My Favorite Packing Tip

[Sands]

Bring stuff that you can discard along the way. For example, holey underwear, which can be thrown out after use, thereby making your pack lighter each day (or every 3 days, depending). Bring some 12-year old T-shirts that you wouldn't mind throwing out abroad. If you have a guidebook, pare it down to only the relevant sections as you go through your trip. At the end of my trip just before boarding my flight home, my book only has the essentials section (how to get to the airport, emergency info., etc.).

[IncaTrail50]

I like your thinking! Wish my husband would consider throwing out holey underwear and 12yr old t-shirts...he had a 17 yr old t-shirt that the collar was only held on by the size label at the back...and the little sleeves had actually fallen off...eventually we did get to throw out the collar...
Seriously, that's a great idea...

[bottlenose71]

I usually travel with very cheap clothes I buy on purpose (1 to 3 euro t shirts or trousers) and then leave the clothes on the way there are countries where they collect used clothes if well kept. And old shoes, old underwear as well... it always turns out that the heaviest part in my backpack are medications!

[Tall Paul]

Hey;

My favourite packing tips, besides the above:

(1) Use a pillow case filled with clean clothes as a pillow.

Paul

[paulaquiltgirl]

Zip lock baggies! They can be used for sssssssssooooo many things.


but if you are leaving all your clothes behind you only need the small ones.

[saridder]

Mine's silly, but is still my favorite packing tip -

I always put a few fabric softener dryer sheets in my bags to absorb odd odors and moisture. Works like a charm.

Steve

[Dawna]

I like your travel tip. If I don't want to attract bugs, do you think that unscented would do the trick?

Dawna

[debandpat]

i have been told that "bounce" brand dryer sheets actually REPEL mosquitoes, and i've always packed with them. between that and/or taking vitamin B complex, we've never had problems with buggies?!! d&p

[drbexl]

I like the "bounce" sheet idea. I'm off in 2 weeks and was aiming to have a half-empty case on the way out, but even going minimal (to my mind, 5-ishkg for clothes: 2 convertible trousers; 1 light trousers; 1 shorts; 4 t-shirts; 1 long-sleeved; 2 vests; 2 light "evening"; 2 PJs; 1 or 2 fleeces... I can't decide), the case still looks almost full - but I do seem to have half a pharmacy in there (I burn easily, and one of the things that has put me off travelling before is "the stomach")... A friend said might as well take full-sized shampoo, etc as that's what will replace it with!

I quite like the pillowcase idea too - I bought one of the Lifeventure travel pillows, but I could substitute the second fleece... (that's 230g saved).

Footwise I think have been quite restrained (Travel Sandals, Hiking Boots, Silver slip-ons which are the lightest thing I own!)

Do people bother with "nice" trousers/skirt? Think I might ditch that idea too, that's another 200g saved! Australia/NZ offer options....

Route: http://www.bex.ww2poster.co.uk/career/rtw_travel.htm

[Tall Paul]

Hey;

As far as nice clothes go, most of the GAP tourists that spend most of their time in the wilderness dispense with nice clothing. They are a scruffy lot. If you are going to spend much time in major cities, then perhaps one nice outfit, for when you are out on the town, is a good idea. I personally travel only with clothes that I wouldn't mind were lost, stolen damaged or destroyed. I may not look fashionable or smell nice, but I feel better and less stressed. It is better to feel good, than to look good, on a GAP tour.

Paul

[robo07]

Personally if backpacking, then just use a towel as a pillow, sometimes over top of a couple of other clothes.

And if you have shoes to be packed, they are great for filling with all sorts of things. It amazing how much you can fit inside a shoe, small things you don't won't crushed or broken, or at the very least socks and rolled up underwear. Also helps the shoes to keep their shape if they are nicer ones.

[debandpat]

underwear... boxers or briefs? who brings them on an adventure trip?!! d (the ones that dry overnight in the catalog are $25 bucks a whack!)

[eringirl99]

I read posts talking about discarding old underwear/t-shirts and the like during trips to avoid lugging dirty laundry home. Isn't that contributing to another country's overburdened land fill? Doesn't that go against G.A.P.'s ethos of not trashing where we visit?

[Tall Paul]

Hey;

On other posts, I've been one of the one recommending the practice. Hear me out. The old clothes I'm referring to have been worn to the point they are on their last legs (torn, ripped, dirty, smelly). While on the tour, I wear them a few more times. Then use them as a rag. Then dispose of them in an appropriate garbage container, usually in a major city.

I do not see the difference between putting these old clothes in an African landfill versus a Canadian one. It is not irresponsible to throw away clothes provided you have gotten a heck of a lot of use out of them and dispose of them properly in a landfill. I am at a loss as to what other options I would have. Burn extra jet fuel to take them back to Canada and dispose of them in another landfill? If anyone out there has a better ideas, please let me know. I am willing to listen.

Paul

[IncaTrail50]

Hey Paul...you paint a nice picture (RE:torn, ripped, dirty, smelly). ...perhaps we should be talking handling with tongs and discarding into biohazardous waste containers instead of landfill?
I agree with your ideas...they have to be discarded somewhere and you aren't suggesting discarding them along sensitive mountain trails or into pristine jungle rivers so we should all consider the options you suggest.