But one canny traveller managed to pack everything she needed for a four month trip around Europe into just her hand luggage.

Australian author Sarah Wilson, 42, who refers to herself as a 'minimalist' has lived out of two suitcases for eight years -  and packed just eight kilos worth of luggage for a hiking trip around London, Scotland, Cornwall, Crete, Paris, Slovenia and Slovakia, as well as LA and New York.

In a blog post on her website, the 'I Quit Sugar' author revealed how she managed to survive with such a minimal amount of belongings.

To minimise her packing, Sarah wore the same clothes every day and was not afraid to wear out her clothes until they could no longer be worn.

"I honestly don't think people notice or care. I have a signature look, is how I see it," she said.

"I wear things out. My good white shirt became my hiking shirt by month three."

"I hand washed smalls in the shower at night. So only carried two pairs of undies for the trip," she said.
"I live in silk and light woollen and synthetic things; they scrunch up tight and weigh little.
"I wear sneakers with dresses very happily. I also took a very flimsy (thus, light) pair of heels for fancy stuff."

Autumn is in the air - and we're not really feeling the cold weather - not just yet, anyway.

If that sounds like you, perhaps it's time you got your next adventure in the diary - somewhere hot, with golden beaches and delicious food.

If you agree, have a scroll below for our favourite restaurants, cocktail bars and beaches you HAVE to visit on your next holiday to the Canaries - and we promise sunshine will be on the cards

This steep, lemon-squeezer shaped island has arid barrancos (ravines) around the sides and laurel woodland in the middle. Most visitors are here for the hiking in the mossy woods, which are carpeted in fragrant wild flowers, with regular stops at viewpoints or miradors.

For a particularly spectacular post-walk refresher, head for Mirador de Abrante, a new skywalk restaurant/ bar high above the village of Agulo, where it sticks out over a cliff. The view is stupendous – if you have a head for heights.

You need good nerves for the access road too, and to come here after 3pm, when the day-trippers from Tenerife have gone. Expect to pay €30 for a two-course lunch with drinks.

Get into the groove of island village life by staying in the heart of Agulo, “Gomera’s prettiest village”, situated on the island’s north coast with views to Tenerife. The village’s multi-coloured houses are arranged like eggs in a nest, with Tenerife’s Mount Teide rising in the distance.

Several of the old houses have become restaurants – seek out the old schoolhouse, for example – and you can also now stay here in the unassuming Casa Lugo. It’s simple and authentic, gathered around an interior courtyard, and it has a lovely breakfast room.

Doubles with breakfast from €68.

Casa Tomaren is the best (most discreet) address on the island, which is why David Cameron and family stayed here when he was PM. Other places may be flashier and more expensive, but these

self-catering suites in the heart of rural Lanzarote have been converted from an 18th century farmstead, using a mix of Spanish and Indonesian influences – with buddhas rising out of the surrounding cacti.

The suites are tiled, adobe-walled and filled with heavy wooden furniture. Breakfast is provided and the swimming pool is a sunken oasis among palm trees. Double studios from €106 a night with breakfast, for a minimum stay of three or four days, depending on the season. swimming pool is a sunken oasis among palm trees.

Double studios from €106 a night with breakfast, for a minimum stay of three or four days, depending on the season.

Avoid the modern island capital, Arrecife, where the cruise ships and ferries dock. Instead head inland for the island’s original capital, Teguise, a sleepy, pretty place, with low whitewashed houses.

On Sundays, the town hosts a huge street market, with over 400 stalls selling leather, woodcrafts, chiffon, silver, lace and more. The market is aimed at tourists, for sure, but it has a real buzz to it, with lots of the restaurants hosting live music, so the locals come too.

The market is a good place to graze on unusual food stalls, from Transylvanian pastries to cactus burgers (€6).

The fast autopista has virtually completed its stranglehold on over-developed Tenerife, but Garachico, the cobbled former port in its north-west corner, is still beyond its reach, and remains a sleepy place.

