Holiday Essentials

10 Important Things to Pack When Travelling

You’ve just booked the perfect holiday to a destination you’ve been dreaming about your whole life. You have told all your family and friends and even purchased a travel journal to make notes of the memories you make along the way. Your cupboard is full of snazzy, new outfits and you’ve just bought a fantastic camera to capture awesome images of the amazing places and people you will see. Once you’ve chucked together your toiletries and underwear, you’re good to go. Or are you? We’ve compiled a list of essential travel items that you need when going on holiday, but which are sometimes forgotten in the excitement leading up to your trip.

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Comfort Dining: Knead Review

It may be October, but there is still a distinct chill in Cape Town’s air. The best way to warm up and chase away the chilled Monday blues is with a spot of comfort dining, and Knead is the ideal location for exactly that. There are now seven branches of this esteemed bakery, including one in Jo’burg, and with the promise of good food and a warm ambience it’s easy to understand why. One of their standout features, which should be a given at any restaurant, is their use of fresh and quality ingredients. Despite my meal doing more than hit the spot, I found my mouth watering at the sight of plump, red tomatoes in the kitchen as they prepared a fresh dish. The balsamic vinegar on our table came in the original bottle, instead of being decanted into a grimy, overused one and the butternut on my pizza had skin on it – a sure sign of fresh vegetables being used instead of the dodgy packet variety.

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O Captain! My Captain! An Interview with Bittereinder

In the battle of reconciliation with heritage, and through their intellectual lyricism, the work of Bittereinder has strongly resonated with me. On a personal level, this answers my initial question that I put forward: what is it about them that people respond or relate to? As Jaco van der Merwe, the man behind the lyrics and rapping, asserts, “You’re definitely asking the wrong people…We’re the three guys ‘in’ the band mos.” Rounding off the ‘three guys’ are Peach van Pletzen and Louis Minnaar, handling the production and visuals that have become a stalwart of their success, while lending their vocals as well. Bittereinder formed in 2009 and have since released two albums, n’ Ware Verhaal and Die Dinkdansmasjien. They have performed all over South Africa, as well as the Netherlands, Mozambique and Namibia. Bittereinder’s ability to make you ‘bons’ on the dance floor is another reason to get excited. Their live act is an innovative performance, constantly and consistently delivered with slick deliberation to provide an audio-visual experience filled with an energy which pulsates across the dance floor.

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