Airplanes have holds, conveyor belts carry luggage, suitcases have wheels, cars have boots, most humans have hands – and soon we’ll have robots. So, why would you choose to travel light for a vacation? I accept that a quick overnighter for a meeting or a short weekend makes hand luggage feasible, but otherwise you’re volunteering for a week or two of denial.

A vacation on which you don’t have all the clothes you need, or the lotions and potions you use, the books, chargers and other devices you rely on for the rest of the year, is one of disappointment and regret. I never admire anyone who boasts about how they make two pairs of trousers, three T-shirts, one pair of espadrilles and two pairs of underpants last a fortnight. Ew. The trousers are crumpled, the T-shirts stained and I don’t want to lie by a pool with a view of someone’s hand-washed Y-fronts fluttering in the Mediterranean breeze.

One of the joys of a vacation is waking up each morning, admiring the view, then opening your wardrobe and choosing what to wear from all the things you’ve brought with you. All the items you rarely get to wear at weather-poor, work-filled home, to experiment with some colour and print without being judged by neighbours or colleagues and to change for lunch and then again for dinner. It’s a treat to take one of those LED face masks you were given for Christmas but hadn’t had the time or privacy to try. And to flick through the half dozen novels you brought before deciding which one to begin. (I don’t want sand and suncream on my Kindle.)

I watch with pity as people push past me with their tiny overnighter thinking they’ll be at the front of the taxi queue. They won’t. With the hours it takes to get through customs at EU airports this summer, your checked-in suitcase with have been circling on the baggage carousel for hours before you get your passport stamped. I feel a tad smug in my plane seat as I watch all those with hand luggage bustle furiously up and down the aisle looking for room in an overhead locker. Not worth the hassle.

I’ll admit I did waver on a recent long weekend in Florence when British Airways didn’t load any of our luggage into the hold. It didn’t arrive until the morning we were due to fly back again. I wore the same outfit for two and a half days until I relented and bought some underwear in the local Lidl and found a top and a pair of trousers from an Italian chain store called Pam. Its slogan was “Pam loves people but hates labels”. Looking at some of the clothes on offer, I wasn’t convinced that Pam did love people.

A vacation is one of the few times you get to admire and play with all your possessions. And to show them off at leisure in the right light. So, take as many of them with you as you can. If I could travel like a pharaoh, or pack a pyramid, I would.

Next time you’re at the airport, keep an eye out for them. The over packers. Sweaty, stumbling zombies steering multiple suitcases towards the check-in counter, crouching on the floor cramming shoes into their carry-ons to avoid being charged for their overweight luggage. Do they look like they’re having fun?

Excess baggage is emotional baggage. Twenty years as a travel journalist has taught me that taking too much on holiday is a shortcut to sartorial stress. I don’t want to waste time trying on multiple outfits before dinner when I could be having a cocktail instead. There’s something liberating about leaving clutter behind – in our oversaturated lives, freedom from choice can feel more significant than freedom of choice. And for me, travelling light is philosophical as well as practical; I’m there to see the view, not stare into a mirror.

This doesn’t require adopting a completely ascetic aesthetic, just a bit of preparation. Plan and pack outfits, not individual pieces. And never ever bring something brand new. Finding your box-fresh shoes rub turns a day of sightseeing into a bloodbath.

Think about climate – go for natural, breathable fabrics such as cotton or linen in the heat – and pick elements you can mix and match. Classic shapes and neutral shades are your friend. Think Stanley Tucci rather than Sam Smith.

Ditching checked bags altogether is becoming simpler with next-gen security scanners. At Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham and Edinburgh, there’s no more messing around with 100ml limits and plastic bags – you can bring anything up to two litres and leave it all in your case. Hop to Rome or Milan for the weekend and the rules are the same on the way back, too.

Wherever you’re going, never fly with your case completely full. Who wants to sulk around a souk, unable to pick up even the smallest of souvenirs? Leaving space in your case is the detox before the retox – how else are you going to get all your holiday shopping home?