Bras

Photo by jenny downing.

Do you really need that extra bra?

Every week TravelBlogs.com reaches out to a couple travel bloggers, soliciting their advice or thoughts on various topics such as Travel Snobbery and To Haggle or Not To Haggle in panel discussions.

In the crowdsourced piece, 18 Things You Don’t Need on Your Packing List, bloggers listed a slew of items from soap and too much underwear (guilty as charged!) to books and jewelry (you mean no one carries a complete set of pearls too?!).

Here are some of my favorite answers:

Too much underwear. Or any cotton underwear.

Nikolas Tjhin from Unearthing Asia: On my last big trip, I learned that I didn’t need to pack my normal cotton underwears for the trip. I got myself some paper underwear which were good for one time use, and that was a great help I intend to follow next time I’m on a trip. It helps because I can live with wearing a slightly dirty shirt and or pants, but an underwear that’s not clean is just gross.

Zip-off convertible trousers

Geoff from Itinerant Londoner: The most common packing mistake I regularly see other travellers make is to bring those zip-off convertible trousers. Why such a mistake? Well, it’s quite simple. They make you look like an idiot.

Soap

Shelly Rivoli from Travels with Baby: An entire industry has been created for little boxes to carry your personal soap as you travel. But when’s the last time you needed an entire bar of soap on a trip? Generally speaking, soap is inexpensive and easy to come by.

It’s even free at most hotels (they want clean people in their beds!). I’m always curious to see what the soap will be like where I am headed: the aroma, the shape, the lather. It’s all part of the travel experience, no to be missed.

High expectations

Bonnie Brewster from The London Spy: It’s better to be pleasantly surprised once you arrive rather than expect too much from a city you’ve never explored.

For the complete list of unnecessary items, check out Travelblogs.com.

Community Connection

Wondering what you should actually pack? Check out our What’s In Your Backpack? series and 10 Multi-Use Items You Should Consider Packing.

 
 

About The Author

Lola (Akinmade) Åkerström

Lola (Akinmade) Åkerström is a MatadorU faculty member and Network contributor. Her work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Vogue, BBC, Fodors.com, and many more. Follow her photoblog at Sweden.se.

  • http://michelleschusterman.com Michelle

    Great tips! So true on the underwear (and convertible pants, haha)

  • http://alainarose.wordpress.com Alaina

    Underwear, books, jewelry – I’m guilty of all of the above.

  • http://travelswitheman.blogspot.com Eman

    Re: Convertible pants. I wear them. Why didn’t anyone tell me I look like an idiot?

    2nd question: What’s wrong with looking like an idiot?

    • http://www.lolaakinmade.com Lola Akinmade

      @Eman – I wear them sometimes, especially when hiking or doing some adventure travel so I’m totally with you on this one.

  • Carlo

    I can’t wear convertible pants if I want to look cool?

    ….but how will I show off my magnificent calves dramatically?

  • http://matadortrips.com/ Hal Amen

    Depends on the type of travel, I guess. I’ve definitely used whole bars of soap on a single trip and was happy to have the little box to keep them in.

    Also, Eman, I feel ya on the pants.

  • Ben Freedlander

    I can’t remember the brand but when I backpack I just buy a few pairs of the underwear you can wash in the sink and dry overnight at REI. Kind of expensive but worth it in my opinion. -Ben

  • http://matadornights.com Kate

    You can wash your underwear, but it’s easy to justify bringing extra because they’re so small. Paper ones? Uh. No thanks. I don’t need it to sound like I’m about to get a pelvic exam every time I sit down (crinkle crinkle). Better to go commando.

    • http://www.lolaakinmade.com Lola Akinmade

      @Kate – Hilarious!

      You can never have too much underwear in my book.

  • http://www.lolaakinmade.com Lola Akinmade

    @Alaina – I’m totally with you on the jewelry part. At least I take a change of earrings.

  • http://onceatraveler.com Turner

    I’m with you on the pants. I have a hard time with shoes: running shoes, fivefingers, jandals, and hiking shoes.

  • http://annemerritt.blogspot.com Anne

    Good tips, though I’m guilty of a lot of these items. I always bring too many books, I hate the thought of running out of reading materials and having to re-read a pamphlet on a 10-hour train.

  • http://abbiemood.com Abbie

    My advice is to pack less clothes to leave room for a travel bottle of laundry detergent and hand wash your clothes (if that’s possible)…

  • http://saratheintrepid.wordpress.com/ Sara

    Disposable underwear? Environmentally unsound methinks. Ever heard of hand washing, I do my washing everyday – takes 10 minutes, dry by morning and guess what… I don’t stink.

    *sits back smugly*

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