Help! Can anyone suggest a foolproof way of folding men’s shirts so that they don’t come out of the suitcase looking crumpled.

You’d have thought I might have got the hang of it by now, after all the trips I have done – but I still can never really get the shirts looking good.

I fold them. I make sure they are either in the lid of the case or on the top. I make sure they are covered. And it matters not a jot. They always come out looking the worse for wear.

To be sure, I manage to get it right some of the time, and provided I keep my jacket on, I usually get away with it. But they never look at good as when they went in. There must be a way. There must be a way.

(The United Airlines rep at London Heathrow suggested covering them with tissue paper – which I haven’t got with me…)

OK, so as I go on the next few trips (see below) I am going to try out your suggestions and will report back. I promise – I will try them out.

Suggest away: The Foolproof Way of Folding Shirts…

Q

This is being written on board a flight from Geneva to New York.

It has been a miserable summer of travel. Absolutely horrible. But then I don’t need to tell you that – we have suffered along together. (Apologies for those of you in the southern hemisphere for whom it has been winter.)

Planes have been at record occupancy. I don’t think I have boarded an aircraft that wasn’t heaving at the doors – sometimes they couldn’t fit more passengers on except by strapping ‘em to the wings. Tempers have been frayed. Upgrades have been few and far between.

Hotels have been crowded and concierge lounges miserable. I think one of the low points was when some children were playing computer games on the only lounge computer even though there were several business guests anxious to login. It was a classic “we’ve paid for our room too” look on their faces as their kids hogged the machine.

I am afraid I don’t see the autumn being much better. With airlines reducing capacity by cutting flights or using small planes the “empty middle seat” is a thing of the past.

I am just about to start a marathon round of travel which will take me to Singapore and then around Asia for the best part of four weeks. People ask if I love doing this much travel and usually the answer is yes. Of course. Meeting new people, trying new foods, seeing how cities have changed. But I am not sure I relish the actual getting from A to B. Ah well. Let me paraphrase the Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale – “Sit back and think of the air miles”.