Take it from someone who first went out with a suitcase and a large handbag – trust me, it’s not the one when the Lisbon cobbles cause you to lose a wheel. If you are travelling during the summer months you are in luck as obviously summer clothes do not take up nearly as much room as in the other seasons. For my travels in April/May I needed a selection of jumpers and a couple of jackets where as fast forward to June onwards one denim jacket will suffice and in all fairness I only wore this at the airport in London.

I will state this and probably repeat this on a later post you never need as many clothes as you think you do. It is also important to take into account the types of places you will be visiting as to what you will actually end up wearing. I found that Europeans were generally more casual than what I was used to in London where no one turns a blind eye if you wear a corset out for dinner (I used to work for a luxury lingerie brand so this was normal attire for my colleagues and I). In Lisbon for example even in the night-clubs the average girl wears zero make-up and stays in their uniform of jeans and sneakers from the daytime. I will include in my tips for each destination examples of the type of clothing to wear.

On my third trip out I finally found the perfect bag for me-third time lucky and all that. I fully recommend the Bauhaus Wilderness Rucksack which carries 65 +15 litres and I managed to fit 19kg inside and travel comfortably due to the curved strap for the waist which is designed specifically to fit woman (they do a mens version too). It is not cheap at £145 but is super durable. The best thing about it is that it has a lot of different compartments and you can open the main compartment from the top and the bottom which saves a lot of time when looking for something specific and gives you the satisfaction of being organised. I love the pink detailing too which I have highlighted with a strawberry leather charm attached to the front (a gift from one of my fabulous friends)! Just because it is a bag suitable for trekking doesn’t mean that it can’t be fun! 😉