With the different way airlines are bumping up prices, I had every intention to bring only my carry-on suitcase and a backpack on a three-and-half-week trip to both coasts this past summer, which meant being very strategic with my clothing needs including planning laundry time.
I know a fair amount of people dislike doing laundry for any number of reasons. Since I love clean clothes, I’m a fan of laundry. Whether I go away for a weekend or 2+ weeks, I use the same red carry-on suitcase. Not only I was strategic with packing, I also knew that I could do laundry when needed to. I had enough clothes to last me the entire hiking week.
Because it was during a heat wave, the laundry bag was growing daily. After camping for a number of days, we ended up staying in a youth hostel for one night and my eyes perked up seeing two huge washing machines and dryers. Combining my friend’s clothes and mine made it worthwhile to spend the money for clean clothes for the last couple days of the trip. We’d be fine waiting to do laundry at the end back at my friend’s home but it’s nicer to have more options of clean clothes to wear while hiking.
Of course, I did another load of wash before flying to the East Coast as I needed some of the clothes to wear to work with my clients once I’m there. That’s the other strategic part, packing multipurpose clothes that I can wear both for hiking and for when I work with clients, as appropriate. Thank goodness I do not need to wear a suit to work with clients.
What’s your favorite packing trick for carry-on when traveling to multiple cities?