I am gone all of next week, and I love to pack. By the way, packing is another opportunity to put minimalism into practice.
In general, I am a light traveler and am proud of my packing skills. That said, I still always find myself carrying stuff that I never use on the trip. It is surprising how you think that while you haven't used that balm/spray/gel in a whole year, you'll somehow need it on the 3 day trip.
The last time D & I went away on a vacation, we went with one medium size day bag - rather a largish laptop backpack, and that was for the two of us, for 8 nights. And I still found that I had carried things that I didn't use.
This time, i am trying to pare things really really thin.
Over my years of traveling, I have developed some beliefs about holiday travel:
1. No matter how long your trip, you don't need more than 3 sets of clothes, including what you wear for the journey.
2. If you need to pack a pair of footwear, you are such a diva.
My travel staple is a pair of flat rubber/foam slippers from Bata (see below) that are as comfortable as bathroom slippers, but look marginally better. They cost me Rs. 170 in 2009, and have been to at least 5 short and long getaways with me since then. Great for beach - wet wear, and I can walk miles in them with no discomfort.
3. Toiletries - it is worth investing in a set of small travel bottles
If your trip is not longer than a week, then the toiletry supplies that you need is limited. Chances are you are either lugging the entire 400 ml bottle of shampoo / conditioner / moisturizer, or you are buying overpriced "travel-size" packs from the brand. Instead, find little plastic bottles from around the house, or go ahead and buy cheap little plastic vials, label them and fill them up from your bottles at home. (while shopping, cheap is the key factor - plain white plastic bottles will do - this is not an occasion to go shopping for tupperware) You save space in your bag, fit into the cabin luggage fluid allowance, have less weight to carry, and you don't end up over-paying for the pretty but pricey travel-size packs.
I agree that bath gels are convenient for travel (if your hotel doesn't give you soap), but I prefer to bring well used bar of soap with me that i can finish on the trip.
4. Tricky bits:
The important thing about non-basic toiletries is that often, we think of a vacation destination as a place to re-invent ourselves with some kind of a makeover - you imagine yourself doing things that you wish you were doing back at home (diligently groom, preen, polish). Chances are, you won't do anything differently. I see vacations as a time to run on economy mode, not on turbo mode. Scale down, scale down!
Moisturizer.
Think think think. Do you really need to carry that bottle? Do you moisturize at home? Is you vacation destination drying? Won't a tiny bottle of coconut oil do? (Parachute's travel bottles for about 5 bucks a pop is lovely, and I am sure the other coconut oil guys have them too)
Sunscreen.
I really, really don't know about this one, and am planning a whole post about sunscreens. Frankly, too much fear has been drilled into me about sun exposure and skin cancer, but I have a hard time believing that the ridiculously suspicious looking list of ingredients on a bottle of sunscreen is harmless for you. Like Tequila says in the comments section of this post, cover up. Wear longer sleeves, carry a hat or an umbrella.
To my vacation next week, I will cow down and carry a bottle of sunscreen, although my last trip still gave me nasty sun rashes even after using loads of sunscreen. But this time, i am carrying full-sleeve rash-guards, so there will be lesser exposed skin. I will still use the damn sunblock though, because of the skin-cancer brainwash. A propos, I wonder if those who tan really quickly and turn very dark have a lesser exposure risk. My skin behaves like those photochromatic spectacles that no one seems to favoe these days - turning very very dark, very very quickly. I like to think that that somehow reduces my likelihood of burning or sun related problems... I must look it up.
Hand creme / anti-wrinkle creme / similar snake oils:
Oh come on.
My one travel indulgence, though, is a book.
I'll let you know how my extra-light packing attempt goes.Do share your thoughts/experiences/tips on traveling light.
In general, I am a light traveler and am proud of my packing skills. That said, I still always find myself carrying stuff that I never use on the trip. It is surprising how you think that while you haven't used that balm/spray/gel in a whole year, you'll somehow need it on the 3 day trip.
The last time D & I went away on a vacation, we went with one medium size day bag - rather a largish laptop backpack, and that was for the two of us, for 8 nights. And I still found that I had carried things that I didn't use.
Our entire luggage for the last 8-night getaway, and my wonder slippers
This time, i am trying to pare things really really thin.
