Packing for a trip, whether long or short-term, needn’t be a stressful process. Learning to travel lightly can really enhance your experience, as you won’t be weighed down (physically and mentally!) by so much baggage. A great place to start is thinking about what NOT to bring with you on your epic adventure! Here are 5 things you should definitely leave at home before setting off:
Expensive Clothes
No matter how much you love it and think you’ll wear it while you’re on the road, bringing expensive clothes traveling just isn’t worth it. After you’ve been rolling up your clothes into a ball and squishing them into your backpack for weeks or months on the road, I guarantee you’ll either burn everything you wore or send it to the Goodwill after traveling, so leave the designer stuff at home.
Sheets/Pillows/Sleeping Bag
These end up being too bulky and largely unnecessary as hostels and hotels will always provide you with sleeping material. If you’re worried about cleanliness of hostel sheets, you can always purchase a cheap sleeping bag when you’re there- or just stay somewhere else.
Hair Dryers/Straighters/Curling Irons
Focus on simplicity and low maintenance when traveling- you’ll enjoy your time far more! In many places, your high heat electronic devices won’t work with the local voltage anyway- I destroyed a hair dryer on my first trip to Europe and just leave it behind from now on. Or just purchase one there if you’ll be somewhere long-term.
Books
I’m the biggest book lover out there, and this is a really hard one for me to abide by- but books take up way too much space and weight to justify! Either invest in an e-reader, or simply buy books when you arrive! There are plenty of English secondhand book shops everywhere, or find a book exchange at your hostel!
Your Bathroom Cupboard
This may go as obvious, but really try to keep it simple in the toiletries department. I’m talking 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, lotion squeezed into tiny travel bottles, tinted moisturizer/SPF, anything you can combine in a small package. Products will last a lot longer than you think, and you can buy what you need when you get there- chances are it will be cheap and you’ll save yourself a backache carrying it all around.