One major travel challenge, especially for women, is cramming everything into a suitcase or backpack. Many of us love to make purchases while traveling, whether it’s clothing, books, kitschy gifts, or art, so it’s hard to find space for these new items when we pack our bags to the brim.
While one solution is to leave home with a bag that isn’t full, most of us are too tempted to fill up all the space we have. How can you make space for your purchases? Leave home with things you can throw away or leave behind at the end of your trip.
Bringing a book with you? If you finish it while on your trip, leave it behind at your accommodations or find a local library where you can donate it. Bring a pair of old shoes or a few old T-shirts you will probably never wear again. Buy sample sizes of all your toiletries at a drugstore and toss them at the end of your trip.
On my recent trip to New York City, I was staying at a vacation rental that required me to bring my own towel. I made sure to bring a ratty old towel with bleach stains. This way, when I was packing to go home, I was able to leave the towel behind without regret and make room for my new clothing purchases.
Some may say this is wasteful. I don’t advocate throwing out valuable items (you probably shouldn’t bring valuable items with you anyway). I just think if you can’t force yourself to leave home with a bag with plenty of extra space, bring items you know you can part with on the back end once you’ve used them for your travels. If you are really concerned about wasting clothes, you can find a local place to donate the clothes or shoes you are getting rid of before you head home.
Have you ever tossed out items while traveling so you can fit more in your bag?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Good idea! I have a friend that always takes tee shirts and jeans that she’s ready to discard and leaves them for hotel housekeepers, particularly in third world countries.
I’ve definitely left books behind, especially at hostels with a book-exchange program going on. I often times I will not pack toiletries and just buy the smallest size possible when I get to the locale. Works out well.
Glad you both agree! While it may be slightly wasteful, if they were items you were going to discard sometime soon anyway, it can’t hurt to do it in a time when you want to free up some space while traveling. A book-exchange program at a hostel is a wonderful idea!
I do the same. You always have a few ratty things around and I don’t see a reason to bring a book back that I probably paid less then $5 for and have read cover-to-cover…
I’ve even done this with shoes. Mine tend to take a real beating, and I don’t buy pricey ones to begin with.
When I saw the title of this post, I jumped to the wrong conclusion – I thought you were going to be promoting wastefulness. In fact, you’re not – those books do get reread, and clothes that we may considered ill-fitting or worn may be just what another family needs.
For toiletries, though, I don’t really like buying those travel sized containers. Frequent travelers can go through a lot of plastic that way! Better, and less wasteful, to buy a travel-size container and decant a little of our own shampoo (or whatever) into it.
Thanks for chiming in, Jennifer! I can see how this would be misleading. I should probably have titled this “Bring things you can leave behind” rather than “Bring things you can throw away.”
For toiletries, I personally do use reusable travel-sized containers and refill them. I used to buy travel-sized ones at the drug stores and toss them when empty, but once I started traveling more, I decided to use the refillable ones. So I’m with you on that one — if you travel frequently, tossing out plastic every time certainly would be wasteful.