The right clothing

Planning a world trip

By Jaimy de Vries

This is another huge subject, and important to read about. Because many net travelers make the mistake not realizing how easy it is to actually make adjustments to your travel wardrobe on the road. People end up packing way too many just in case items. In fact, swapping out certain items while on the road is a pretty common strategy for many experienced travelers. In short, you already know you should try to bring as little as you can get away with instead of as much as you can carry. There is that old cliché that says you should think about what you’ll take with you, then get rid of half your clothes and double the amount of money you planned to bring. That might help a novice traveler heading out on a 2-week trip, but packing for a world trip requires more strategy.

The regions to which you are traveling to will largely determine what it is you will bring with you. If you are chasing summer around the world as many travelers like to do, it makes it much easier to pack light, since shorts, T-shirts, and flip flops will be your “uniform” the vast majority of the time. If there is going to be some spring and fall thrown in, though, then you are going to need some warmer clothes. The key is to realize and accept that wearing the same clothes over and over again is not only okay, it’s a must. And it’s even more important to realize that it is usually super cheap and extremely easy to pick up more clothes on the road. Some people seem to think their home country is the only one that sells clothes and shoes. It isn’t.

Which types of clothes are best to bring with me?

I can’t cover all the fine points of selecting clothes and packing here, but there are a couple of things I’ll point out that may not be immediately obvious. Certainly you want to look for clothes that take up as little space as possible, but you also really want to select items that will dry quickly.

Washing Clothes – Most people plan on washing their clothes (one way or another) every week or so, so bringing more than a week’s worth of outfits is simply unnecessary. If you buck up for moisture-wicking gear, your clothes will dry super fast, making it easy to do laundry in your sink and do it often. If you’re traveling in developing countries, you’ll be shocked to find out just how cheap it is to send your laundry out.
Jeans – Most travelers think bringing jeans are crazy. Many of us wear them every day at home, but the fact that they are big, heavy, and take forever to dry is why many travelers refuse to bring them.
Trekking – If you plan on hiking a lot, that can affect which clothes to bring, but luckily hiking and travel gear often seem to be one and the same. Shoes are going to be the only difference, as some people have to have special boots for hiking, which are big and very heavy. They make excellent hiking shoes these days which cuts down on size and weight, but if you have bad ankles, you may want to stick with the boots.
Underwear – Your unmentionables are a key component of your wardrobe while on the road. You are going to do be doing a lot of walking, and if you are in hot areas, a lot of sweating. This adds up to those nasty heat rashes and chafing in delicate areas. Do yourself a favor and buy several pairs of merino wool underwear. You may scoff at the price, but they’re super comfortable, they dry quickly, they wick moisture, and they are lightweight.
Merino wool – besides underwear there are lots of shirt and leggings made of merino wool that sits very comfortable: it’s light, gets dry quickly and ventilates well. It keeps your warm when it’s cold, and keeps you cold when it’s hot. And! with merino clothing you don’t get a sweaty smell.
hydrophilic cloths– You must be thinking: 'huh, but that's for baby's!?'. Yes it is! And baby's vomit, pee and poop a lot. Hydrophilic cloths are specially made to suck fluids and dry quickly. Great for baby's, but also for travelers! And besides they're light weighted and small. These are the perfect towels to bring with you on your journey. I don’t like microfiber towels, they don't feel nice, my hair gets static and it’s not an easy fabric to dry yourself with it. Hydrophilic cloths on the other hand is a nice fabric and easy to dry yourself with.

Buying Clothes on the road

As mentioned at the outset of this section, part of your strategy should include buying or replacing some items on the road. T-shirts in particular are available almost everywhere and are quite cheap in most places. Many people have been known to start their trip with, say, 5 or 6 older t-shirts and then throw them away as new souvenir t-shirts are obtained. You really don’t want to buy many knick knack-type souvenirs on the road so buying a useful item like a T-shirt can be a fun way of bringing new items with you without taking up any extra space.

What I did....

