Some people seem to have the sort of BO that really adheres to nylon. After just a few wearings and despite immediate washings after each the nylon is permanently funky.
Others have the sort of BO that bounces off nylon. They hardly need to wash theirs at all. A quick rinse is more than enough.
Takes all kinds to make a crowd.
But if you’re one of those people, please be on the downwind side of the crowd.
I remember reading travel columns about people who traveled around Europe with everything in a carry-on sized backpack. The columns suggested things like quick-dry underwear and shirts that you could wash in a hotel bathroom and hang to dry.
For me, however, it’s not a vacation if I need to do laundry.
My go-to travel shirts and pants are from the Columbia Silver Ridge line. Perfect for temperate weather conditions, they are lightweight, look nice, and are super easy to wash in a sink and dry overnight.
Back when I first started thinking about travel clothing I remember reading tips from the Tilley hat guy for washing stuff while on the road. One bit of advice was to roll up damp clothes in hotel towels to soak up moisture before hanging. Generally speaking it’s not a problem to get more towels at the front desk.
Do you travel for more than a week at a time?
It’s absolutely possible for some people to use only a carryon for a 7 day or longer trip. I know that because both my kids have traveled that way ( at least for clothes - if my son brings his bike he has to check that bag).
There might be a 7 day trip that a carry-on would be enough for me but I’m pretty sure I’ve never been on one. Partly because I sweat a lot - when I went to Tel-Aviv I should have brought at least twice as much of everything. ( Three times as many shirts) I ended up washing clothes in the hotel sink every night - and the two things I don’t want to do on vacation are laundry and cooking. And the other part is that I’m never actually going to spend the entire week in shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops. That trip to Tel Aviv involved a wedding, so that needed a dress and a pair of shoes. It also involved a walking tour of the Old City in Jerusalem which I wouldn’t have wanted to do in flip-flops. So now I’m bringing at least two pairs of shoes besides what I have on my feet. Sure, I could just buy more shirts and shorts and underwear- but it will probably cost me more than the $50 it costs to check a bag. And I won’t have room to bring it all home. I went to Alaska in August - I didn’t bring a winter coat, I brought layers but I couldn’t pack a week’s worth of just t-shirts and shorts and while the layers didn’t take up as much room as a winter coat, I was leaving from NYC in August so I couldn’t wear any of the layers.
I’ve got size 13 feet. And socks that go with them. If I where to take a pair of clean socks for every day, of a three week trip, that would take up 1/3 of a carryon.
That’s when cleaning your own stuff in the hotel became a REALLY good idea.
Yeah, a wedding is a whole different ball game when you are packing. I’m 6’3" and 220lbs. My suits are rather large.
My Wife at 5’1" and 115lbs can pack a sun dress and look dressed up. I could put the dress in my pocket.
Depending on the situation, I’ve packed two weeks of clothes in a carry-on. But I won’t do laundry.
Before the children came along, my daughter and her husband travelled a lot, always on budget airlines, with just carry-ons.
What they had to buy, and sometimes abandon, on their trips was always less than the cost/hassle of having checked bags. She packed a small bag of washing powder because getting a rash from underwear can ruin a holiday.
Even third-world countries have Western products for sale (although checking seals becomes routine. She tells me they went shopping on day one, stocked up on whatever they needed, checked out tour companies and found a good bar.
For me, it’s not a proper vacation unless I’m traveling long enough to need laundry!
What’s so bad? Find ‘launderette’ in the language. Change some money to have coins for the machines, try to communicate with the local people in the process: they are usually quite helpful.
I’ve “washed” my clothes after someone spilled/splashed a fruity drink all over me by emptying my pockets and walking out into the sea. I washed the juice away and my shorts/shirt were clean. (The woman who spilled her drink everywhere was very drunk. Her husband offered to buy me new clothes. My washing up in the sea branded me a “good sport”)
THAT’S a vacation @kayaker. I feel the same. No worries. Take care of it.