Packed for the occasion

In last month’s issue, we printed letters written in response to a request from Kathi Snouffer of Portland, Oregon, who lamented, “Is there anyone else out there who CANNOT brag about going around the world for years taking only a day pack?” She explained that — with a husband standing 6'6", and wanting to be prepared for all weather conditions and social situations but not wanting to launder clothes on the road — they pack what they need and always check a bag. Kathi pointed out, “Most of all, I think it’s a matter of respect for the countries we visit to make an effort to appear appropriate.”

A number of like-minded travelers wrote in, many expounding on the importance and perks of dressing appropriately while traveling.

Kathi’s letter also inspired letters from several subscribers who also put a priority on their appearance while traveling but accomplished that without having to check luggage when flying. We’re printing their letters, and travel advice, this month.

Additional responses are being collected and will be published in a future issue.

When my husband and I travel in Europe, we each carry a 21-inch suitcase and a Rick Steves backpack. Both go on the airplane as carry-ons with us. 

With this gear, we’ve been on several cruises, one 13 days long, and several 3-week trips on trains. We are well dressed and look like the Europeans we see in the cities we visit. On the cruises, we had clothes for the formal nights and never felt that we were underdressed (although by the end of the trip I was ready to get home and wear something else!).

How do we do it? My husband wears dark-gray, wool dress slacks, a navy-blue blazer and his dress shoes onto the airplane. This saves a lot of space in his luggage, and with a white shirt and tie he is ready for the formal night on the ship or for a nice restaurant in any city in Europe. 

In addition, we each have a black Scottevest jacket that has zip-off sleeves. We carry these, and with all the pockets they have, we can stuff our scarves, gloves and rain hats inside the jackets. 

I pack black dressy sandals, dressy black knit slacks, several lightweight silk tops that take up very little space or weight and a small evening bag. This provides me with adequate evening clothes for any occasion.

My day wear includes Mephisto walking shoes in black, three pairs of nice jeans and slacks in black, three or four long-sleeved shirts made of fabrics that dry quickly and a lightweight cashmere sweater in black. I take several scarves to dress up my outfits. 

We each have four sets of underwear that we wash on a regular basis. Again, we choose fabrics that dry quickly — no cotton! 

We each pack a pair of lightweight sandals and a pair of lounging pajamas to wear in our room in the evening. We also each take a black rain poncho for inclement weather as well as bathing suits if we will be on a ship. 

I have a black leather cross-body purse that packs flat into my backpack when I need to go through airport security. This I carry during the day.

We follow the TSA standards for liquids, and I do wear makeup, so that has to be included. I take a curling iron but no hair dryer. I do try to include cold and flu medications, just in case. 

We take a camera and a pair of binoculars, and we each have our own iPad and Nook. I have started purchasing travel e-books to download on my Nook, but at the moment I prefer paper books. I rip apart travel books and carry only what I need, all arranged in a small folder or in baggies. 

We do not travel to Europe in the summer, and that makes packing much easier, I think. Generally, it is cooler when we travel, so we take darker clothes that are easier to keep clean. If the weather turns even cooler, we can simply layer. 

I am not a big shopper when I travel, but I do carry a small, lightweight suitcase that, empty, zips flat into a 5-by-7-inch rectangle, just in case I do have to bring something home that won’t fit into my suitcase. 

Traveling with less luggage does require making some tough decisions and being creative in putting outfits together with a few basic pieces of clothing, but it is liberating. I never have to worry about my bags not making the flight! 

Stacy Pittman, Spring, TX

I think that packing style is an individual preference, and a traveler should be guided by whatever style works best for him and gives him the least amount of stress.

My husband and I prefer to travel light, as we like the freedom it gives us in not being weighed down, in more easily navigating stairs in buildings without elevators and in the easy stowing of bags in train overheads or tiny car trunks, plus not being charged overweight fees on smaller airlines. 

Still, my husband and I like to be prepared for different travel experiences, from casual and rugged to fancy and upscale, and we like to have clothing options. We each take one roll-aboard carry-on piece of luggage, usually weighing 20 pounds or less, and one personal bag (I, a purse, and he, a messenger bag).

