Travelers' mantra: Pack light, pack light, pack light - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**travelpunk** · 06-28-2008, 03:42 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/trave...ght/index.html

**c0urt** · 06-28-2008, 08:39 PM

all you really is money and condoms according to jake

actually
the rule is take half as much stuff and twice as much money.
you will live a lot easier

**travelpunk** · 06-28-2008, 09:20 PM

Yeah, that's what I've heard, half as much. The only things you need the most of anyways are socks and underwear

.

**c0urt** · 06-28-2008, 11:23 PM

you dont need underwear

**pinknic38** · 06-29-2008, 07:06 AM

SERIOUSLY pack light!

I thought I packed light (because I had a lot of space in my pack but I forgot after packing and repacking for the to/from the deployment and moving around in Afghanistan, I became a genius on rolling shit into the smallest possible size and shoving it all together) and weighed my pack at the Krakow airport to see if I could carry it onto Easy Jet and it was like 30 pounds or something! Which I guess may not be a lot, but maybe too much for a 2 week backpacking trip. Esp when I came home and there were like 3 shirts and 2 pants I didn't even wear. (but I did wear a bunch of stuff over and over though)

And my left shoulder blade had been killing me since I've been back! I thought it got better and then last night I was carrying in a 24 pack of pop for my mom with my left arm and I set it down and now my shoulder is on FIRE.

Pack light!!!! And ps, if you ever think you need a hair straightener while backpacking... YOU DON'T... take it from the girl who brought one and never used it. LOL

**c0urt** · 06-29-2008, 08:45 AM

all of this was a month in europe and several months in florida

dont remember what happened to the blanket i think i gave it to someone on first day
got rid of the power adapter because the only thing i had was my computer and it has one built in.
traded most of the socks dont to half. tossed the underwear after a week

yes I had a video game comntroller. you get bored.

**expatben** · 06-29-2008, 09:26 AM

Just remember that whatever you pack you have to carry...around...a lot and will get heavy. Pack what you need and maybe 1 or 2 things you want.

VP. · 06-29-2008, 12:47 PM

Dude didn't wear underwear for several months straight??

Lol...my pack looks a lot like yours, even the same laptop...but I definitely saved a little room for some boxers...rofl no underwear in Florida

FinnAnn · 07-02-2008, 02:26 PM

I was 2 weeks on a holiday in England at spring and all I had with me was a backpack and a small pack, no suitcase. (My first holiday without suitcase and handpack)

I had defenitely too much to carry. Next time I know what not to bring but I've been wondering something, when you're traveling in europe is it common that there are washing machine in the hostel? So do you do laundry everywhere you can or do you just wear the same clothes till they start to stink too bad and then change?? :D Maybe a stupid question but I thought it would be best to ask even the most stupid ones from people who has done some serious travelling than just go and test my luck! :D

**c0urt** · 07-02-2008, 02:40 PM

the only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

please ask we will try our best to help.

i made friends in bars and what not and washed at their houses. talk to people you will find ways to wash your clothes

**TheJake** · 07-02-2008, 03:29 PM

sinks and handsoap is what I washed my clothes with many a times.

**Elizabeth** · 07-02-2008, 04:38 PM

The #1 key to packing light is to buy a small bag. No matter what size you buy you will prob end up filling it with stuff you don't need.

Most hostels will have a laundry machine, but in some cases you have to pay to use it. If you are picky about your clothes, like me, its best to find a laundry place that lets you do it yourself because sometimes they don't use enough laundry soap. Another thing that saved my laundry was baking soda. If you are in a really smoky club or bar sometimes regular wash will not get out the smell, so put some baking soda in your laundry and the smell will be gone.

I am guilty of bringing a hair straightener but I used mine.

**BedtimeontheMoon** · 07-02-2008, 04:56 PM

PACK LIGHT!!! Especially girls... I sent about half my stuff home halfway through and it wasn't cheap... but it was either pay up or have my back suffer for the rest of the trip...I also brought the hair iron an used it many many times :D

**DC_Jessica** · 07-02-2008, 07:28 PM

I'm a huge believer in wicking clothes and hand washing. Every 3-4 hand washing (just as a guideline, you can adjust based on how sweaty/gross you're getting or how good a job you feel you're doing by hand) you should find a laundry. Which, if you're traveling around a lot, you will happen upon one.

