Charming Friends,

Later this year each of the Darlings will be taking a holiday - separate from each other (although we're always together in spirit) but with our dear husbands and other friends. Darla and the Admiral are heading for the distant cities of Las Vegas and San Francisco, and Blossom and the Captain are going to be a bit closer to home in lovely Tasmania.

We adore travelling, especially with good friends, and we eagerly await the pleasure of sharing our travellers' tales with each other and comparing notes afterwards. Travel is an opportunity to learn new things and meet new people and experience the world's pleasures. It is also an opportunity to Travel Darling, as all of us travel as ambassadors for our homes, and have the opportunity to exchange lessons in charm and good style wherever we go.

Travelling Darling can be challenging in that it requires preparation, but it can also be extremely fulfilling. Tolerance and good manners make every travel experience much easier, and presenting oneself with style and deportment is a compliment to one's hosts whether this be on a plane, in an airport, in a taxi, on a boat or strolling through the supermarket.

It is, of course, usual in our day and age to present a very casual image on holiday. Polar fleece and Crocs abound, the planes are full of people wearing tracksuits, shorts, unwashed t-shirts and torn jeans. However, the experience of the Darlings is that any person who takes extra care with their appearance, puts in a big effort to be polite, respectful and charming, and learns in advance how to behave appropriately, will always have an enhanced travel experience as other people, charmed by their efforts, go that extra little distance to smoothing the way for them.

On this occasion, we have decided to set ourselves a Darling Challenge! On each of our holidays we will be road-testing our very own Darling Packing Systems, and taking plenty of photos and making plenty of notes, so that we can share the art of Travelling Darling in future Salons. The systems, of course, will be based around several important requirements:

• Light luggage - it is unhealthy and unpleasant to be hefting gargantuan weights around everywhere
• Airline-friendly - to meet very necessary security requirements, and to minimise extra airline charges
• Chic-cred - the system must meet Darla's stringent style and deportment requirements
• Cultural correctness - the system must satisfy Blossom's rules for cultural appropriateness
• Functionality - all possible necessities must be taken into account
• Caring - for yourself and for others
• Shopping-friendly - room for all the gifts you will purchase for your friends and family!

It is clear that Darla and Blossom will both be encountering quite different challenges and situations. Darla will be dealing with international flights, different cultures, two big cities, two different climates and activities ranging from casual sightseeing in highly urbanised environments to glamglamglam cocktails and casinos. Blososm, on the other hand, will be doing domestic travel with mainly self-contained accommodation, the climate could include everything from heat to snow, and her activities will range from bushwalking in rugged conditions to fine dining in lovely restaurants.

One thing we will both have in common is limited luggage space. Anybody who has recently travelled internationally will know that large amounts of luggage equals large amounts of cost and hassle, especially in the airports. Blossom, on the other hand, will be limited by sharing a very small car boot between four adults.

We always make a point to road-test things that we recommend in Salons quite carefully, so we look forward to being able to apply our experiences to future Salons, and we will do our best to report on the little details of what works and what doesn't!

Blossom has in fact just returned from a week's conference in beautiful Brisbane, during which she gave her own carefully considered packing system its first road test. In fact she got more than she bargained for ... but you will have to read the next blog to find out more.

Yours charmingly,
Darla and Blossom Darling