Pack light, fit in carry-on: dealing with clothing – quick-dry ftw

Traveling lightly makes your trip easier

I nearly always travel with only carry-on luggage.  One exception was when I went to Australia for a month and brought snorkeling stuff, dinnerware for when we were “roughing” it, mosquito nets, etc.,  as well as clothes good for 90 degrees down to about 30 degrees and it just was easy enough to bring one large suitcase.  I promptly sold that suitcase when I returned home, never intending to use it again.

My recent trips for 2 weeks to the Caribbean, 2 weeks in Cambodia and Thailand and 2 weeks in China were all done with a carry-on suitcase. Two key things to do this are to have color-coordinated easy-wash quick-dry clothing and use layers. Another is to have reversible/multi-way clothing.  Or do both.  In this post, I will cover the quick wash clothing.
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Good travel clothing brands

In general, you are looking for nylon and/or polyester clothing (hopefully with a little spandex or elastane for comfort). Some good brands to look for that have high quality travel clothing are:

arc’teryx · cabela’s · eastern mountain sports · fjall raven · mammut ·
marmot · mountain hardwear · patagonia · rei · travel elements ·
travelon · travelsmith · travelers by chico’s · white sierra · reel legends

Many of the above brands are fairly expensive. Below I’m giving links to some of the more affordable brands that have performed well for me on many trips.

Each of the brands below also has men’s wear.

Underwear

Ex-Officio underwear is very helpful. They have a lot of easy wash quick-dry items like underwear and bras. Other brands have similar offerings. [You can click the image to the right to go to Ex-Officio on Amazon]. They also have clothes which are also really good for travel but pretty expensive.

Tops

Many brands offer quick-dry t-shirts, one of the brands I like is Baleaf who have lots of t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, shorts, pants and leggings that are great for travel. This is one of their quick-dry tees that comes in many colors and sizes. [You can click the image to the right to go to Baleaf on Amazon]. They have workout wear, but they also have what just look like normal t-shirts, and I like that they have a fair amount of heathered and/or space dye patterns that soften the colors. These are also great to wear under other clothes so that you don’t have to wash the other clothes so much as these wash and dry really easily.

Bottoms

For pants, shorts, etc, a good and affordable brand is White Sierra. They have a lot of options for skorts, shorts, capris, and pants. They also have tops, but I just love their pants/capris the most. They generally seem to wear well, although I find the sizes sometimes seem to lean a little small so look at the sizing carefully. [You can click the image to the right to go to White Sierra capris on Amazon, then search for them because they are in multiple listings for some reason]. These capris don’t ride up and dry very quickly, so they are great in hot weather. They also wash and dry fast.

I also like the Baleaf joggers pants.  These also have zippered pockets which is really useful.  They have a drawstring and elastic waist and are made of a very soft fabric that dries quickly.

Dresses

Travelsmith is another good brand for travel clothing, although I find that they often don’t dry as quickly as the above. Here is one of their travel dresses that can go from a party to a walk on the beach. This dress comes in several colors and is quite comfortable and can be paired with a sweater in colder climates.

Packing

Most of these items also fold very compactly, so that t-shirts and pants don’t take up much space which is helpful when you are trying to have all of your clothes in about half to two-thirds of a carry-on suitcase.

I find that if I have 4 or 5 t-shirts, 3-4 pants/capris, 2 long sleeve t-shirts or hoodies, 7 underwear, 7 pairs of sock or shoe liners (all types combined), and a sweater, I’m pretty well set for anything. And that all will fit in 2 medium-sized luggage cubes.

You can also check out my postings on how to wash and dry this travel clothing even in tight spaces.

Happy travels (with clean clothes)