This is one of the more popular travel tips floating out there, and I think it’s a great one worth discussing.
If you’ve got some old shirts, underwear, shoes, or shorts/pants that are approaching their end-of-life stage, then consider taking them with you on vacation. You can wear them once or twice and then discard them before you return home, making your inbound luggage lighter than your outbound luggage.
I love the idea of this and have done it on occasion myself, but it’s not something that you can realistically do on a regular basis unless you only travel once every few years. If you’ve read through my various travel clothing recommendations, one theme you’ll see over and over is to spend more money up front on high quality stuff that will last a long time. Not only do I personally do this with my travel clothes, but I also do this with the regular everyday clothes I wear around the house.
I really don’t buy that many clothes compared to most people, and what I do buy tends to last for many, many years, including my cotton t-shirts. As a result, there really aren’t too many occasions that come up where I can take old clothes with me on a trip and dump them there. However, this tip may be more useful for someone with a large stockpile of old clothes that he’s been hoarding for whatever reason.
One added tip: when you decide to part ways with your old clothing, be sure to put it in the garbage can. Hotels have been known to mail left items back to their owners and add an extra charge to the room bill, so make sure there’s no question that you do not want your worn out shirt returned to you.
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