One of the curiosities of running hidden europe is that total strangers contact us to enquire if we know anything about Dnipropetrovsk, have a recipe for Spanish paella or if we might recommend a good brand of suitcase. So, just for the record, we have never been to Dnipropetrovsk, our paella is no more than adequate and we have never bothered to look in any detail at our suitcases and know not who made them. There is a whole travel equipment industry that has almost passed us by.

But prompted by George Wheeler of New York, we set off to test his personal invention: Lightload towels.