Each trip is basically a variation of a similar plan, with some tweaks, depending on if it’s a “capitals trip” or an “active trip.” 

For example, to travel through Italy for 16 days, my bag contained one pair of black pants and one long reversible skirt (one side black, one side animal print), and I wore a pair of black pants, so three bottoms total. 

The pants materials are a nylon/spandex combination, a “travel pant” material, in a plain long pant cut (not cargo pants). They are very light, hold up well and, after being washed in a sink, dry fast and still look nice. The skirt is made of a flowing, chiffon-type nylon. 

For shirts, I usually focus on white or black and possibly a dark red, usually all silky cotton blends so they are light and don’t take up much room. I pack four or five, some short- and some long-sleeved, and wear one, so five or six tops total. 

I take a crinkle-patterned cotton scarf with dark red in it. This can dress up the skirt and a top to most any level, or it can be used as a head covering for respect or a light wrap when it’s cool. My girlfriend calls me “MacGyver with a scarf.” 

(In the case of a more active trip, such as one to South Africa and Botswana, I would lean to a similar plan but with mostly khaki-colored bottoms and khaki, brown or white accessories.)

Depending on the temperature, I may add a light cardigan sweater in black or white, and then I always pack a very light, dark-red fitted raincoat. 

I wear a comfortable pair of low-heeled walking shoes or sandals in black, and I pack a lightweight black pair with a higher heel, so two pairs total. 

Some toiletries, undergarments and a thin set of pajamas complete the picture. 

In my purse, I carry our money, documents, paperwork, any information needed, my cell phone and a few other items to make the long flights comfortable.

My husband usually takes a similar amount of items and includes a great sport coat travel jacket that he purchased from Magellan’s (Aurora, CO; 800/962-4943) that looks like suede but is nylon and very light. This can take him to most any venue or dining establishment. In his personal bag are our two iPads, some snacks, earphones and any medicines.

At home, when I clean out closets or have clothes that I don’t want anymore, I put them in my “travel closet,” and before any trip I’ll go through them. If any items are suitable, I take them along, and once they have gotten their full wearing in, I leave them behind along the way. That way, my bag usually gets lighter as the trip goes on.

But to each his own, and everyone should do what makes them comfortable. That is what makes it your vacation.

Mary Kelly
Baton Rouge, LA

Starting back in the travel-on-$5-a-day era, my wife, Lyn, and I (I’m 88) went to 90 countries, each using a carry-on bag that looked like standard soft-sided luggage but which converted into a backpack or could be carried with a sling strap.

Lyn’s bag usually weighed about 22 pounds, mine about 27. Both fit easily into the sizing rack for carry-ons. We each had a day bag, 12"x7"x4½", which could be carried as a handbag using the sling or, with the bag’s hidden belt, converted into a fanny pack.

When going through airports, etc., I carried Lyn’s bag with the sling and wore mine as a backpack. This allowed my hands to be free for tickets and passports.

Kathi Snouffer mentioned in her letter that her husband is six feet six inches tall, with size-12½ shoes. I’m 6'1" and wear size-11 shoes. I, too, wore dressy hiking shoes that looked like standard dress shoes except for the lug soles. In addition, I had a pair of collapsible shoes that fit into the bottom of my case. 

The case, itself, had three compartments in addition to the main body of the bag. One held rain gear; another, my “smart and casual” dress of turtlenecks, slacks, etc., and the third, my toilet case. This combination of clothes allowed me to take enough for a week’s cruise on a Cunard liner to the Canary Islands plus two weeks’ hiking on Majorca (March-April 1993).

On another trip, while hiking in Romania’s Transylvanian Alps, we attended a semiformal ball in a palace (October 1994).

On a month-long trip to India (November 1980), the temperatures were above 90ºF. We finished that trip with a week in New York and Connecticut, where temperatures dipped to 0ºF.

We rinsed and dried our wash-and-wear clothing in our room overnight using a clothesline or inflatable hanger that we packed.

We continue to enjoy reading ITN.

