Four or five years ago, a California company was trying to make it big in the disposable underwear business. The hope was that travelers would find the woven paper product saved suitcase space; as the trip progressed, used underwear would be left in waste baskets along the way, making room for souvenirs. Travelers didn’t buy the concept. However, the product did, a company spokeswoman told me, find a market among avid hunters.
Disposable underwear isn’t a bad travel concept; paying for it is. This tip from Hickory Travel Systems is more practical: Take your own threadbare underwear and holey socks on vacation and throw them away as you go. Here are a few other packing tricks that may surprise you.
Old clothes: Why stop at underwear? Magellan’s Passport to Compact Packing advises tossing aging T-shirts as you go. Other clothing — good enough to wear but that you don’t want to keep — may be left behind for the hotel staff, with a nice note indicating that the clothes are a gift.
Duct tape: This tip comes from The Container Store, which recommends the handyman’s helper for rescuing everything from loose hems to broken luggage closures to leaky car hoses.
No kitchen sinks: Holiday Inn says there’s no need to pack items the hotel will provide. Call your hotel to see whether it provides hair dryers, shampoo or bath robes.
Stuff the shoes: Every packing expert out there will tell you to use that space inside your extra shoes to squeeze in socks, pantyhose, underwear, first-aid items and/or anything else that will fit.
Plastic bags: I always travel with a supply of grocery-store bags — great for dirty clothes and wet swimsuits — and zippered bags for souvenirs like sand, shells and flowers.
