Every time I am faced with the prospect of a trip away from home, I think back to my days as a child, playing with my favorite blonde Barbie.

Her man-lover Ken was always such an adventurer, encouraging Barbie to explore the backyard; on short jaunts in their two-door Corvette, or, on longer expeditions, the camper van.

Now, obviously, Barbie always looked her best for Ken at home, having access to her extensive wardrobe, and a consistent beauty regime.

But when Ken whisked her outside their three-bedroom detached into the big wide world, somehow, beyond belief, she was able to maintain her flawless appearance. All Barbie had was her little pink suitcase, big enough for just two outfit changes, a comb, her tiny pink toothbrush and toothpaste. Yes, her make up may have been painted on, but damn, she was low maintenance.

I cast my mind back to that ridiculously small suitcase, every time I open my own, big black suitcase, but I just can't do what Barbie did. (Hello. It's Barbie's world. We just play in it.)

I have these grand plans, to be organized, minimalistic, low maintenance - but every single time, I end up with enough baggage to make Lindsay Lohan look well-adjusted.

I have never once conquered the challenge of packing light.

Stop Being Crap: She who would travel happily, must travel light. And you'll never wear that pair of shoes anyway.

Instead of planning outfits, I take every piece of clothing I own. Instead of consolidating beauty products, I take every half-filled bottle. Instead of taking books I actually want to read, I take big heavy serious ones that I get bored of three pages in on the plane. I feel the need to include every pair of shoes in my wardrobe, and clothes and make up that I haven't used in months, just in case.

Ok, so here's where I learn how to pack, properly.

I'm leaving for a month long trip in a matter of days. My suitcase is standing by, empty. The question is; which of my lucky belongings get to come along?

Just to set the scene, this is a trip which will include working and living in the city, I'm not visiting the Amazon. Swiss Army knife? No. Nail polish remover, yes. Oh, and one more thing; I'm going to be in London. And it's freaking cold.

#Planbetter

One of my main issues is that I'm always overdressed in my routine life, and I have high hopes of maintaining those standards when travelling. Except when I do hit the road, I can't find the strength to dig about in the random items tossed into my suitcase, and end up wearing jeans and a t-shirt with lip gloss, simple stud earrings and friggin' flats.

I really would like to hold on to my style on the move. Clever packing is key. And, perhaps, a bit of forward planning.

Maybe this time, if I have real outfits in mind, I can imagine if I'll actually wear the outfits...and get a little better at editing my travel wardrobe?

Style coach Lee Heyward suggests in this interview that you should try your outfits on before they go in the suitcase. Okie doke.

Survival of the fittest

Now you have your proposed outfits sorted, we need to decide which ones will actually make it through to the next stage. Oh, did I forget to mention they don't all get to go? Muahaha. It's like my own sad little wardrobe version of American Idol.

Apparently, you need to figure out which items from each outfit can multi-task, working in two or more ensembles so you can scrap the items they replace. It's cruel, but hey, it could work.

So, instead of taking two tank tops for two outfits, take one for both, but make sure it's the awesomest one, the one the performs the best in front of an audience and has a solid sob story for the cameras. Oh, wait...

Quick tip: Don't stop at culling single items in the outfits! If you've put something together you never actually wear IRL, hey, one day you're in, next day you're out. Auf wiedersehen.

New shoes make everything better

Once I've got the outfits sorted, I can think about the shoe situation.

I pretty much adore shoes. So, when I travel, I don't want to leave my babies at home.

But, I have a slight issue in that most of my shoes are either fabulous strappy things made for summertime, or suitable only when walking alongside a sturdy gentleman on short distances (or drunkenly dancing on tabletops until they start to hurt and I need to get down, somebodyyyy halp me get DOWN plz, and I walk home barefoot).

So I'll need to be brutal. Like I said, it's freaking cold in London. Lose a toe to frostbite kinda cold.

That means everything strappy is out.

And the cobblestones, goddammit, the cobblestones; well, they make it close to impossible to trot around in stilettos.

With those points in mind...what can I take with?

Ok, so, I have options (the leopard prints probably won't make the cut, but they so pretty..). But invariably, there'll be a event that I won't be able to cater for shoe-wise. And what do I do then? I don't want to lug an extra pair of shoes just for one day do I?

I guess I only have one option. If I do not have the sufficient type of shoe for a particular kind of situation, I have no choice. A purchase must be made. How very, very terrible.

Quick tip: I can keep my shoes in shape when I jam them into my suitcase by stuffing balled up socks inside them. Then, roast for three hours in a pre-heated oven. Delicious.