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  1. Great post. I’m a big believer in packing light. If only I could cross some camera gear of my packing list…

  2. Great advices. I’m trying to do the same. Nowadays except from some trips. I’ve learned the hard way 🙂

    One thing I do is to take clothes with me that dry fast, that means that I can wash them up quickly if needed and can skip some other instead.

    In Sweden we have a washing powder (Y3) for wool, that comes in very small, thin portion bags and are especially fast and efficient in rather cool water, which makes it ideal for washing while traveling.

  3. Great advice. I’m an over-packer who’s trying to mend her ways. I’ve printed your post to use as a guide for my next trip.

  4. Good basics, but what’s the point in not packing medicines, sun lotion and bug spray if you’re just going to buy it when you get to your destination (unless you’re going to somewhere where it’s cheaper). Out of interest, what does everyone’s luggage weigh? Mine’s about 18kg but that’s probably due to electronics.

  5. Rather ironically wine travelers used to have a weight problem on the route home with hand-luggage because we always pick up bottles on our travels, which we just MUST take home … with the liquid restrictions, that has changed. Now we deal with a) the risk of breakage though there are some quite good protective bags these days or b) the risk of being overweight (one bottle of wine weighs about 1.5kg) so with just three you can be in trouble or c) the risk of huge disappointment of never finding THAT amazing bottle again.

    What problems, we have!

  6. Good advice. Travellers always bring too many clothes to the tropics. Asia has all the essentials and cheap clothes to buy along the way. Just bring good shoes and a good attitude. Now for where to go check out
    Nature Escapes.

  7. My luggage checks in at around 14kg now…I struggle to get it under 12, it often creeps up closer to 18. Linda’s was around 16kg last check-in.

    We add hand luggage on to that: some books and laptops for the flight.

  8. Another wellknown trick is to mostly bring old worned and torned clothes with you, which you throw away when they get dirty. I love that.

    @Rick@NatureEscapes, I agree with you on that, but for me, as a tall Swede, it might be troublesome to find some clothes that will fit me in Asia?

  9. We walked in England for ~6 weeks in Sep with daypacks only. My dear SO packed about twice as much as she needed initially and ending up mailing 1/2 of it back home about 5 days in 😉 What did we take? Its a few years ago now, but this is my recollection (probably pretty accurate – when you don’t have much you remember it!):

    * 2 changes of quick dry clothes. We wore one set during the day, showered at night and washed that set and changed into the clean set for dinner and then wore them the next day. A ‘set’ was everything: underwear, socks, pants, shirt. IIRC, we did have 2 shorts and 1 long pants for cold days / evenings. If it didn’t dry overnight, we’d hang it off our packs the next day. The long parts were the classic ‘travel pants’ – light synthetic material. Windproof, fast drying. Khaki/brown color that almost but not quite fits with every occaision. Not too dorky looking, though I don’t think we’ve worn them since 😉
    * fleece jacket. Bulky but compressible and quite light for the warmth. Handy at night and first thing in the morning.
    * waterproof jacket. Essential in England! Worth spending the extra $$s for a good one. The most expensive item in our packs by far.
    * tiny shampoo bottle (we shared it and refilled as opportunity presented itself), toothbrush each, travel brush (light plastic foldup), sunscreen, aspirin/equivalent for headaches & minor aches
    * sunglasses
    * sun hat?? (not sure…)
    * wool beanie (hat)
    * ‘walking shoes’ – I think we may have had thongs/flip flops for a while but discarded them
    * 1 small 35mm camera (modern electronic cameras are much smaller/better!)
    * misc odds and ends (e.g. bandanna for me, girl stuff for SO)
    * guide book / maps
    * reading book

    We were ruthless about not picking up extra stuff along the way – leaving maps & books at B&Bs for the next person, or 1/2 tube of toothpaste, or 1/2 box of bandaids.

    We’d both traveled light before, 1 large-ish backpack each in the 12kg range, but this was a whole new level for us — and by and large we loved it! We met new people every day — so they didn’t know we’d worn the same clothes for days already. We did swap out some clothes along the way (e.g. buy a t-shirt, discard one we were sick of!). Having less stuff meant less time packing and unpacking and searching and managing stuff.

    We still take carry-on only, even with a 9yo kid along now, for whatever trip we do (often 2-4 weeks at a time). For those, I generally use what I call the ‘rule of 5’. I pack enough clothes for 5 days without laundry. E.g. 5 undies, 5 socks, 3 t-shirts, 2 long-sleeve shirts, 1 pair shorts, 1 pair jeans/long pants – and I wear one of those 5. And then warm gear depending on the climate. And now I usually have a laptop along which is heavy :-(.

    Less is more!

  10. Doug Seattle says:

    I have devolved or evolved to using just one soap for everything. Clothes and me and my hair. I use the liquid environmentally friendly citrus dishsoap. It comes in big bottles. It lives in my kitchen at home and is decanted into one small bottle for travel. Only need about a teaspoon per task. It cuts through anything and does not have phosphates or dye and is antibacterial. I have used it for over a year and even works in saltwater at the beach 8)
    Your mileage may vary but I like it.
    Doug

  11. I have settle now in one place for over 12 months. I dread the thought of moving already. One tip I could provided for both men and women who are travelling, is to wear long shorts and buy heaps of tights for when you are in cooler areas. These are great and take up little room. You can also look very cool with different colors. Fashion tip wear matching colored t-shirts and or long sleeved tops.

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