Bob Spellman, San Diego, CA

I enjoyed Kathi Snouffer’s article about dressing appropriately, especially since I’ve had nearly identical experiences. Although my husband and I no longer travel due to his health, we continue to treasure the many memories of our travels. (See Nancy’s article, “Moment of Impulse Leads to the ‘Road of 1,000 Casbahs’,” Feb. ’97, pg. 5.)

For our many trips (each usually either two weeks or a month), we each traveled with only one backpack plus a cloth sack; the sack held shoes, camera and film. With careful packing, depending on the destination, we were always up to climbing the Saharan dunes or sitting in a box seat at the Budapest opera. 

I invariably chose black pants and gray, long-sleeved jersey shirts and a black corduroy cape (plus cheerful scarves) or khaki pants and a many-pocketed shirt for informal wear. 

We never had to check any bags. What a relief to not scramble for the baggage carousel or deal with lost luggage! 

I sewed, for both of us, vests with many hidden pockets, and I carried a shoulder purse containing only a hairbrush; any thieves would grab that and not try for anything else. Fortunately, in all our experiences, we were never robbed.

Nancy England
Oak Ridge, TN

I was the curator for an art show in Berlin in November ’11 and had to transport 14 paintings to the gallery for the show. Part of the trip involved going to Prague to meet a gallery owner to show her slides of these paintings for a possible show. 

I rented a 2-bedroom apartment near the gallery and had a friend help me transport the paintings, which I had packed in two suitcases, one 26 inches long and the other a carry-on. I also had to carry a rather large, 4-by-4-foot container with more paintings in it. The total weight for each suitcase was quite light, and the container also was light though bulky and large. 

I had thought I would have additional room in the suitcases to take clothes, but after they had been packed with the paintings, there was very little room remaining on the sides. What to do?

I took a backpack and carried 12 to 13 pounds of clothes in it, including my black turtleneck cashmere vest that I take on all my travels; one brown and one black Under Armour turtleneck (these are lightweight and warm, and no odor lingers on them); a pair of black jersey slacks; three or four pairs of ExOfficio underpants (I’m not keen on washing every night), and my toiletries in plastic bags (lighter than a cosmetic bag).

I then enclosed and compressed all these in 2½-gallon plastic, zip-lock Hefty bags.

For the overseas flight, I wore a black wool-jersey dress that would also be suitable for the art opening; an olive-green quilted Eddie Bauer sleeveless vest with a Mandarin collar; a black, three-fourths length Babette rain jacket that is very large and accommodates the vest underneath it; support stockings (to help prevent blood clots), and my ankle-height Clarks boots that would work for dress as well as for walking long distances. (I never wear jeans or sneakers on my trips.)

I always wear a skirt on flights, as it makes it easier to use the restroom (where the floors usually are dirty).

The Babette jacket has a slightly shiny surface so is dressy. It’s very lightweight, has an inner cord around the waist and folds into its own attached hat.

With a black dress, jacket and vest, everything coordinates. To make all that black seem more interesting and add an air of elegance, I take an oversized silk scarf that has many colors in it. (A Russian friend paints these scarves.)

I wore this outfit to the art opening in Berlin, with the scarf tied around my waist, and was suitably attired. On another night, it served me well at the Prague opera — a magnificent experience.

Audrey Darby
Healdsburg, CA

Packing is a matter of personal choice. My husband and I choose to take one carry-on each of less than the maximum size allowed. Additionally, I take a normal-sized purse and he may carry a small flight bag. This is sufficient for one to five weeks of overseas travel in all weather conditions. (We even packed a tuxedo and gown for New Year’s Eve in Vienna.) 

I fully agree that it’s important to dress properly. It not only ensures better service but is a compliment to the people in the other countries. 

We travel by rental car, especially in the British Isles, and by train on the European Continent and sometimes take local buses. 

I would rather take less and wash things out than have to deal with lots of oversized and heavy luggage. 

I also do not have any of the so-called “travel clothing,” much of which I think identifies you as a tourist. If you shop wisely and go through your own closet, you will find outfits that travel well and look sharp.

Sharon Affeltranger
Pacifica, CA