Multipurpose Must Have Travel Items That Are Not Advertised as Multipurpose
Due to the coronavirus, Iv put off some of the bigger more extensive travel articles for the site. My thinking is people wont be traveling so why write about “how to travel”? But I believe that even though we are not traveling, we can still plan our next great adventure. So heres a quick article I wrote on multi-use items before I release the more extensive travel articles I have in the queue.
A minimalist packer knows that to be able to pack light there are two key ideas you need to keep in mind; avoid packing just-in-case and pack items with multiple uses. These are two powerful ideas that can take your pack weight down a couple of notches. Here are a few of the items I usually carry that are multi-use without being touted as multi-use.
Beanie
In cold weather a light beanie can be appreciated, but a beanie can have multiple uses. For one, a beanie is a great eye mask for places that may be bright such as an airport or airplane. The last thing you want is to be tired on a long, possibly solo, trip to an unknown place.
Another use for a beanie is it can be used as a pot holder in a pinch. Weird use I know but I have used it as such. Just imagine this, your at a cabin or even a camp site that you were invited to having a nice homemade cooked meal and someone put you on rice duty. Due to the lack of equipment on hand you take your merino wool beanie and wrap it around the hot sauce pan handle to set it down on the table.
Sarong/travel towel
A towel can have multiple uses, just ask the hitch hikers guide, but besides drying myself or other things off I find myself using the towel more often as a blanket. Sure, you could use it as a blanket to keep your warm, but I'm talking about using it as a blanket to lay or sit down on the ground. This can help keep dirt and sand off your body as well as cushion the ground like some sort of butt pad.
Towels, honestly, have infinite uses. I once used a large microfiber towel to hang across the underside of a top bunk so I could store my phone and nighttime essentials next to me at a hostel. I then used the towel to cover myself as I got changed in that same room the next morning. I can go on and on about towels, but I think you get my point.
I have heard people who switched from a travel towel to a Sarong. Makes sense, they can perform the same roles as a towel but have the added benefit of being able to be worn as a type of dress. Im in love with my travel towel so I wont be switching to a Sarong anytime soon.
Shorts that can be used for swimming or travel
I feel in love with these minimal travel shorts. They are oder and water resistant, look casual enough to wear around, and are also quick drying. These travel shorts could be my only shorts I bring just because of how versatile they are. Sure they only fill two roles, swim shorts and shorts, but those two roles are huge!
In a pinch I can also wear these light weight shorts as underwear. Why wouldn't I be able to? They can easily be washed and dried quickly as well as being odor resistant.
Multipurpose Soap
Let me explain. Im not in the camp, and this is only me, of brining many different types of soaps, shampoos, toiletries, etc. I bring a multi-purpose bar of soap (if I need to) that can do everything I need. Wash my face, body, hair, clothes, etc. A bar of soap can get through TSA with no issue and lasts a long time. You cant beat a multipurpose bar of soap.
Minimal clothes with neutral colors
I have written about travel clothes in the past, so I wont go into to much detail. What I do want to talk about is the multi-use aspect of clothes with neutral or matching colors. The reality is no one cares what you are wearing as long as you aren't showing off or look like a homeless drug addict so wearing the same colors everyday wont do your public appearance harm. By having colors that all work together, meaning every shirt can go with every pants/shorts, means you can have one article of clothing damaged and be unaffected by it. You can wear any shirt whenever you want. You can wear your dress up shirt more formally or with your dress down shorts in a casual way. This gives you multiple ways to wear the same article of clothing.
A good multi-use article of clothing, besides the shorts I mentioned before, is a nylon button down shirt. A button down shirt can obviously be worn more formally with maybe a good looking pair of jeans, but can also be rolled back to look more formal. The nylon aspect of it makes it a travel shirt making it stain, odor, and water resistant.
For women a simple black dress (or other type of dress) can fit the roll of casual or dressed up. It doesnt have to be fancy because in reality no ones going to care that much as I mentioned before, but a dress can be a great multi-occasion article of clothing and can be packed minimally.
