Laundry

Finding the right balance between having enough clean clothes to avoid frequent trips to the laundromat and lugging around a big suitcase for the whole month was an interesting game. It took a little practice but I ended up with two washing machine loads and one small load in the hotel sink for the whole month

Packing pants that can be worn several times with several different shirts helps limit the amount of clothing needed for a month of travel. In my case, blue jeans were generic enough for my travels.

T-shirts gave a variety to the numerous self portraits I took of myself. Looking back at the photos, I can tell which days I had a redeye flight the night before. Often I never changed and hit the ground running right after a redeye flight.

If I had to do it again, I would take fewer shirts and one less pair of pants. Washing clothes on the road wasn’t all that difficult, once a laundromat was located.

While waiting in Denver for a late night flight, I went on the hunt for a place to wash my clothes. My first stop was a hotel near the airport. Unfortunately their two machines were in use. Another hotel only permitted guests with a key to access their machines.

The laundromat I found nearby was active with locals and had plenty of machines. Time was went by while organizing my backpack and the photos of my trip, things I would have done in the airport.

Tide has liquid packets of detergent for machine wash and by hand. They are very cheap, compact, and most important, less than three ounces. Airport security was only interested in them twice, once testing the outside. The little hand packets are convenient to wash socks and underwear in the hotel sink and air dry overnight.

While there is a comfort factor to having more clothes than you really need, you don’t need everything you bring and can do without the extras. Leave them home and fill the empty space in your bag with more souvenirs.