Clothing and Travel - French People Only Have 10 Pieces of Clothing -【57】
I am contemplating writing about my travel theory after a long time.
Having finished blogging about my recent travels and settling into life after relocation, I finally have some time to write leisurely.
Before I knew it, the "Heisei" era has ended, and the "Reiwa" era will arrive in less than a week.
If I don't output my thoughts from my younger days, even the Reiwa era might pass by...
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Now, the theme this time is clothing.
Although I don't worry about it much now, I used to look up travel blogs and SNS when I was a travel newbie.
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In conclusion, thinking in three elements will sort things out.
(①Location & Season) × (②Duration) × (③Purpose & Style)
There are three more sub-elements, but they are not mandatory.
④Money
⑤Culture
⑥Laundry & Laundry Service
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While the first three elements are basic, I will organize the obvious on top of that.
①Location & Season
If the destination is hot, bring light clothes.
If the destination is cold, bring warm clothes.
You need to check the temperature (average, highest, lowest) during your stay and bring suitable clothes.
The point to note is to check the forecast for the time you travel.
It's uncertain whether the average information of that country/region applies to that year.
Just as Japan has abnormal weather, every country has its climate characteristics for the year.
②Duration
If it's a day trip, you hardly need a change of clothes.
If it's a week, you need a week's worth of clothes.
If it's a month, you'll need to procure and do laundry locally.
③Purpose & Style
Is it for business or leisure?
Will you be indoors or outdoors?
How much will you walk?
Will you walk on paved roads?
Will you get dirty?
Firstly, you should clarify what you will do on the trip, the purpose.
· Touring tourist spots
· Enjoying local food
· Interacting with locals
· Visiting cafes
· Touring Instagrammable spots
· Going to museums
· Playing in the sea or mountains
· Touring spas
· Watching sports
etc...
There are various things, but knowing as specifically as possible makes it easier to decide on clothing.
If you're doing active things, you'll need sporty clothes.
If you're going to formal places, you'll need dressy clothes.
④Money
If you have money, you can procure locally, depending on the place. Procuring locally reduces the luggage on the way, and if you can send luggage, you can minimize the luggage to and fro.
It may not be related to money, but I sometimes take slightly old clothes and underwear on trips, and discard them locally to reduce the luggage on the way back.
However, no matter how much money you have, you can't procure in places without shops, and it's not suitable for those who feel it's a waste of time to buy clothes they like locally.
⑤Culture
It's better to research the local culture to some extent before going.
For example, in Southeast Asia, although the outdoor temperature is generally hot, indoors and inside vehicles are unbelievably cold. Therefore, you need a light jacket in addition to short sleeves and shorts, and if you don't want to carry a jacket when walking outside, you need a bag to keep the jacket.
On the contrary, in extremely cold regions like Russia, indoors are warm enough in winter, so you need light clothes.
Also, from my experience, in Thai temples, you cannot show much skin when worshipping. Therefore, long sleeves and long pants are essential. They sell simple clothes to cover the skin at the entrance, but knowing in advance saved me extra expenses.
What's often forgotten is that overseas is basically a shoe-wearing culture, even in bedrooms.
Therefore, I recommend taking sandals. Basically, spending time indoors with sandals not only makes your feet comfortable but also prevents water dirt. It has the effect of preventing the room from getting flooded after a bath or on rainy days.
⑥Laundry & Laundry Service
If there's a washing machine at the accommodation, you can do laundry yourself. If it's a bit of a decent hotel, you can use the laundry service. There are also coin laundries overseas.
In other words, you can bring only the minimum change of clothes and rotate them by doing laundry locally.
However, personally, I don't recommend it much.
There's a possibility that clothes may get damaged if overseas washing machines and dryers are not of the same specifications as Japan. Also, using a washing machine takes time, and the return time of laundry service is not always guaranteed.
Above all, it feels like a waste to use the precious time overseas for laundry.
In my case, I bring sportswear with high quick-drying properties and wash them in the washbasin myself. Having one piece of clothing that dries in less than a day comes in handy in various situations. Especially in Southeast Asia, in places without indoor air conditioning, it gets hot and sweaty after taking a shower, so I use such clothes to wear until bedtime.
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I wrote at length, but I'll summarize it simply.
①Location & Season
Where and what season are you going?
→ Warm clothes if cold, light clothes if hot
②Duration
How many days are you going?
→ Need clothes change according to the number of days
③Purpose & Style
What will you do locally?
→ Sporty attire for active, dressy attire for formal
④Money
Do you have a budget for clothes?
→ Procure locally if you have a budget
⑤Culture
What's the local culture?
→ Need clothes according to local culture
⑥Laundry & Laundry Service
Can you do laundry locally?
→ Can reduce change of clothes if you can do laundry locally
~Lastly~
I thought I'd touch a little on the book in the title. Lol
To summarize this book in my own way,
"Let's always wear clothes we truly like!" is the gist.
If you only wear high-quality favorite clothes, you can organize your closet and always feel good wearing them, right? That's what a French madam teaches us.
Please read the book for more details.
I don't think the content of this book directly relates to travel. However, travel has become a trigger for closet organization for me. I take slightly worn clothes to the destination and dispose of them locally, or procure nice clothes locally to reduce the luggage on the way and use them in Japan.
What I always keep in mind is to only buy my favorite clothes. Then, the clothes to take on the trip will naturally become favorites, and there should be no compromise in buying locally.
You're taking a precious break to travel, so don't you want to spend it feeling good wearing your favorite clothes from home to the airport, for a little outing locally, and as indoor clothes locally?
