I’m talking about an active vacation here, where you want to minimize packing space. Not like a “stay in a resort and have a huge suitcase or two” vacation.
You always want to take as little as you can, and you don’t want to spend every other day at the laundry. So you end up wearing clothes repeatededly like you wouldn’t when you are home. But where are your limits?
Personally, I usually end up motivated by pure practicality mixed with maximum cleanliness. Like I can usually fit 7-8 t-shirts in my bag, so I only wear them once or twice. But shorts and pants take up so much space so they need to be worn three times somtimes. And a fleece is so bulky I’ll be wearing it every day.
I’m just curious what others do, because I’m completely oblivious and probably wouldn’t notice someone wearing the same shirt for a week. It’s not something that comes up in conversation very often. (“That shirt sure does look familiar!”)
I’ve gone on a couple rather mobile trips to Italy in the past 6 years, for about two weeks or so each, and I got by rather lightly, in a small suitcase suitable as a carry-on on larger planes, if I so desired.
Generally, I’ll pack two pair of pants (plus the pair I wear on the flight). Maybe four shirts (short-sleeve, button down), plus an equal number of t-shirts. I’ll pack one ‘nice-ish’ long-sleeve shirt, which will be selected to match one of the pair of pants. Also a tie if I think I’ll want/need it. One pair of shorts, maybe two. Socks and underpants, I’ll try to bring along six days’ worth. Depending on where I’ll be, etc etc, I might bring my own towel (that’s always a good idea anyway), a bathing suit, or whatnot.
Oh, and now that I’m thinking about it, this last trip I brought fewer socks as I actually wore sandals a lot of the time, and packed my shoes and only wore them a few times out to dinner and such.
So yeah. I plan to do at least some clothes-washing every five days or so. Maybe a slight pain, but not only does it cut down dramatically on the amount of clothing I need to bring, but I also don’t end up with a suitcase smelling like week-old dirty clothes.
I could even get by with fewer clothes, but the concept of a more limited selection frightens me.
I’m the wrooooong person to ask about packing light, but I do re-wear some things.
I see nothing wrong with wearing the same jeans for a week, or any pants in a neutral color, if you didn’t spill anything on them, or get sweaty. (If you wear the same red polka-dotted pants for a week, people will notice that).
I generally can only get two days wear out of a shirt. You tend to spill things on them, or get Pit Stink. If the shirt is light, you can wash it out in the sink and hang it on the towel rack to dry overnight. (A quick go-over with the hair dryer will remove any dampness that might be left in the morning.)
On a trip like that, which is the sort I most often take, I live out of a backpack that can fit under the seat in front of me on the plane.
So yeah, I pack light. I will be visiting my kid in Toulouse, France this month.
I’ll be wearing jeans, and packing one other pair of shoes, about two pairs of pants, one silk, one heavyduty cotton blend, and 4-5 shirts. I’ll have some sort of sweater, a scarf, and some sort of jacket. There will be a lot of black involved. Usually I bring one little black dress, but I don’t think I will, it’ll just be too cold.
On the road, I try to get two wearings out of shirts, and more out of pants.
I’ll wash out undies and shirts every couple days, or just break down and pay to have the laundry done. But I guess on this trip I’ll do my laundry at the kid’s place.
Thanks all, that is exactly what I was looking for.
Funny you mention this… I tried using sandals exclusively and it was a disaster. Unbeknownst to me, my feet can only handle Tevas for a day. On the second day, the straps rub on the sore spots and it’s excruciating. So I needed to buy a pair of sneakers to swap out with. (It’s really annoying, since I wear size 12’s and they are quite bulky in a pack.)
