Alternatively, put the stuff you can’t afford to lose (passports, cash, card, electronics) in a daypack and use it as a head-rest. Let’s face it. It’s unlikely anyone’s going to want your clothes.

2: Mosquito Net
Newsflash! It’s not just you who knows there’s mosquitoes where you’re going. The guesthouse owners do too. No net in the room? Ask at the desk. Trekking? Most trek organizers will rent or include equipment, including mosquito protection.

Essentially, don’t buy a net unless and until you KNOW you will need one, and what kind you’ll need. (No point carrying a double-bed net if you really need a single-hammock net. Or an all-in-one hammock-net combo…)

3: Rollbags
You need to compress stuff down to fit it in your pack? You’re carrying too much stuff. Oh, yeah, and the rollbag will suck (or rather, cease to suck) inside a month. Guaranteed.

4: Antibacterial Wipes/Cleaners/Whatever
The single easiest way to kill your immune system. Which works, of course, by meeting small doses of local bacteria and getting used to them. It’s too much hygiene, not too little, which makes travelers get sick the second they hit a wet lettuce leaf or a chunk of Thai street meat.

5: Antibiotic Creams
Another great way to screw up your immune system. To avoid infection, clean cuts thoroughly, disinfect with alcohol and/or iodine, cover during the day and allow to breathe at night. This should kill any bug going without – and here’s the clever part – compromising your immune system.

6: Water Filtration Systems
A great idea in principle. In practice? You end up buying water anyway, because you want the cold stuff, you didn’t get the system set up in time or, basically, you just ran out. In most major cities and resort areas around the world, tap water is chemically treated. In places where it’s not, you can generally fill up with boiled in restaurants and guesthouses. If, for whatever reason, you’re drinking unboiled water from a questionable source, iodine’s a last ditch solution.

7: Travel Towels
Sarongs are larger, dry quicker, fold up smaller and are infinitely easier to wash. Plus they double as topsheets, cover-ups, turf markers… Need the cold-climate comfort of a towel? Pack a fluffy one.

8: Travel Underwear
This stuff exists. Seriously, WTF?

9: Hiking Poles, or Anything Hiking-Branded
Where to begin?! Get a stick if you need one. It’s free, organic, biodegradable, and you don’t have to take it with you. This advice, incidentally, applies to almost anything with “hiking” in the title, with the debatable exception of hiking boots — bring only if you’re a serious hiker, already own a pair and intend to do weeks of serious trekking.

Legal Blah: This does not, blah, constitute, blah, advice and is no, blah, substitute for your own, blah, common sense.

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The post Nine Things NOT to Pack for Your RTW appeared first on EscapeArtistes.

2: Plan ahead.
Turning your smalls inside out is one solution to a clean drawers shortage. But it ain’t exactly pleasant. As you plan your travel, work out when you’ll need clean clothes and ensure you’ve got the vitals clean and dry in time.

3: Consider the environment.
Don’t waste fresh water on endless rinses in countries where it’s hard to come by. Don’t pollute clean water sources with soap, shampoo or powder. If you have access to a drier, use it only when you have to. In cold climates use a radiator or stove; in hot, rely on sun.

4: Rinse before you wash.
Get rid of serious, ingrained travel dirt before you even think about soap. Soak clothes for a few minutes in clean water. Then pound, knead, mangle, even trample till the water looks like ink. Repeat until the water looks clean. Then, and only then, get out the soap.

5: When hand washing, use hand soap.
Normal soap works great on laundry, is kind to hands and forces you to actually scrub stuff. Soap every bit of the cloth – not just the visibly grubby bits – and get a good lather going. Soak briefly before rinsing. If there’s any dirt visible after you rinse, repeat.

6: Good shower? Do your washing in it.
If you’re staying somewhere with a Western power shower and hot water, wash clothes as you wash yourself. Shampoo, bodywash or soap work fine, and trampling is good exercise. Third world bathroom? Don’t even think about it.

7: Damp climate? Wring clothes to death before you dry them.
Get rid of excess moisture before you try to dry your clothes, or they’ll be hanging out for days. Twist them up one way, and wring. Twist in another direction, and wring. Carry on wringing till you can wring no more, then shake clothes out and hang them up.

8: In emergencies, towel dry.
Desperate for something, anything, to wear? Wring it thoroughly. Spread it out on one towel, put a second on top, roll the parcel up and wring it viciously. Turn the towels to the dry side and repeat. This will leave most garments dry enough to “pass”. (Assuming, of course, you have to towels.)

9: Watch the weather.
Make like mum. Take your washing in if it looks like rain. Put it back out again when the sun comes out. Allow more days than you would imagine possible during rainy season in the tropics.

10: Avoid drying on flat surfaces.
Lines are best. Wind permitting, bushes work better than either railings or flat surfaces. If you have to dry on a flat surface, turn your washing regularly. It halves the drying time.

11: If you’ve traveled with wet laundry, start all over again.
More than two hours festering in a plastic bag, and clothes smell like dishcloths once they’re dry. Bite the bullet and start again. From the very beginning.

12: Store up plastic bags.
Sturdy, laundry-sized plastic bags can be like gold dust. Hoard two or three at any given time. You’ll need them.

13: When you can’t be *rsed, ask a professional.
If a heap of dirty clothes is spoiling your day, or your week, send them out. Places that charge by weight are always cheaper than those that bill by item.

This is the first of a regular series of travel tips. What would you include? Drop me a comment and let me know what you think.

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The post Tuesday Travel Tips: How to Hand Wash Clothes appeared first on EscapeArtistes.