There went some time by before I got all the items I need for my world trip. First I checked out various packing lists around the web to get an idea of what others brought. I started early in the process, because I didn’t want to stress out at the end before I set off. And let’s be honest: If you know you want to travel, shopping is just some pre-fun for your trip! And if you have the time and possibility: try out your clothes beforehand. Don’t try your travel-specific clothes and gear for the first

time on the road. I found out that some clothing is not handy to bring along and I preferred different types of clothing. So when my world trip finally arrived I knew exactly which type of clothing would fit the best for my world trip. I started in Canada so I brought mostly warm clothing and lots of layers with me. I decided to buy summer clothes on the way in central America.

Underneath a list I made of all the clothing I brought with me on my trip and why I chose to bring these items with me.

3-in-1 Jacket: I’m going to travel in all seasons from cold winter to hot rain seasons. So I need to have a jacket that keeps me warm, dry and protects me from the wind. But I also need a light thin jacket that protects me from heavy rain during rain season when it’s 35 degrees. A 3-in-1 jacket fits perfectly for my trip.
Pair Hiking Boots: a necessary item if you're planning to hike or go trekking. I asked for advice at the store. I bought category C hiking shoes, because I will hike on difficult trails in the Patagonia and Himalaya mountains. Before I went on my world trip I had long walks with a friend so the hiking boots will fit to my feet.
Pair of comfortable Shoes: for normal walking, visiting a city and during transportation it’s nice to have comfortable light weighted shoes and not having to wear my heavy leather hiking shoes all the time.
Pair of sandals: I know these things look ridiculous. I looked a year to find comfortable sandals that looks a bit fashionable as well. I found one! But trying them out in Egypt they weren’t so comfortable. So I decided to leave them at home and buy some good (hopefully cheap - and nice looking) ones in central America.
Hiking pants with zip-function: good hiking pants are essential. When going to different weather conditions it Is handy to have hiking pants that’s has a zip-off function. So when you’re somewhere with tropical temperatures you can transform it into a short and at night when the mosquitos are active you can transfer it back to long-pants.
Comfortable hiking legging: I brought 1 hiking legging with me from Decathlon. It looks sportive but also looks like normal pants, its very comfortable, it has many pockets and it dries quickly. The ideal pants for travel!
Merino thermo legging: when the temperatures are cold it’s nice to have a thermo legging with you that you can wear under your normal or hiking pants. Merino wool is very comfortable, it ventilates well and keeps you warm.
Skort: a skort is a short and skirt in one. It looks more fancy and it’s practical as well. And you don’t have to worry that somebody’s sees your panties.
3 sweaters: because I’ll start in Canada in the winter I need to bring more warm clothes with me. So that’s why I brought 3 warm sweaters with me.
2 merino wool long-sleeve: you need to bring at least one long-sleeve with you.
4 Merino wool T shirts: I bought 4 t-shirts with me, that’s quite much, but I don’t know for sure if they sell merino clothing in countries in Central-America and Asia. And these are good quality t-shirts that I can wear when it’s cold or hot.
2 Merino wool tops: I bought two merino wool basic tops with me as an underlayer.
1-2 Nice Outfits: You don’t go hiking every day and having a nice outfit is great for a night out in a city for example. I brought one dress with me and a pair of jeans.
2 pair of hiking socks: it’s not much, but I don’t have sweaty feet so I can wear my socks 2-3 days in a roll.
2 pair of normal socks: as I said before, you don’t go hiking everyday. So wearing your hiking socks in your sneakers won’t make any sense. So have some normal pair of socks for your sneakers would be nice.
1 normal bra, 1 sport bra: a sport bra is ideal for traveling because it’s comfortable and good for hiking. But I don’t want to wear sport outfits all the time. So I Brought a nice bra and set of panties with me as well.
6 panties: I Brought 3 fancy panties with me that match with my bra. And I brought 3 merino panties with me suited for long walks.
Swimming outfit: I brought my favorite bikini with me, with a matching sarong.

Special thanks to Bootsnall.com for all the guidelines and information on how to plan a round-the-world trip!