In moderate climates we wear pants, shorts, and skirts at least a couple times before washing them, sometimes 3 or 4 times. Tops I generally wear 2-3 times. My husband wears clean shirts everyday. Socks and underwear only one wearing.

In hot climates we only get one use out of each item before it needs to be washed. Fortunately clothing for hot climates packs smaller to we can bring more - LOL.

I hand wash bras and undies, send the rest of the dirty clothes out to be washed. It is an expense, but one that I think is worth it - enables us to pack light and we don't spend our vacation time doing laundry.

Our longest trip was 2.5 weeks (I am way jealous of those of you who can get away for longer by the way ). If we could get away for longer, I'd probably find a laudromat and do our own laundry since sending laundry out can get pricey.

The only negative thing about doing laundry on the road is looking at the pictures - oh, I'm wearing the same striped shirt again? On how many pictures?

Depends where you're traveling. Sending out laundry (dropping off for 1-day service actually) is extremely inexpensive in Mexico for example.

Thursdaysd - most of my trips are at about 21 days, so it works well.

For longer trips, I will figure in a 1/2 day mid-trip for a "laundry day" to stop at a laundromat, etc. Since I don't bring clothing that will color bleed, I can throw most things into one load and be done within a couple hours including drying time. Then I just start over with the clothes.

- Pack for 7 days max (8 in a pinch), even if your trip is longer
- Never bring more luggage, including camera bags, backpacks, etc., than you can and are willing to carry up 3 flights of stairs (all at once)
- If your trip is for more than a few days, pack limited toiletries (i.e. only for day one) and purchase supplies once at your destination. Toss leftover items before returning home so you don’t have to pack them.
- If you are checking luggage, always pack at least one complete change of clothes in a carry-on. Even on direct flights luggage can and does get lost.
- Schedule laundry into your itinerary (once every 6-8 days…see packing above). For that 6th or 7th night, book into a hotel that offers a guest laundry or track down a self-service laundromat near your hotel as part of trip planning. With the exception of Venice, Italy, I can’t recall a city or town of most any size that doesn’t have a laundromat. No one likes doing laundry, especially on vacation, but the reality is you can usually wash and dry everything in under two hours. And in many places, the attendant at the laundromat will do it all for you, at little or no extra cost, while you are out site-seeing or dining so you don’t really lose much time. Washing anything other than socks in a sink is a non-starter.

Faina - I have the "Wore all over Europe" dress..it is a joke in my family and it is in SO many photos from our trip to Europe in 07.

When I wear the dress at home my family cracks jokes all the time"Oh is that the dress you wore ALL over Europe???"

a solution to "you in the same shirt or dress in every picture". is to take a picture of the scenery, the statue, whatever without you standing in front of it! as long as you are in some of the pics.

still might be the same shirt of course.

When I pick tops to take, I make sure each one is a different style and/or color. That way, I'm not obviously in the same outfit everytime.

For instance, my last trip, I brought a dusty blue 3/4 sleeve top, a coral tank & matching button down, an olive tank & matching sweater, and an olive striped sleeveless. By rotating them with the 3 pants I took (1 dark blue, 1 steel blue, 1 dark brown), I was able to wear 12 completely different outfits that are mix-and-match.

One of the first things to go into my luggage is an expandable elastic clothesline. In fact, I take two. These things can, with a bit of imagination, be hooked up in any accommodation and they are great for drying socks, undies, shirts, etc, overnight -- and you don't need pegs with them.

"One of the first things to go into my luggage is an expandable elastic clothesline."

Kiwi, I pack expandable elastic waistline Skirts and pants.

We learned to "pack light" last Sept. when our checked bags went astray for 3 weeks.

MDH was very happy that I'm a stickler for packing a good carry-on. That, and the fact that we had a washer in our Paris apt. for the first 2 wks. helped us adjust easily. With everything clean, we moved on to the Loire and didn't look back.

Our bags arrived at home 3 days after we returned.

This wasn't bad because we received a large voucher toward our airfare for this Sept. and it taught us that we can survive easily on less.

I do love you idea for a portable washing machine!

TPAYT-

I think a well learned lesson is when you have to survive on less clothing and voila! miraculously one can. Unfortunately, losing baggage is a bad way to learn it, but now you know for next time.

I purposely don't buy clothing I may need for many months before a trip and then shop during my travels to pick up some unique wardrobe pieces, even if it is just a t-shirt, dress or scarf.

I go thru each day of the trip in my mind and think of what I will wear. I will mix and match. Often I will wear the same outfit on the plane TO and FROM. I'll pick a foundation color - black, often - and take only black shoes, black purse. Then I will add one or two shirts "just to be sure". If I'm going somewhere for 5 days, I'll wear one pair of jeans and take 2 more pants - one jeans and one slacks. Only once did I not have the right clothes - but the weather changed drastically.

Great thread!

Oh boy Toedtoes, no I'm not your grandmother incarcerated, but the gold w/ browns and silver w/blacks is a basis on which to build and eliminate accessories and clothing that doesnt coordinate. I always travel w/ khaki and jeans plus either the 'black' family including gray, or 'brown' family including olive, etc. I am a stylist/shopper by profession -- "I get it" ok. But I couldnt agree with you more on the nixing old clothes. Really. Not for nothing, you come home with your 300 pictures with yourself in your soon-to-be garbage clothes. Must say, American women have to learn alot about dressing well (not that I'm not one of them....)too much sloppiness seen. When we lived in Houston for 3 yrs out of NYC area, the well-dressed woman young and old was so overwhelmingly apparent, I vowed never to go out to the grocery store as a slob again, it's about grooming, not worrying about others' opinion.

One can be well groomed and be wearing work-out clothes. Southern Californians are not big "dresser-uppers" for daytime in this climate, but we are well groomed in our matching hoodies and yoga pants. I think it really depends on your lifestyle and age. Color co-ordinated "dress up clothes" for the day time would be rather hilarious in my circles.

Lolly - your posts suggests that it's either "work out wear" or "dress up clothes" and that "dress up clothes" are not appropriate for daytime wear in your region. Whatever happened to "casual clothes"?

Jeans, khakis, capris, cotton skirts, etc. are certainly not "dress up clothes", they are casual wear. To me, wearing work out wear outside of the gym on a regular basis is more of a fad and image statement than an "acceptable dress code" - and I live in an area where it's common wear.

In response to a post above, Venice does have self-service laundromats. I have used this one:
Speedy Wash, Rio Terrà San Leonardo Cannaregio 1520

Turns out, packing light has a benefit I didn't expect. The riad I picked in Marrakesh, the Dar Silsila, fell so far short of my expectations that I decided to check out after one night, only to be physically prevented from leaving! A staff member locked the only door and stood in front of it! Eventually she had to open the door for other guests, and I was able to escape, but only because I was wearing my luggage.

I pack light. I don't take clothes that I'd worry about losing/wrecking. And while I probably wouldn't get singled out for my stunningly fashionista attire, I look just fine --- mostly because when I'm traveling, I'm so freaking happy, I tend to smile a lot. Smiling has always been my best (and most universally functional) accessory.