Travel packing: Leaving clothing/supplies behind

Packing in carry-on and coming home with less than when you started is goal you can master. By leaving things behind and coming back with less, or coming back with treasures from abroad instead.

How?

These items can be either thrown away or intentionally left for people there.  Either way, it leaves me more room in my carry-on going home (and less weight) .  There are several ways you can come home with less than you brought.

Planned discarding of nearly worn-out clothes.

I frequently take a few items of clothing with me that are nearly worn out or have stains or such. Then I throw them away after getting one or two more wears out of them on a trip. 

Frequently, the shirt I wear on 14+ hour planes flights is one of these items. By the end of the trip to my destination,  I’ve probably spilled something on myself. Additionally, my shirt probably smells of sweat. To have shirts I can discard like this, if I stain a shirt I like, I’ll put it in my suitcase to be disposed of on my next trip.

Other clothing items can also be discarded. I put nearly worn through socks and other such items into my suitcase. When packing for a trip, I decide which things make sense to bring and wear one more time before discarding. They’d be discarded at home already or after one more wear, so it makes efficient use of them.

Buying clothes for the purpose

 Another thing I have done when I know I might be doing activities that can ruin clothes, if I don’t have anything like the above, is get something cheap off Thredup (this link should get you $10 off your first purchase). Thredup is a site with clothing from people that is new with tags, like new with tags, or with minor issues (a little pre-pilling, a small amount of fraying on an edge, etc).  You can often get nice previously worn shirts there for around $3 to $6. 

If these clothes survive the hike or animal encounter or cave crawl undamaged, great. I or someone else (if I leave it there, see below) got a shirt or shorts or whatever.  If it doesn’t survive, no worries, I only paid a couple dollars for it. Plus, I didn’t ruin something I like to wear a lot or paid a lot of money for.  I have gotten some great deals on new with tags clothing there that I intend to keep and wear too.

Intentional donations to less affluent countries.

Another thing that sometimes happens is I leave clothes, food, toiletries I didn’t use for the hotel maid, hostel host/patrons, etc. to use. If you want to do this, you have to make your intentions clear. Either give it directly to the host/maid, or make a neat pilea and leave a note explaining that you are leaving them intentionally. Otherwise, depending on what you leave, the hotel/hostel may hold the items thinking it was accidentally.  I have also brought things specifically to leave them behind in some countries I’ve visited. For example, Cuba, although the dollar amount you can leave is severely restricted. However, I was able to bring a bag of cheap kids’ toys and toiletries with me to leave with an orphanage). 

Snacks and other consumables

I often also take snacks I like with me in case I can’t find food I like or think is safe to eat. These are routinely left behind as well if I didn’t finish them (like granola bars, fruit snacks, etc.).  I like to take enough that I won’t run out, so I normally am leaving some behind.

Also, I’ll often take a physical book with me that has been kept for the trip (as I’m mostly Kindle now). This will generally be left at an airport or hotel lobby (with a note that it’s free for the taking)..  [Check out my Kindle facebook page for good deals on Kindle books when I find them.]  I know how happy I’ve been when in a foreign country and finding an English book, so I’m hoping I’ve brought that joy to others in foreign airports, hotel lobbies and hostels.

Safe (and lightweight) travels!