As we prepare to turn on our out-of-office notifications, it’s an agreed-upon fact that we all love to get away on holiday. But often the run-up to a holiday is enough in itself to make us need to get away…
- Holiday shopping
- Making sure we’ve got all the right paperwork and documents if we’re travelling abroad
- And for the forgetful ones among us digging out the passports from their elusive hiding places
But one pre-holiday chore that is universally stress-inducing is the dreaded packing ritual.
Trying to stuff two weeks worth of clothes, shoes, toiletries and accessories into every crevice of your suitcase is not the most relaxing of tasks.
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The Solution?
We would all love to know how to maximise the space in our suitcase so that we can fit that extra pair of wedges in without having to bounce on the top of our luggage to try and get the zip to close.
Travel expert Lois Robertson shared a lesser-known hack with us, and we were shocked at the slightly strange revelation. Lois revealed to us that if you pack your suitcase the day before you go away you will actually have more room.
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Here’s how it works
According to Lois, our clothes contain a number of chemical elements so when we pack up our garments in a suitcase, those elements take up space.
“Studies have shown that your clothes are filled with eight per cent or more of Oxygen, Nitrogen, Argon and Carbon Dioxide,” says Lois.
However, if you pack up your clothes the day before you go away, or even earlier if you’re organised enough, you’ll actually make more room to add in extra bits later.
This is because if you leave the clothes in the case for a bit, it gives time for the build-up of chemicals to settle, which creates more room.
“If you pack and leave your clothes to ‘settle’ overnight the mixture of gravity and compression will push this out and leave you with a little more wiggle room,’ added Lois.
Obviously you won’t be left with half a suitcase’s worth of space Mary Poppins style, but you will be able to create a little bit of extra space to fit in those awkward extras that always leave the suitcase zip just that bit strained.
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By Features Writer, Andrea Cresswell
