A ‘what not to wear’ guide for vagabonds

Picture this…a road-weary traveler decked out in a threadbare t-shirt (quite possibly with a beer logo on the front), sporting well-worn khaki cargo trousers and the regulation must-have sandals. Standard travel attire indeed for most of us but there are times when being savvy about where you’re going and what to wear can save you a ton of trouble.

There have been some recent alarming reports (such as this or this) that US airlines fancy themselves as fashion police and have been disallowing passengers to board, whilst wearing what the airlines deem as offensive items.

I also read last week whilst checking out flights for a weekend trip to Antigua in the West Indies, that it is an offence for anyone, including children, to wear camouflage clothing. I wonder if that includes my husband’s camouflage-patterned flip-flops (or thongs for you Americans).

…and I recently came across this site full of clothing advice (for women) by country. I spent a good hour browsing through the collective advice from hundreds of female travelers and have picked out some of the tips which I found particularly useful for our travels next year…

• If you’re traveling in IndoChina, consider taking a shoe bag with you in which to place your shoes whenever you take them off to visit temples or whenever you’re in the presence of a Buddha statue on a shrine (even in a shop). This prevents you from having to replace multiple pairs of ‘lost’ shoes.
• On the footwear note again, consider carrying a nice pair of socks with you in Japan, should you be required to remove your shoes when visiting someone’s house as a guest.
• In Micronesia, it is considered offensive for women to expose their thighs, so wear long skirts or sarongs only.

Better put that micro skirt, those high heels and camouflage spaghetti-strap vests back in the cupboard then.