I suggest finding a laundromat and visiting every 5 days (or so). I'm so relieved when my clothes are all clean again. So my advice is - take clothes for 4 days (but with some reusable items), underwear for 7 days, and visit the laundromat every 5 days. Then you will never be in an emergency.

I also like to wash everything before taking it back through airport security and customs, but that's not always possible.

To CD;
Try www.campmor.com . They have lots of camping equipment and Cool Max (and other wicking supplies) are part of it.

Thanks Gbelle
I went to their website but they do not have any socks that are advertised as being able to dry overnight. But, thanks anyway!

GoTravel - huh???

Are people supposed to bring NEW shoes on a trip? I think not. That could be disastrous.

I'm talking about shoes here...not sneakers/hiking boots which are a different story...when you wear those heels down they can get pretty lopsided & I can see where that would cause trouble.

i don't mind bringing home dirty undies it keeps my suitcase inspector from having tooo much fun with them. i also take old and throw away.

I think the idea with the shoes is to bring ones that have been worn, are known to be comfortable, but not so old that they lack support. This is important with all type of shoes, not just athletic shoes.

Suzanne, this is quoting your post:

"Message: One thing I always bring on vacation are old walking shoes. The ones that look really beat-up but are so comfortable that you've held on to them for years"

When you write old walking shoes, I think Clarks, Easy Spirit, or SAS which are basically sneakers. Any shoe that you've had for years and worn with some regularity is worn out.

On vacation most people walk much greater distances than they would ever walk at home. This is especially true if you are traveling to a city.

Brand new shoes for vacation? Yes.

Good shoes, do not need to be broken in with the exception of some minor molding to the wearer's foot. Good comfortable walking shoes should not give you blisters or hurt your feet.

If this is the case, either your shoes aren't that good or you are buying the wrong size.

There is nothing better than good support.

Regarding the coolmax women's panties - I've been checking around online and found some, but their are either high waisted briefs or higher cut panties with high waists. As a short person, those types of panties practically come up to my armpits. Does anyone know any companies which sell bikini style coolmax panties. Not looking for anything fancy, just something without a high waist. Something along the lines of the women's Jockey bikinis.

Thanks.

I've done it all. Always a compromise between convenience, mobility, environmental responsibility, and monetary responsibility.

Before a trip to Asia, I went to the outlet store and bought lightweight shirts for about $3 that I thought I'd wear, wash, etc. then toss if I needed the space--I still only picked out items I liked, so I ended up stuffing them back in my bag to keep for another trip.

Then on a train trip in Europe with hiking, small towns, and city visits we took old underwear, socks, etc. and threw them away later in the trip to make way for souveniers. We got muddy, snowed on, etc. so just a rinse in the sink wasn't enough and we did visit a laundry in one town although it had very limited hours and just two machines. We were traveling with one wheeled carryaboard and one daypack apiece, so we specifically didn't want to add additional bags along the trip to have to carry on our backs on/off trains and through the streets to our hotels. My husband once did the old shoe idea--hiking shoes that were on their last trip that he tossed before our final city visit where he would wear his nicer walking shoes instead.

I sometimes take reading materials that I plan to leave behind such as magazines and paperback books.

I found coolmax or similar hiphugger high cut panites and socks at REI--would probably find at any similar outdoors store. Using sock liners is another trick--their are very thin, dry fast, take little room, and help avoid blisters.

J_correa, they aren't Coolmax, but I buy the Barely There panties which are very light weight, dry quickly, and come in bikini and hip bugger styles.

cd.....as was mentioned..."TravelSmith" is a good place to look.

REI also has cool max socks.

circa
Thank you. I do have TravelSmith bookmarked, it's just that in the descripion of the socks it does not say they dry overnight whereas it does specify overnight drying with the underwear...thought I might be missing something.

For fast drying travel socks, try the "Fast-Drying Tilley 'Travel' Socks" at Tilley Endurables: www.tilley.com. They also have the travel underwear and other travel clothing. Most of the Tilley stuff is a bit pricey but it is good quality. I've never ordered the socks or underwear my self but have ordered hats and a couple of other articles from them.

Thanks carrolldf, I will check it out.

Travel naked. No luggage.

to ensure dry socks/undies in the morning, here's a tip I got from someone who'd been in the military. Before hanging up your just washed items, lay them out across a towel, roll up the towel and twist to wring it out. This takes most of the water out. Do again with another dry towel (or a dry section of the same towel) if the items are thicker. Also, many hotels now have hair dryers. They've worked great in just minutes for me for slightly damp clothes. Personally, buying stuff just to trash is kind of elitist, a waste of money unless they are decent enough items (NOT dirty socks/undies) to leave behind for someone else's use in more impoverished destinations. Rather than leave behind in the room in other places, ask the hotel where (church, school, hospital, shelter) you can drop it off or send for good use.

One of my friends travels with clothes that either don't fit or that she's tired of, and then she leaves them in the country, figuring that someone can use them. As for magazines which can be very heavy, as I read my mag on the plane, I try to read from the beginning to the end, and when the plane has landed, I tear out the first 40 pages that I've already read and leave it in the seat pocket for another traveler's enjoyment. plus, it lightens my load. As for travel material, I often cut and paste stuff from this and other websites, and then RE-cut and paste stuff onto 1 or 2 pages to bring along with me. Definitely better than lugging all the heavy guide books. Thanks for all the great tips on this thread!