The big attraction here is the saltwater pools studded with lumps of lava, reached via pathways and bridges. There’s elegant tearoom Le Patissier on dry land, in a traditional Canarian courtyard with a sumptuous cake display on an old wooden dresser.

A bit further back from the sea stands the Quinta Roja hotel, on Garachico’s sleepy cobbled square, also with a traditional courtyard at its heart. Doubles from €114, with breakfast

You can spend a lot of money on a quite average meal in the tourist areas of Tenerife. Better to head up the hill from popular Puerto de la Cruz to just short of the autopista, to find Restaurant LArena 53, a converted finca with a terrace surrounded by banana plantations.

Cuisine here is Canarian/European of exceptionally high quality, beautifully presented. If it is warm enough, eat out on the deck, with a chill-out zone for digestifs under the stars. On cold evenings they’ll light the wood-burning stove.

Four courses for €38.

Locals call this big, green, rural island the Isla Bonita, the pretty island, but a shortage of beaches has kept mass tourism away.

Its main claims to fame are its banana plantations, volcanic landscapes and the huge volcanic crater, the Caldera de Taburiente, with lots of good hiking trails. Above all, this is a place to go local, and stay peaceful.

The island has a wide range of stone-walled locally owned cottages, surrounded by flowers and fruit trees, for rent.

Puente Roto (sleeps five) by Tigalate in the southeast, with sea views to Tenerife, is excellent value at €50 a night (€10pp).

The rim of La Palma’s huge crater hosts Europe’s top space observatories. Up here at the Roque de Muchachos the skies are perfectly clear.

There are daily tours, but to get a better understanding of the universe join a couple of La Palma’s professional astronomers who've set up night sky safaris, leaving from Los Cancajos two or three times a week. €25pp.

Las Palmas is a sort of Canarian Havana. Head for the southern part, the Spanish-colonial Triana district, home to designer shops and fashionable restaurants and dress up for the ritual evening stroll – paseo.

Enjoy an evening cocktail with the hipsters in Triana’s elegant rooftop Azotea de Benito Cocktail bar, up a staircase frescoed with cartoons. Low-slung sofas, live music, buzzing atmosphere and plenty of tourists among the locals.

Try the Hendrick’s Tea Punch, with four drinks’ worth of gin, cucumber, rosehip, rooibos and vanilla herb tea, served in a teapot 

Hotel Rural Las Longueras sits beneath towering Tamadaba, in the bird-filled Agaete valley. The hotel is a lovely creaky manor house.

There’s a pool in the orange groves, giant cactus plants outside the window and the housekeeper serves set menus.

B&B doubles from €85 (minimum 3 nights).

If you’re thinking of having a cheeky cocktail or two this weekend, why not try the world’s best bar?

The good news is you won’t have to travel far - the results are in, and the top tipple hotspot is in London!

The world's finest cocktails are being served at The American Bar at The Savoy in London – one that has been around since the late 19th century.

Located in Convent Garden, the iconic bar has won first place at the ninth annual World's 50 Best Bar awards, reclaiming the title for a London bar after losing out to New York's Dead Rabbit last year.

The interiors scream style, sophistication and a little retro glamour; picture portraits of showbiz stars on the walls, tie and jacketed waiters to meet you at the door and jazz music or live pianists setting the scene.

But for one kooky US pair that home is a tiny caravan trailer, lovingly built from scratch and finished with a cosy wooden interior.

Stevie and Margarita, who have chosen not to share their last names, from the US state of Virginia and the Ukraine respectively, spent six months building their pint-sized digs to create a truly unique living space. 

The couple, both 24, raised the wooden frame walls on their tiny home trailer, varnished the interior’s wooden surfaces and fixed the seating area in place.

The finished product - which measures 7 x 16 x 11 foot displays the couple’s expert workmanship and features a homely kitchen with custom-built copper sink, cosy bedroom-come-dining area and galvanised shower room.

It took Stevie and Margarita six months to complete the build but they spent a whole year drawing up plans before they even started.

But now the couple have realised their dream of ditching the nine-to-five lifestyle for a life on the road.

“We needed independence, mobility, integrity, and creativity, building our own tiny house just fit the bill."