Three quarters (75%) of Britons will be going on a summer holiday this year and in preparation for their annual break 52% of these holidaymakers will dedicate around seven hours packing their holiday essentials. Across the nation this adds up to a staggering 138 million man hours. However despite spending a full working day packing, British holidaymakers will collectively splash out £684 million during their holiday on an essential item they have left behind at home. These findings have been revealed in a new travel report out today.

The holiday research conducted by Travelodge surveyed 2,000 adults to investigate the nation’s packing habits. Key findings from the report revealed 82% of holidaymakers find packing for their summer break very stressful. A fifth (20%) of Britons totally rely upon their partner to pack for them and one in ten (9%) adults aged between 25 to 34 years old farms it out to their mothers.

The research also revealed a fifth (21%) of lazy Britons just throw a selection of items into their suitcase and play pot luck with their belongings on holiday whilst 61% of adults pack with military precision and will dedicate time ahead of packing in preparing a detailed schedule and an essentials check-list prior to starting the task.

Despite this excessive planning and dedication of time, over half of the nation (51%) still forgets a vital holiday essential at home and will splash out a staggering £684 million (which equates to an average spend of £26.50) on forgotten items such as swimwear, a cardigan / jumper, a new pair of shoes, a pair of sunglasses and a new outfit.

Ironically, whilst British holidaymakers’ bulging suitcases may be lacking a holiday essential more than two thirds (67%) of Britons reported they usually bring back home up to six unworn complete outfits and three pairs of shoes that were not suitable for their holiday.

Further in-depth research findings also revealed that Britons packing styles varies a lot across the country. Listed below are the top five most popular styles of packing.

Style of packing:

Rollers - Fold and roll clothes into arrange in an orderly manner within their suitcase
Wrappers - Neatly wrap each piece of clothing in tissue paper to prevent creasing
Stackers - Build a stack of clothes starting with the biggest items at the bottom and working up to the smaller items
Shrinkers - Make complete outfits and vacuum pack to utilise space and aid un-packing
Flingers - Throw everything into a bag with no order or folding involved

Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge Spokeswoman said: “Everyday around
30,500 customers check into over 500 Travelodge hotels across the country and our reception teams are inundated with requests so it’s not surprising that Britons are spending £684million on forgotten items.”

Further research findings revealed that a third of Britons will be stowing away food and beverage favourites such as teabags, brown sauce, pork pies, digestive biscuits and marmalade into their suitcase to enjoy whilst on holiday.