But it helps you pack light if you bring a mostly wicking or athletic material clothes. They keep you from getting too smelly as they're anti-microbial and they don't hold water in like cotton, and the double-advantage for that is that they dry faster if you wash them in the sink and hang them up. Underoos too!!! In fact, especially undies.

**pinknic38** · 07-02-2008, 07:55 PM

I waited til I got home to wash my shit, but I was only gone 2 weeks and packed a lot of clothes (well not a lot but quite a bit for that amount of time) but I always bring a plastic Target bag or something to put smaller dirty clothes in (like undies, socks, etc) and if I can't wash for awhile just throw in some dryer sheets so everything smells good. I put a big bunch of dryer sheets in a ziploc baggie - they take up like no room! And then a little travel thing of Febreeze... you're ready to rock!

**DC_Jessica** · 07-02-2008, 08:42 PM

http://www.exofficio.com/product_results.aspx?category|men_underwear=Underw ear&canned_results_trigger=&category_id=men_underw ear&cm_mmc=Google

ExOfficio%20Underwear

ExOfficio%20Underwear%20Unisex

ex%20officio%20underwear&gclid=CJa2wsnkopQCFQNHFQo dejwPtg

I travel with 2 pairs of underwear. MAX 3. Maybe it's just so I can tell people after

but maybe I'm just not into carrying around all my dirty nether-bottoms around all the time. Who knows what the real reason is?

Also, buy stuff there. Unless you're going to Norway, you can find some cheap pants or a shirt here and there if you MUST have something else. I usually leave a pair of cheapo Old Navy cargo pants behind and replace the space with souvenir tchotchke's or what have you. I have left pants behind in 4 cities on two continents. Yesssssss. And even if the clothes you manage to find aren't totally unique, once you get back home at some point in time someone will compliment you (even on a plain black t-shirt) and you can say, "this old thing, I got it in Transnistra....yeah, yeah, I was totally out of clothes. I only brought two pairs of underwear. I know, I live on the edge..."

Also, Court, I like how you have some sort of purple theme going with the clothes you packed!

**epicballa** · 07-03-2008, 07:53 AM

I just did a preliminary fill of my pack and it's going to be around 25-30 pounds for my trip. Not too shabby, I thought it was going to be a lot heavier.

FinnAnn · 07-04-2008, 04:35 AM

Thank you so much for all the tips. This page is a lifesaver!! :D Buying the clothes you need from there sounds smart. And that explination sound way more cooler than the fact that you packed too little clothes!!

Technical t-shirts and "sport clothes" (or what ever you call them

) were really good when me and my sister were hiking in scotland. They stay dry and comfortable longer! I have also wondered about the shoes!!

I have these kind of "hiking shoes" that are really comfortable to walk, but are not really nice in bar or for going out at evening. But then another shoes take so much space from the backpack. Do you always have another shoes with you? :D And because I'm a finn, I always pack too much warm clothes. I'll have to work on that too!!

**epicballa** · 07-04-2008, 07:45 AM

i tend to bring sneakers, flip flops, and a pair of nicer shoes for those splurgey nights when i feel like going to a nicer restaurant, play, club, etc. probably stupid of me, but whatever.

**blinkchick2134** · 07-05-2008, 10:36 AM

Everytime I stop any where for more than a day I toss/give away at least one object in my pack. I've finally got it down to only clothes I wear and things I use. It's probably around 20-25 lbs. I think I have four things that have been with me since I left my apartment a year ago...a pair of dickie's (which were torn by a bike chain a few days ago - but I'm wearing them now), a daypack that folds to the size of a bloated passport, my one pair of underwear, and my medkit (which is amazing).

Right now, clothing-wise, I think I have two pairs of pants, one skirt, two tank tops, one tee shirt, lots of socks, and a zip up hoodie. I've had the luck of usually staying with people that let me do my laundry the modern way so I stay somewhat clean smelling. The hoodie doubles as a pillow on bus rides/camping - I sleep better on it then I do on real pillows now. Oh, and two tapestries that I've found left behind at festivals that work well for towels/ground covers/dresses/drying my tent when it gets flooded.