Packing light girl-style
Lightweight female travel
As you may have noticed, Rolf is currently in the midst of traveling around the world with only what he can carry in his pockets. He’s got a toothbrush, a change of underpants, and an iPod Touch to do his blog posting from, as well as some presumably bulging cargo pants pockets. I did see one blog post on his round-the-world-as-a-lightweight diary, pointing out that replicating the experience for women would be majorly worth a go.
There are a couple of things that women have to deal with when traveling that men don’t, which make it somewhat harder — but not impossible! — to cram everything into your pockets. Clothing-wise, women can wear the same clothes as men — depending on which countries you go to, nobody will chuck you out for wearing a long-sleeved shirt and cargo pants instead of a flouncy sundress. You may have to dress up for a formal state dinner, but, well, maybe consider buying something from a thrift shop in your dinner location? Or borrowing? Or consider doing the whole thing in an easy-to-wash dress over your cargo pants — check out Alex Martin’s Little Brown Dress project for how that might be possible.
So what do women need to worry about that men don’t? Primarily, in terms of stuff to carry: periods. Yep, we have these irritating times of the month (most of us) that make us carry supplies. There’s a couple of low-impact-packing solutions to this one: get a menstrual cup, which can be washed and reused every period, squishes down to a small size, and can even be boiled for sanitation (if you get a silicone one). Consider the Diva or the Mooncup. Alternate solutions to reusable menstrual supplies: some IUDs, particularly hormonal ones, will reduce or get rid of your period entirely. You can also use birth control pills to manipulate your period, although then you have to carry birth control pills too.
Personal safety can be more of an issue for women than men as well. For things that fit in pockets, a rape whistle is pretty handy, lightweight, and can be very surprising and deterring in a pinch. A Wedge It doorstop can be used on the inside of your hotel/hostel/bedroom door to stop anyone from opening it while you sleep…or used as a bottle opener, a fancy necklace, or for it’s original purpose: to keep doors open. In a pinch, you can also wedge anything solid under a door: like your toothbrush.
What else do you think women might want that men don’t need? How would you adapt it for the lowest amount of packing you could possibly do?
September 7th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
I just pulled up my standard packing list to see what is female-specific and that would have to be modified for bagless travel. The first thing that I noticed was “bathing suit.” I don’t think I could go swimming in my underwear like Rolf did. So swimming is out. Speaking of underwear, I’d like to have at least one extra bra, and for some of us this means pesky wires that won’t fold up small. I don’t know how long I could travel with only the bra I was wearing. I might need to get one of those industrial-strength ones from Title 9 to keep it from wearing out in the wash. And of course women would probably have to forego makeup, but I’d slip a small tube of mascara in one of my pockets.
September 7th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
BTW Claire, I enjoy your train of thought for all your posts. Now you’ve got me thinking- no baggage travel for women wouldn’t be much different even with a skirt or long hair! Though I’m a bit of a tomboy so sporting cargo pants wouldn’t bother me, however, I’ve found traveling in a skit to be much more comfortable- especially those vintage style silk ones. They have two layers and can be worn several different ways (even fantasy enough for dinner parties), plus you have the advantage of them not being directly on your skin all the time, thus don’t need to be washed every day. We’ve got an extra stash spot for money or such in the bra! Girls have a lower body temperature than men- so ideally a long sleeve-shirt with thumb holes that cover up your wrists (maybe even zip off arms…but I don’t know if those exist) The hair clips with the springs can double as a hairbrush, Dr. Broners soap can be used for washing yourself, cloths and even brushing your teeth! Stopping your cycle altogether isn’t really a healthy choice- menstrual cups work wonders!
September 8th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
I’d absolutely have to devote some pocket space to a tube of mascara, and a double duty blush/lipstick gel. I’d also grab a pair of chopsticks to put up my hair, or eat with as needed. I’ve seen some cool travel dresses that wash out in the sink, don’t wrinkle, look really nice and roll up really small. They even have a hidden pocket for money or ID. Also, a cool looking 3 yard silk veil works as a scarf, blanket, wrap skirt, etc..and weigh nothing.
September 14th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Eye-liner pencils are very thin, lightweight and durable – and can be squeezed into the narrowest pocket. Add a little mascara tube, and you’re fully equipped with make up for all occasions. No make up remover needed either: any vegetable oil works – and doubles as an eye-cream. For those with problem skin my cosmetologist suggests to apply any ripe fruit pulp on wet face, leave for few minutes then rinse.
I’m not sure what girls do about shaving though… luckily I’ve done extensive laser few years back and now only show up once a year for update – no shaving required in between, no irritation, brilliant for traveling.
December 18th, 2010 at 10:41 am
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May 31st, 2012 at 12:08 am
[…] As a final note, during the “No Baggage Challenge” another of our vagablogging team members referenced these cups in her advice for a female version of the trip around the globe with no bags. […]