A guide to packing light

Greetings, all! Welcome to the new home of my blog, formerly known as Suspiciously Good Deals over at Wordpress. (As of now, you can still read it at suspiciouslygooddeals.wordpress.com.)

As an avid traveler, I'm always looking for tips on how to travel better/cheaper/longer, and I've seen a lot of so-called "guides" that are really nothing more than clickbait, with no actual advice and no respect for the reader. "Maybe," thought I, "I could create the kinds of guides that I would want to read." And so, without further ado, here is my Guide to Packing Light:



- Take a look at what you actually use on a normal day. Consider from the moment you wake up in the morning until you wake up the next morning. Consider EVERYTHING you use, wear, do. Do you use/wear/do this every morning? You will almost certainly want to have access to this thing. Other people will tell you what you do and don't need, but only YOU really know.

For me, that thing is breakfast cereal. I DESTROY breakfast cereal. I eat it for at least two meals a day if I can. I have a very sensitive stomach, and it gets really bad when I travel. Having a routine breakfast of cereal and milk is the most reliable way for me to ensure my digestive system won't shut down. People think it's ridiculous for me to bring cereal when I travel, or to seek out a grocery store with American-style cereal (probably a better idea than packing it...), but it's my Important Thing and it's OK to need things. Finding out what your Important Things are will take some trial and error, but it will help if you don't listen too much to the haters and instead focus on YOU.

Here's my warm-weather packing list for trips of anywhere from 3 days to a few months. (This is especially for ladies, as I am a lady, but it can be adapted for men, too):

CLOTHING:

1. 3 pairs of underwear. I highly, highly recommend quick-dry underwear so that you can wash it in the sink, leave it out to dry overnight, and it will be dry in the morning. The online REI outlet (rei.com/outlet) always has good deals on quick-drying undies for women and men.  You could just have 2 pairs, and do a wash-one-wear-one thing, but I like the flexibility of having an extra pair because some nights you just can't wash/dry laundry.

2. 1-2 shirts, in addition to the one you're wearing. That makes one for a pajama shirt and one for a regular shirt, or just wear the one you're wearing a bunch of times. I recommend sweat-wicking workout shirts. You can also find these at the REI outlet, but I got mine for $1 at a thrift store. These guys are everywhere if you look for 'em. These are great for wearing a bunch of times because they don't absorb sweat the way a regular shirt does, so they never really feel wet or gross, plus they dry relatively fast, which is always good for washing your laundry in the sink. Plus, people will think you're super athletic! My sweat-wicking shirt of choice is one of those things that you get for completing a big difficult race. People often comment on it, thinking that I am very athletic. Really, I got it secondhand for $1 but hey, who needs to know that? (I do tell people the truth. Usually.)

Note that this will be different for men, or for you if you sweat a lot. Guys, try to figure out how often you can wear something without making it smell bad. If you can only wear a shirt once before it starts to smell (which is often the case for dudes, in my experience), then please bring more or wash your clothes more often. Please.

3. 1 packable fancy dress for a fancy lady. You are a fancy lady! You need a fancy dress. But actually, there have been multiple occasions when I have been traveling and somehow ended up having a job interview. You want to be prepared for this! As well as for fancy restaurants, clubs, sneaking into high society, etc.

I HATE dresses, I have always hated dresses, but packing a blazer, nice shirt, and nice pants is just not really backpack-friendly. They're bulky, hot, and they wrinkle easily. Plus, I'm never going to wear them unless I have a surprise interview, so there's a good chance that they'll do nothing but take up space in my pack. With a relatively lightweight dress, you can use it to be fancy, but you can also use it when you run out of clothes; it saves you from bringing another pair of shorts AND another shirt, because a dress is like both of those things! So, if you have 1 shirt and 1 dress, you can wear the shirt 3-4 days, the dress 3-4 days, and do laundry once a week.

I initially thought that I'd need to shell out a bunch of money for a travel-friendly dress from a specific travel-friendly website. NOT SO! I walked into Goodwill (a common thrift store in my town) and immediately found the perfect sleeveless spring/summer travel dress for $2. The material is synthetic and you can tell just by looking that it will never wrinkle. So far, it has survived being rolled up in my backpack in Boston, Chicago, Wisconsin, and Mexico, and it has never wrinkled. If you do a little thrifting, I'm sure you can find a dress just like it.

