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Dreaming of summer, 2012...
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
My Scottevest and Other Clothing Items
When it comes to clothing, I may not be the person to look to for fashion advice. Like a lot of guys, I don't particularly care what I look like much of the time, as long as I don't look disheveled or foolish. And I don't waste a moment wondering what I might be seen wearing in travel photos. While I don't hide from the camera, I also don't particularly care to be in the photos. When I see a photogenic or iconic site, I want a photo of it, not me standing in front of it. I do care about packing lightly, however.
It's not just about avoiding schlepping around unwanted weight, though that certainly matters. It's about striving to keep all things unrelated to the travel experience I seek, as simple as possible. I don't want clutter. I want my mental check list of things I have to keep track of (that I have any control over) as short as possible. Because lord knows, the list of other things I have to keep track of is long.
So when it comes to standard items of clothing in the climate of Italy in the summer, I'll be keeping it very simple;
- 5-6 newer t-shirt style shirts in various earth tones.
- 1 pair long lightweight cargo pants
- 1 pair khaki pants (dressy style, very light microfiber)
- 2 pair short pants - 1 cargo style, 1 a bit dressier
- 1 light long-sleeve button-down shirt to be worn over a t-shirt on a cooler day
- 5-6 pair of thicker socks to help cushion the feet
- 5-6 pair new underwear
- Timberland hiking boots
- Sandals for warm, non-hiking days
- Scottevest convertible travel jacket/vest
- Tilley hat
So yes, there will be frequent laundry to do. Since our trips are not short, there is never any possibility of avoiding doing laundry. If you have to do it, you might just as well do small amounts frequently rather than accumulating large piles of smelly, dirty clothing. Everything on my list will dry overnight if the weather isn't overly wet. I have learned to avoid jeans since they are heavy to carry, bulky to pack, bulky to wash and take forever to dry.
All of those items (except for the change of clothing I wear on the plane) get put into my Rick Steves backpack. We all have one - specially designed to be very light and to meet most carry-on luggage requirements. You wouldn't want to have it on your back while hiking 20 miles in the mountains. It's not that kind of backpack. But it works really well to carry from a train station to your lodging. There will still be plenty of room in the pack for some basic non-clothing items as well.
Why would I want to wear a travel vest in summer? Partly just as a convenient place to keep my camera, iPod and a few other items with me without having to revert to using my cargo pants/shorts. But also for security. I don't obsess about the risk of pick-pockets while in Europe, but Italian cities are known as being somewhat higher risk. I don't use a money-belt or any of the related devices. The jacket - with all of the pockets zippered and most of them interior - is a very safe place to keep valuables. As a bonus, it's a great way to get extra stuff on the plane without having to worry about carry-on restrictions of either size or weight. Since it's clothing and not a bag, you can put anything in there that will fit. I may not need to take full advantage of that characteristic, but it's nice to know it's there.
As a way of demonstrating this ability, I made a little video. Remember all that electronics stuff I wrote about in my last blog post? Well, watch this...
Obviously, I would never be carrying around all this stuff with me (why would I need three cameras and five iPods?) but this was just for fun.
One more thing; This post and the previous one refer to many somewhat expensive items used for travel. Lest you think this all adds up to an obscene additional cost, rest assured that each item (well, except for the travel backpacks) get used very frequently at home as well. And almost none of the items I have noted was purchased at regular price. Some of them were purchased at deep discounts during sale periods. Many were purchased slightly used on eBay. Overall, I would guess we paid about 60% of the retail price for all of these items, spread out over the last few years.
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