Over my years of traveling, I have developed some beliefs about holiday travel:
1. No matter how long your trip, you don't need more than 3 sets of clothes, including what you wear for the journey.
Use hotel laundry (your lordship), or like me, carry a detergent bar and a brush, wash and dry clothes overnight, every night. You can pare that number down further if you are carrying jeans. You'll of course add 1 pair of location specific clothing - swimwear, warm wear etc depending upon where you are going. On my vacation (to warm locations), I carry 1 pair of jeans, 1 cotton trousers, and a maximum of 3 T-shirts or the exceptionally soft mull fabric cotton tops (why? because they fold away into the size of a hanky, taking up no space at all. I could stick a folded top in a pant pocket. My current mull tops are from pricey fabindia though. I must find the fabric, must keep checking in at the new handloom store)
2. If you need to pack a pair of footwear, you are such a diva.
My travel staple is a pair of flat rubber/foam slippers from Bata (see below) that are as comfortable as bathroom slippers, but look marginally better. They cost me Rs. 170 in 2009, and have been to at least 5 short and long getaways with me since then. Great for beach - wet wear, and I can walk miles in them with no discomfort.
My travel slippers from Bata (sorry for the poor photo quality - my mobile cam is no good)
3. Toiletries - it is worth investing in a set of small travel bottles
If your trip is not longer than a week, then the toiletry supplies that you need is limited. Chances are you are either lugging the entire 400 ml bottle of shampoo / conditioner / moisturizer, or you are buying overpriced "travel-size" packs from the brand. Instead, find little plastic bottles from around the house, or go ahead and buy cheap little plastic vials, label them and fill them up from your bottles at home. (while shopping, cheap is the key factor - plain white plastic bottles will do - this is not an occasion to go shopping for tupperware) You save space in your bag, fit into the cabin luggage fluid allowance, have less weight to carry, and you don't end up over-paying for the pretty but pricey travel-size packs.
I agree that bath gels are convenient for travel (if your hotel doesn't give you soap), but I prefer to bring well used bar of soap with me that i can finish on the trip.
4. Tricky bits:
The important thing about non-basic toiletries is that often, we think of a vacation destination as a place to re-invent ourselves with some kind of a makeover - you imagine yourself doing things that you wish you were doing back at home (diligently groom, preen, polish). Chances are, you won't do anything differently. I see vacations as a time to run on economy mode, not on turbo mode. Scale down, scale down!
Moisturizer.
Think think think. Do you really need to carry that bottle? Do you moisturize at home? Is you vacation destination drying? Won't a tiny bottle of coconut oil do? (Parachute's travel bottles for about 5 bucks a pop is lovely, and I am sure the other coconut oil guys have them too)
Sunscreen.
I really, really don't know about this one, and am planning a whole post about sunscreens. Frankly, too much fear has been drilled into me about sun exposure and skin cancer, but I have a hard time believing that the ridiculously suspicious looking list of ingredients on a bottle of sunscreen is harmless for you. Like Tequila says in the comments section of this post, cover up. Wear longer sleeves, carry a hat or an umbrella.
To my vacation next week, I will cow down and carry a bottle of sunscreen, although my last trip still gave me nasty sun rashes even after using loads of sunscreen. But this time, i am carrying full-sleeve rash-guards, so there will be lesser exposed skin. I will still use the damn sunblock though, because of the skin-cancer brainwash. A propos, I wonder if those who tan really quickly and turn very dark have a lesser exposure risk. My skin behaves like those photochromatic spectacles that no one seems to favoe these days - turning very very dark, very very quickly. I like to think that that somehow reduces my likelihood of burning or sun related problems... I must look it up.
Hand creme / anti-wrinkle creme / similar snake oils:
Oh come on.
My one travel indulgence, though, is a book.
I'll let you know how my extra-light packing attempt goes.Do share your thoughts/experiences/tips on traveling light.
A detergent bar and a brush are superfluous.
ReplyDeleteAt a pinch, here's the hostel dwellers staple technique:
Bathe and soap with your clothes on, discarding successive layers after every rinse, Finish with bare skin.
Carbolic will clean and disinfect your clothes better than most detergents, and the small loofahs you linked to are as good as any brush.
Crude? maybe. Effective? You bet.
In hot, sunny, climes, full sleeve cottons, loose pyjama bottoms, and a "Panama Hat"
ReplyDelete(http://tinyurl.com/6ypg58r)
are the best sun-protection money can buy.
The rest, I think, are bunk.
Re: regular soap and loofah - brilliant! 2 items lesser to carry! Unless you are using fancy pants bathing bars, your basic soap will work. Simple and elegant.
ReplyDeleteRe: sun protection, spot on. For women at least, a cotton dupatta/scarf/stole can do the same thing, but much better, protecting the neck too.
Thanks!