4. 1 pair of zip-off pants. I found mine at Goodwill (of course), but this was after years and years of looking. These will most likely set you back $30-50 new, unfortunately, but you can maybe find them used online, and I think it's worth it. The ones I have are from Eastern Mountain Sports, (which is a great brand), and they go from totally soaked to totally dry in about an hour, while cotton pants take hours and hours. (I recently tested this out on a water ride at Universal Studios with my mom, who did not have quick-drying pants. She was sure jealous.) The zip-off aspect is really great if you are sensitive to temperature changes; it takes up a lot less space to bring zip-off pants bottoms in your day pack rather than bringing a whole sweatshirt. I do this whenever I'm going to a restaurant or somewhere else that tends to be overly air-conditioned.

5. 1 pair of boardshorts and bikini top. This is my go-to swimsuit anyway, but it's especially good when traveling. I use the boardshorts as pajamas almost every night, and because of the thin material, they roll up really small and are very packable. They're also quick-drying. Then, if it turns out there is the opportunity to go swimming, I have a swimsuit on hand without having wasted any space in my bag.

6. 1 pair of goggles, if you will be somewhere where there will possibly be super cool lakes or oceans with awesome fish that you want to look at. You would be very sad if you, for instance, were to go all the way to Mexico and were to go swimming in an awesome cenote (giant swimming hole with awesome fish and stuff) and you COULDN'T SEE THE FISH BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO SCARED TO OPEN YOUR EYES UNDER WATER. Not that this happened to me, but if it were to happen to you, you would really wish you had brought goggles.

7. 1 pair of good hiking sandals (Teva is a great brand). When I first started wearing my hiking sandals, I got some nasty blisters, so I had to wear socks some days despite the shame of wearing socks with sandals. The blisters went away after maybe a week, though, and I've worn my Tevas all summer with no problems. They're more comfortable than any shoes I've ever had, and I've walked miles and miles in them.

8. 1 pair of thin socks, in case the sandals give you blisters or your feet get cold at night. My feet always get cold at night. This is another one of those things that haters would say you should not bring, but I'd say a good night's sleep and not having blisters is worth a lot.

9. 1 good rain poncho. Mine is from Eastern Mountain Sports. It's better than a raincoat because it can easily cover my backpack, too. It's also technically an emergency shelter but I think that just means "you could use it like a mediocre tarp if you wanted to" which I don't want to do and you probably don't either. Also, it folds up super small and came with a really convenient tiny compression sack, which would be great if I hadn't lost it in London. PLUS it retains heat well, so it works as an emergency blanket/sheet for emergency naps. (It isn't too hot, though, so it's good for the summer.) It also fits over a parka, because it's huge and a poncho, so I've used it through Chicago winters with no problems.

NON-CLOTHING:

1. Glasses. Don't forget your glasses, now.

2. Sunglasses, if you are going somewhere with lots of sun. If you do not have prescription
sunglasses, you can pick these up cheap at your destination if you aren't sure you'll need them.

3. Your wallet. Do not skimp on the wallet! Bring any gift cards, ID, credit cards, debit cards, etc. that you might possibly use. Bring that student ID! Even if it's old. Lots of places have student discounts. A card does not take up much space, and it can be very nice to have. Ideally, get a wallet with a coin compartment because some countries have coins that are actually worth something (like the UK or Mexico or lots of other places).

4. Your passport, if you think there is any chance that you will leave the country. You don't want to find a flash-sale $49 flight to Mexico (an actual price that I got from Frontier Airlines) and not be able to go because you left your passport at home.

5. A good water bottle. Bonus points if it has a carabiner hole.

6. A spork! It's surprisingly hard to find a spork with a hole for a carabiner, but they are out there. Sea to Summit makes them in various varieties for prices between like $6-12. (http://www.rei.com/product/782242/sea-to-summit-alpha-light-spork). This is good to have so that you can buy cheap food at the grocery store, like yogurt or pudding or spaghetti-o's, and then you have something to eat it with. You'd be amazed at how useful a spork is.

7. 3 oz. of all-purpose camping soap. Dr. Bronner's is the best I've seen because it's multi-purpose and super concentrated. The stuff I use (because it was on sale at the REI outlet) claims to be concentrated but it seems just like regular soap to me. I use it as body wash and to wash laundry in the sink. I've heard you can also use shampoo to wash laundry in the sink. (I guess technically you could use pretty much anything, but I can't vouch for how effective it is...) If you'll be staying in one place for more than a week, you might want to buy some local body wash/shampoo; it's fun to try different countries' soaps! I like trying new soaps. It's very nice to have a bit of your own, though, and it doesn't take up much room. Note that if you're staying in hotels, you can just take theirs and you don't need to bring your own. Also, tiny shampoo or conditioner. Camping soap feels weird in your hair.

