The ability to store the impossible in a suitcase is a skill that I nurture since I was a girl. I have always traveled a lot with my family and growing up I kept this habit, for business or pleasure, without compromising on quality and quantity of my clothes.
I don't like to wear the same dress twice and therefore I arrange to build versatile combinations to be always different.
At the end, as for everything in life, you just have to understand your nature, adapting it to the external requirements.
Darwin was saying: it is not the strongest or the most intelligent of the species that survives but the most adaptable. I think that this rule also applies to my trolley that has adapted to have a softer size of the original ... And this is definitely a matter of survival!
There have been many changes in traveling habits, due to the introduction of new safety rules and the entry of new modes of traveling - low cost airlines, fast trains, lower use of cars, just to name a few. The gradually stricter regulations have framed me in a routine that does not prevent me from being always dressed according to my style.
If my suitcases could talk ... every nook and cranny is used without space savings! And last but not least the fact that I often travel, having and having 'only' two arms is form instance another important element to consider in preparing travel bags.
Here it is, briefly, my suitcases preparation rules, applied on the occasion of my last trip which included a very rich and varied program, with very special occasions and different transfers.
Before leaving it is always important for me to have the plan of the activities, lunches, dinners, trips, meetings, formal occasions and leisure entertainment, as it happened in this recent trip, full with lunches and elegant dinners.
Fundamental is then to know whether I'll walk a lot or I'll stay indoors, with an idea of the weather forecast.
I also keep a margin of flexibility for unforeseen occasions and weather conditions that may change - which means to always have a cardigan and a spare trousers.
Even in this recent travel occasion which included train rides, helicopter trips, gala dinners and outdoor dining, I built up the suitcase with a consistency of colors among all the accessories - never carry a too strong color accessory which runs the risk of not being able to combine with some outfits.
I also pack two or three interchangeable small evening bags which can also be used in the daytime. Now is very much in the trend, but I've always done. This also applies to footwear, for which I certainly plan more formal pumps to go along with various outfits and bags, a more daily pair, usually a lightweight boot still versatile with pants and dresses, and low heels that I also use for traveling.
I always have two pairs of denim in different shades, a more elegant black evening and also a blue or gray more daily.
At least three or four shirts, silk t-shirts and tops. Three or even four scarves in colors to match with different outfits. I must say that once you change the accessories the end result can still look different.
And then I use a comfortable lightweight travel clothing rack that I can hang on my trolley by folding it in two, in which I hang a couple of dresses - always useful for example for breakfast or for a cocktail - a pair of elegant silk trousers and a jacket for more formal occasions.
The luggage is not finished yet, for everything concerning my beauty routine secrets to take in my suitcase, I push you off to my next article!
Shooting in the hotels of the Living Circle group - Luxury Hotels fed by Nature
Zurich, Hotel Storchen
Ascona, Il Castello del Sole
Locarno, Il Rustico del Sole
Dishes made by the Chef Mattias Roock, at the Castello del Sole