disposable underwear and other weird travel tips

[Mr. Zero]

I always have a couple of those sealable compression bags in case I need to free up room in the bag for souvenirs, or even reduce the number of bags we carry.

They're like giant Ziploc bags with a one-way vent. You throw your items (like dirty laundry) into the bag and seal it. Then you roll the entire bag like a tube of toothpaste, squeezing the air out through the vents. Then, when you unroll it, it's usually less than half the thickness it was before.

[foundapeanut]

[Mod cut]

I take lots of older clothes I know longer will wear (Some underwear too) and just throw them out. I'm doing mostly adventure trips while I still can. So no evening gown required.

I usually have access to a maid who does my laundry or washer dryers. I do take plastic garbage bags to put dirty clothes in, if I have any.

To keep bed bugs from getting inside suitcases. Place a dryer sheet in each. The little bast#rds don't like the smell.

[Mikala43]

No, just no.

I packed a few items that I knew were at the end of their life cycle, I threw them away before returning to free up bag space. It was easy because the first week was camping.

[ersatz]

I don’t travel much anymore but used to visit out of the way third world places frequently and developed multiple packing tips:

1. Develop a spreadsheet list for your travel essentials. This will include clothing, toiletries, medicines and essentials such as tickets, passports, shot certificates, ) etc. Have a column to check them off when you leave home and have one or more columns to check them off as you leave (it’s surprising what people will leave behind in the hotel safe, rolled under the bed, etc.) Keep that in your carry-on.

2. Bring ziplocks with essentials such as TP for planes and stopovers (many 3rd world places don’t have this, as well as many restrooms in airplanes, bus stations, etc that run out). Bring separate ziplocks for cleansing wipes (for surfaces – airplane seats, hotel remote controls etc) and personal sanitizer (OMG what WAS that stickiness on the door handle?)

3. Bring lightweight plastic bowl and cutlery for stopover or hotel snacking with a bottle opener/corkscrew etc. There are some interesting ones available online that fold up very small. These can be cheap enough to discard at the end of the trip.

4. In developed countries that are not super expensive, buying underwear and some other clothing locally and throwing out is a good idea. If traveling in a very expensive area or where common consumer goods are not readily available, consider a lightweight portable wash system such as Scrubba.

5. If you are super paranoid about bugs and germs or travelling to a very high risk infectious area, online companies sell lightweight bug tents that work on top of bedding. Some of them even have flooring for that bug-proof Fortress of Solitude feeling. I derive some entertainment from the malarial mosquitos stomping around in frustration on the tent side.

6. There are bed bug luggage liners. You can either toss everything in your lined suitcase, or use these to protect items stored in the hotel room closet or drawers. Don’t forget that bedbugs can infect suitcase crevasses too, such as pockets. If you can, bring anti bed bug spray to treat your luggage. If not, keep this in an accessible place at home and douse your suitcase, briefcase and purse well before bringing inside.

7. If alcoholically inclined and travelling to a dry area, consider concealable reusable flasks (search on Amazon). These are very lightweight and can be used for regular family use too. Bring them empty in your carryon (before baggage weight and security checks). Fill from the water fountain in the departure area to keep your family hydrated on the plane.

8. Ever seen sixty black medium sized bags roll off a carousel and a vigorous fistfight escalate into a full police-catered riot over the various ownership of same? I have. Ever since, I decorate my medium-sized black bag with a border of various colored/patterned duct tapes around the edges and the handles. When all I have is the standard grey duct tape I get creative with a marker and indulge my artistic side. You can either buy patterned duct tape or have the kids go to town on regular duct tape with indelible markers. Be careful about what they put on there if you know what I mean. (Be especially careful of random scribbles that can be interpreted as portions of the Holy Book by a nearsighted border customs official eager to reinforce his personal finances with a few Benjamins under the table after a debilitating khat/katikala-filled weekend. Ask me how I know ….)

9. On very long trips, especially overseas, I allow space in my carry on for multiple small cheap toys such as crayons, coloring book, stickers, little puzzle games etc. Even though I have no kids, I have learned that kids of various ages, sexes and nationalities need to be placated in order to preserve the sanity of myself and others and prevent possible assault charges. Quiet a howling child and you have made friends for your entire trip. (I remember three hours in a third world airline when I found myself sitting next to an six year old in the throes of an epic meltdown. The entire load of passengers and crew looked at me and the child with obscenities in their eyes and possible murderous intent. With the exception of a man and a woman eight rows back who examined their surroundings with obsessive interest, looking anywhere and everywhere except at me and the child for the whole trip. I remember you, oh yazzzz, I do. Anyway, toys. Remember the tip!

[elnina]

Cleaned this thread a bit, and reopened. Keep posting your great ideas.

[fishbrains]

I have never understood the thought behind packing old clothes so that you can throw them away.

When I go on a longer trip, say two weeks, I pack 3-5 pairs of socks, underwear and Tshirts. I wash as I go. The amount of space saved by throwing things away at the end of the trip is pretty minimal.

If you want to buy a bunch of stuff, why not pack a small empty duffel with you, or purchase one while you are on vacation?

[Mikala43]

Meh. For camping I bring old stuff anyway, so I just made sure it was stuff that was at the end of it's useful life anyway. It helped quite a bit as that was one week of our trip.

For our next trip it's going to be cold, so layering is needed (I don't keep a lot of stuff as it just takes up space and won't use it in Hawaii), so some of the under layers may not make it back into the luggage.

I think this is also because I am trying to downsize everything, and I have way too many clothes.

The trip the year before we left DH's hiking boots (and boy did they take up a lot of room!). I took an awesome pic of them sitting on a rock at the campsite.