Multi-function soap

Cool Tools on Dr. Bronner’s, a favorite of many enterprising travelers:

The potent soap is vegetable-oil based (including jojoba, coconut, and hemp oils) that when diluted can be used in a number of different ways. When I spent four months traveling through China it replaced my shampoo, face and body wash, deodorant, laundry detergent, and, when I ran out of it, my toothpaste (but only once as it overwhelmed my mouth). Using it meant I could pack less and lighten my load. I have also brought it camping to clean pots and pans where the use of harsher soaps and detergents would sully sensitive environments. - Cool Tools

(Brad)

Less than a pound a day

OBOW reader Heather reports great success in her first attempt at going very light:

Well, after two weeks in snowy Europe, we re back in sunny California! Our return flight from Munich was delayed by an hour due to snow, which made it even more important that we one-bagged it and were able to make our connecting flight in Atlanta. I see that an item or two from my packing list may have been misunderstood by fellow OBOW readers. We knew Germany wouldn t lack modern comforts; we just packed for familiarity, efficiency, and economy. In this case, the unnecessary spork helped us to demolish a large and gooey schokokuss in our room with minimal disruption to hotel staff (grin).

This was my husband s first one-bagging trip, and he did a great job, carrying the OPEC and doing laundry in the sink. We purchased in Munich: Rei in der Tube detergent, a washcloth for my husband, and a pair of tights as an extra layer for me. As the temperature dropped, we simply added more layers that we had brought from home, since we had packed three pairs of socks, three shirts, etc. By the time the temperature in Prague hit the teens, I was wearing an undershirt, a -sleeve t-shirt, a long underwear top, a wool cardigan, and a button-down shirt under my insulated raincoat. At first I thought I was cold because I come from a warm climate, but when I saw European tourists wearing ski pants to the Christmas markets an anomaly, for sure I thought that perhaps it really was frigid outside. But we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Among the places we visited: almost every Christmas market in central Munich, the Asamkirche, Peterskirche, Hofbrauhaus (how could we pass it up?), Viktualienmarkt, Deutsches Museum, city museum of Munich (the marionettes and Oktoberfest/funfair memorabilia were an awesome psychedelic experience after 16 hours of sleep-deprived travel), the toy museum in Nurnberg, the Nazi Dokumentationszentrum, Prague s Petrin Park, Charles Bridge and the horological clock, remnants of medieval Prague which are buried below the current city, the Infant of Prague statue, the concentration camp at Dachau, medieval houses in Regensburg, and the German National Museum in Nurnberg. Although we are not planning to do another cold-weather trip (the Christmas sights were the motivator for this one), we found that doing it with one bag each is completely feasible. We stayed dry, kept moving, wore layers (and took them off when indoors), and indulged in lots of caloric foods such as smazeny cyr (fried cheese) with tartar sauce. Incredibly, neither of us gained weight, as we had undoubtedly burned it off trying to stay warm. It was a wonderful trip, full of thought-provoking places.

What a helpful and heartening account for those new to one-bag travel! Read about her preparation process here in the OBOW Forum.

(Brad)

Update on December 12, 2010 by Frank@OBOW

Read an earlier series of posts on a similar effort here.

The Ultralight Alternative, part 4

Mulling the maxims through the prism of the 13 days/13 pounds trip.

Ultralight travel means the traveler must commit to doing a certain amount of sink laundry (#6)

Indeed it does. Doing no laundry on a trip of a week or more (unless a bathing suit and tank top are the height of your sartorial needs) will leave you with a bag that is quite heavy - 20 pounds or more - in many cases. Not to exceed our magic carry-on comfort weight of 15 pounds is the goal. So some of the wardrobe must be washable in the hotel sink and, more importantly, able to be dried overnight.

