I only ever travel with hand luggage even on long-haul holidays – here is how I did 10 days with an £11 item

PACKING lightly is definitely a skill - and it's one I've honed over the past decade of travelling.

And there is one clever Item I swear by that means I never have to check in a bag, no matter how long the trip is.

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I've been able to travel with just hand luggage or all kinds of trips, including 10 days in Bali, a week in Columbia or even a long weekend on a cruise that required a number of fancy - and bulky - items.

And it's all thanks to the humble packing cube.

Despite many friends not understanding the wonder that they are, it is the same friends who end up bringing huge suitcases with them, costing them extra money and extra time at the conveyor belt.

There are two ways these will change the way you pack.

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Firstly, they compress everything so means you can pack a lot more than you may think.

On a recent trip, I managed to fit in 10 days of clothes, which includes five dresses, three pairs of trousers and more than 10 tops along with underwear and a choice of bikinis.

I even squeezed in three pairs of shoes and all of my toiletries thanks to the cubes.

Mine come in five sizes - the smallest being perfect for underwear and swimwear, while the largest is for trousers and dresses.

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And the second amazing reason for them is you can keep everything organised so you won't have everything spilling out.

What I tend to do is to keep a spare t-shirt and trousers as the top for the plane, but can easily get it out when I open my suitcase without everything falling out when I open it.

It also helps if you are travelling with just hand luggage, and your bag gets stopped at airport security.

I can't tell you how many times I have seen some poor traveller having their very messy suitcase rummaged through, while my security worker just unzips each cube to take a look before zipping it back up again.

I use the Away packing cubes that match my suitcase, costing £45.

However, there are very similar ones on Amazon for just £11 which you can find .

If you fancy going one further, you can try out compression packing cubes which take up even less room.

And some travellers even suggest using vacuum cubes to fit more in their suitcase.

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