Packing Your Case: Pack Light, Pack Tight, Pack Carefully

Here are three areas of expertise when it comes to packing to travel: frequent travelers, airline cabin staff, butlers and valets. Strangely, all seem to come up with the same advice: fold it carefully, pad it well, pack it tight.

The definitive authority on packing is Stanley Ager, who was butler to the second and third Lords St Levan. He would pack a suitcase for their lordships for a sea voyage to East Africa. If, on arrival, the clothes were not instantly ready to wear, he felt he had failed. These are heights to which few of us can aspire, but it is something to aim for.

Rules for packing a suitcase for overseas travel