
The things that are actually worth the space

The favourite lipstick. A candle, small enough to fit in a palm, that makes a hotel room smell like somewhere you chose to be. A book. A deck of cards. These are not frivolous additions. They are the things that make evenings feel like evenings.