8. A tiny or foldable toothbrush! Regular toothbrush-covers are bulky and weird. Get a foldable toothbrush. They have 'em at Dollar Tree. I also got a free tiny toothbrush with a free toiletry bag that I got after spending the night in O'Hare International Airport, which is another story in itself.

9. Tiny toothpaste.

10. A travel towel. Even if most of your couchsurfing hosts have towels, if there's one who doesn't you're in trouble. There are different types of travel towels. I have one that folds down really small and tends to always feel cold and clammy, which isn't awesome. There are other ones that don't fold down as small but absorb a lot and feel nicer. You can get away with a pretty small towel, really. Mine is the size of a regular towel, but it could be way smaller and it would do the job. Travel towels come in all sizes.

11. A handkerchief (optional). Good if your nose runs a lot. I use cut-up T-shirts.

12. A smartphone. Really, really useful. If you can't afford one (and who can?), use Freedompop as an extra phone. They frequently have sales where, for less than $50, you can get a smartphone plus a free data plan FOREVER. The phones often have poor battery life, and their talk/text is unreliable, but the data is good, and having a smartphone is really a gamechanger for travelers. I highly recommend getting a Freedompop phone as your extra smartphone.

13. A charger for your smartphone.

14. A laptop. This is something that a lot of people say you should leave behind, but, again, a lot of people don't know you. I recommend a chromebook or laptop with a screen of 12 inches or smaller. Acer and Asus make very small netbooks which are OK quality (this is what I have), but chromebooks tend to be lighter and thinner. They are great if all you really need is the internet. Having access to a computer is really, really nice when doing something like buying tickets (as my phone tends to reload and delete everything I typed), writing long emails, applying to jobs, looking up information about your next destination, etc. In addition, I work online, so I really need to have a laptop. However, I'd say only one person in your party needs one, so if you're traveling with buddies, just bring one.

15. A charger for your laptop.

16. A transit pass for where you're going. Have you been there before? Do you already have a transit pass with some money left on it? Don't forget it like I do every time. Be the better person.

17. Your boarding pass. Note that Greyhound requires you to print it out, while Megabus and Boltbus will accept it on your phone.

18. Sunscreen (or buy it there).

19. Bus/plane snacks. SNAX. I recommend Clif Bars in general; they also make kid-size bars which are good for less hungry people. They keep you full and are delicious and healthy. Cheaper if you buy in bulk online or from Target.

20. Medicine. Don't skimp on meds! In other countries, medicine is often different, or has a different name, and you don't really want to deal with miming "motion sickness medicine" because you do not speak French very well. What medicine do you use with some regularity? Try to find the difference between things you THINK you will need, and things you ACTUALLY need. This takes some trial and error. I recommend anti-diarrhea meds for traveling abroad; I rarely need it, but boy, does it give me peace of mind. It's hard to find anti-motion-sickness meds abroad sometimes, and it has different names; in the UK, they don't call it motion sickness, it's travel sickness or something. Just bring it, if you need it. Bring very small amounts, as nobody wants a big thing of pills rattling around in their pack. If you aren't flying and are staying in the same country, just put a couple pills into a labeled ziplock bag. I do not recommend trying to fly or cross borders with loose pills. This seems like a bad idea.

21. 1 pad/tampon. After you use the first one, you can go to the store and buy more; they seem to have these everywhere. But you don't want to be caught without one.

22. Deodorant (you can also buy this at your destination). The liquid roll-on deodorant in the UK is the best I've ever used, so if you're going to the UK, just buy it there.

23. A daybag. I like a medium-sized drawstring bag that I can fold up really small.

24. Music! Put some on an SD card on your phone and bring headphones.

25. A portable battery for your phone. These are lifesavers. I got a really good one for $5 from Five Below. It can do two full charges. It's a little bulky, but SO worth it.

OPTIONAL:

1. A camera. I find that I always bring a camera, but never use it. My phone's camera works just fine. If you really like using a camera, of course, then bring it.

2. Chapstick.

3. A hair tie, for long hair.

Aaaand I think that's it! Happy travels!

(Note that this guide is for people who will primarily be in cities or towns and couchsurfing or staying in hostels. If you'll be doing a lot of camping, you'll need to add some things, like a sleeping bag, headlamp, food, water/purifier, and like, a tent. Other stuff too. I am not an experienced camper and can not fully advise you on such things as bears and campsnax.)

What are your Important Can't-Leave-Without-It Things? Comment to let me know!