18 Items To Leave Off Packing Lists

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.