Is it a hassle? Some will think so, but I can honestly say I never spent more than 10 minutes washing out my day’s clothing and sometimes I did two “loads”. Drying the clothing in a humid climate is more of a challenge. As I’ve mentioned before having more than one way to hang your clothing will help because you rarely know what you’re gong to get in the hotel room. Some have powerful exhaust fans which really speed up drying, some have no ventilation at all. A window may speed things up, but with high humidity this may not even help. Some rooms have balconies with little or no place to safely hang clothing, and most hoteliers probably frown on displays of drying clothes - so you have to be smart and sensitive to your environment. I always pack hangers. The ones that swivel and have notches are best, and don’t forget a cheap plastic pants hanger. The clothespin shower rod hooks are nice too. Unfortunately you can’t count on having a shower rod. Get a good clothesline. They’re out there, I just don’t have one. Curtain rods above the sliding doors to balconies were the best places I found to hang dry. Of course a hair dryer can help you in a pinch.

I did not take the plunge for a full-size microfiber towel for this trip (as a drying aid). My best advice remains to request an extra bath towel or two and use them to wring out your wet stuff.

For multi-stop trips plan your laundry around places where you’ll be staying more than one night. This takes all the urgency out of drying, assuming you have a couple of changes of clothing. What you’re wearing plus two changes (more than I took this time) is recommended. One last tip: be considerate of your hotel maid when hanging laundry. I try to make sure it’s out of their way. This also minimizes the possibility of it getting knocked down. If something is nearly dry you always hang it in the room wardrobe or clothing rack for the day.

A laundromat or hotel facility will obviously work as well, though you rarely find either in Europe. Both are plentiful in the US. You may still find that doing your own in your room is  faster and more convenient.

My Stinkfighter Formula works well to odor-proof synthetics. You can also use Woolite, whatever you use at home, or any of the various camp/travel soaps.

One last benefit of doing laundry as you go: you’re never carrying much more than a days worth of dirty clothes in your bag.

Update on June 19, 2009 by Frank@OBOW

Don’t forget a little spray bottle of Febreze. It’a an element of the Stinkfighter formula and you can use to blast your bag or offending article of clothing - but hopefully never any of your traveling companions.

Clothing & climes

I’ve made trips to hotter and/or more humid climates than Italy or the French Riviera, but these areas present a particular challenge for all-day comfort and overnight drying. Though spring, winter, or fall would surely be different, for summer I would choose clothing with just a touch of cotton for the sake of comfort. The all-poly stuff is just a little too sticky right out of the gate. The ExOfficio shirts are terrific, but when paired with an undershirt of similar fabric they really get the sweat started early. The upside is that they do dry quickly when you’re wearing them though they’ll never dry completely on a muggy Tuscan day. Maybe I should just re-think my policy of always wearing an undershirt. This has probably been my problem. I’ve worn a short-sleeved collared poly shirt for a couple of days without an undershirt and it has been pleasant. Old habits die hard. But the fat lady may be singing for this one. As for drying you just have to be really intentional and inventive. There’s not a lot of forced air in even nice hotels and there may be fewer place to hang-dry. Hence the swivel hangers and (mea culpa) a good clothesline.And don’t let your signifcant partner talk you out of using the bathmat towel for wringing out your heavy laundered clothes - big mistake.

Travel laundry killer app

WRINKLE KILLER…wrinkle killer that is. Downy Wrinkle Releaser is for real. It is the new must have for travelers - whether you do sink laundry or not. My left-in-the-dryer 60/40 dress shirt was a mess and a fine test case. A couple of blasts of the Downy product, a couple of tugs and some smoothing and, voila!, no wrinkles. I’m a poor folder so I expect the the Wrinkle Releaser will bail me out often. Get it in the travel size or re-package (from the widely-available big bottle) to a small spray bottle. You’ll never leave home without it.

Tip for use are found here; a forum for users here.

Sinking feeling

Here’s a helpful thread from the Rick Steves forum concerning sink laundry techniques. I’m in the market for a microfiber packtowel since hotels are not always willing to supply extra towels and my wife doesn’t like it when I dampen all the towels before she can use them.