I was challenged by the lovely team at Debenhams to travel light using a cabin sized suitcase to pack all my holiday must haves with a £250 budget for my upcoming holiday to Sardinia. Fancy seeing what made the cut? Things may have got brutal, which in my experience is always the best way when travelling light.


The suitcase holding all my goodies is the Star Lite 4 Wheel* which meets my high luggage standards (yes that's an actual thing) with it's robust, sleek exterior and did you see how it's got four wheels? That's the travel dream right there. The contents however are far more important...


Packing for a jaunt is often seen as a travel peeve but funnily enough I rather enjoy it. Before I pop anything into my case I lay out outfits, think where they'd work (sightseeing, on the beach, a romantic evening out) and whether things can mix and match. When travelling light there's really no point in taking a dress you'll wear once. Oh and I make a fair few lists too, nobody wants to forget their faves.

A bikini is a holiday essential but something I struggled to find at this time of the year, who'd of thought it? I managed to pick this one up from the Topshop concession and chose a stripey bandeau top with white bottoms so I can mismatch with other bikini sets until my heart's content. Next up are three simple cami tops in cream, grey and mint (again from Topshop). I'm a nightmare when it comes to packing plain garms but these will be great teamed with patterned bottom halves, both day and night. An absolute steal in my suitcase are a pair of rose gold sandals by Faith which had been reduced from £39 to £11.70. I adore rose gold, and metallics in general as they bring a little somethin' somethin' to an outfit.


Excuse the creases in my cami but I just had to show you a close up of this vintage inspired daisy print maxi skirt which I've rolled up in my case, an easy way to save space and prevent creases in case you didn't know. This looks way more expensive than it's £20 price tag and would work just as well for exploring Sardinia as it would for drinks by the beach.

The two final pieces on this side are a pair of multi coloured patterned shorts which are incredibly lightweight and can be thrown together with a bikini and sandals for a day at the beach and possibly my favourite piece, a loose smock style dress with white embroidery. Isn't she a beaut? This will be just dreamy with a Sardinian back drop, can you tell I'm excited to wear this one? 


Things have been all kinds of cas so far, until now. I'd been eyeing this Three Floor inspired dress from Oasis for an age so when I spotted this in the sale in Debenhams I was ecstatic. Reduced from £75 to £22 it really was my lucky day. I can envisage this on a evening meal for two, sunset in the background, red wine in hand plus wouldn't it be lovely worn to a wedding?


Keeping on the theme of dresses my final pick is from Warehouse which you can just see a peek of below, on the right. You may have already seen me wearing this number here, ain't nobody got time for saving clothes just for their holiday. I love how light and airy this dress is along with the ditsy print and midi cut, clearly I'm digging a longer hem line right now. 

 Now things just need to stay exactly like this for four weeks until we jet off. Wish me luck?


What are your must packs when you're travelling light? How do you cope with an on-flight suitcase?

I'd love to know how you get on and hear your packing tips so tweet me and Debenhams with the hash tag #travellight.
*Suitcase and contents c/o Debenhams