The typeface on the front of Biocol Labs Something For The
Knackered may as well read: “You look like death and at this stage
in the game your eyes are closing in protest, not tiredness.” Flip
the box over for words filled with a smidge more compassion: “Our
lives can be pretty hectic nowadays, the last thing we want is to
burn out.” Trust us when we say these plant-based remedies – we’re
calling them viles of vitality – will bring you back from the
brink. Containing magnesium, which helps with the reduction of
tiredness and fatigue, as well as ginseng (also good), the ampoules
are to be taken in the morning for five days. Drink pure, diluted
in water, with a glass of OJ or stir into porridge. In cases of
extreme tiredness, we recommend two packs, a good rest and perhaps
a full review of your lifestyle choices.

A German health shoe does rarely a fashionable footwear choice
make. Yet against the slimmest of odds, Birkenstock circumvented
fashion’s strict “no comfort, no practicalities” manifesto long
before normcore, athleisure and ugly shoes du jour took hold. While
dad trainers are dandy for a jaunt through terminal two, the
slip-on, slip-off appeal of a pair of Birkenstocks at airport
security is insurmountable. Built for comfort (all hail the cork
footbed), Birks are as versatile as they are iconic, can be dressed
up or down, and seem as appropriate to wear running errands in the
city as they are for heading to the beach. These suede,
two-strappers are helping us bring our holiday packing shoe count
way down – and that is a major achievement.

The instantly recognisable Gypsy Water will turn heads as you
pass through the Duty Free beauty counters and dismiss the doe-eyed
spritzers in your wake, smug in the knowledge that you’ve already
found “your” fragrance and no idle time spent in an airport can
assuage you: you’re a Byredo loyalist. For travellers who are more
about the journey than the destination, buying into Byredo founder
Ben Gorham’s take on fragrance as “something which is more about
the story than the scent” will feel pretty organic. Drawing
inspiration from his exotic travels, Gorham’s fragrances are
seducing and transporting. Gypsy Water – an evocative scent
inspired by the colourful romance of Romany life – is a story that
opens with a vibrant burst of bergamot, lemon, pepper and juniper
berries followed by a radiant heart of incense layered over green
pine needles and orris. There’s a whiff of our summer 2014
escapades with a young, rugged
Tuscan named Lorenzo to this eau de parfum. What’s more, at a
compact 50ml, the bottle fits neatly in our carry on

A good book is as important as a good travel partner; some would
say there is no greater travel companion than a literary one. We’ve
outgrown and outsmarted, lazy “holiday read” marketing and instead
are using our travel time to get on top of our reading lists.

Dublin-based writer, Sally Rooney’s highly anticipated second
novel – long-listed for the Man Booker Prize – has been deservedly
top of many people’s lists for a few months now. A girl-meets-boy
narrative interrogating the difficulties of sincere communication
in a complicated, post-ironic world, Normal People is a story about
how a person can change another person’s life. Sally’s debut novel,
Conversations with Friends, was the most popular debut in the 2017
end-of-year round-ups and with rumours for a BBC spin-off directed
by Lenny Abrahamson gaining traction, it’s nice to be able to say
you’ve read the book before everyone’s harping on about its TV
transplant.

While we like to masquerade as perennially chic travellers, our
post-boarding plane routine often ends up revolving around reruns
of Friends, endless snacks and magazines we wouldn’t be caught dead
reading on home turf. When we’ve tired of this, the next
entertainment is usually trying to manipulate one of those grotty
paper pillows into a comfortable shape – until it dawned on us that
your handbag can double up as a cushion, that is. Well, not all
handbags, but this practical beauty from Maison Margiela has
changed our in-flight conduct to simply nuzzling a squishy,
cloud-like bag, desperately trying not to drool on the ovine
leather.

We’ve had a spare swimsuit in our carry on since time immemorial
– or at least as long as one-piece costumes have been back in
fashion. While some more sceptical passengers might consider
packing a “spare” swimsuit as begging for apoplectically bad
weather, we think it’s important to be prepared for all
eventualities. This Heidi Klein one-piece has a nautical vibe,
perfect for days spent port side – or an unlikely water landing.
Like we said, pack for all eventualities.