Things I got rid of while traveling

February 13, 2025

If you are considering long term travel, you may have thought about what you should get to make things easier. When you then searched for what you should do, you probably found a plethora of blog posts and ads trying to sell you something, often something that is not even a good fit for traveling lightly or for long term. Not to mention that these things are often quite pricey.

The key thing that you don't realize before you set out is that you'll eventually get rid of a lot of the things that you thought you needed. Either they're too heavy, too bulky, or otherwise not worth the space and weight in your bags. That's especially true if you keep your luggage as carry-on instead of checked.

Here are some of the things that I got rid of and some things that I added or swapped out.

Things I got rid of or swapped

My big circular power strip

Not exactly this one, but similar. The main issue that I found is that things that are rigid are harder to pack. This is a trending theme with the things that I've kept or gotten as replacements. Flexible things are easier to pack. I swapped this out for an anker power strip. The key with this next one is that the cord is flexible and the cube portion is easy to squeeze around things in my bag.

Blue jeans

Even though they weren't super thick in material, they were often too hot for weather that was just too cold to wear shorts, so I'd walk around sweating. Additionally, blue jeans do not fold or roll compactly. I instead swapped those out for some synthetic pants and some base layers, all of which fold compactly and give me more flexibility in temperatures during the winter. If I was spending much time below freezing, I could pick up thicker pants, but with the base layers as an option that hasn't been a need yet.

The downside of the synthetic pants is that they do NOT hide dirt well and I'd often get back to my hostel with the bottom few inches of the legs noticeably browner than the rest.

Dressier cotton shirts

They were slightly thicker cotton and didn't fold compactly. That's one thing I've noticed with my clothing: synthetics tend to take up less space and are easier to work with overall. Most of my clothes are from 32 Degrees since they make nice looking athletic clothing that dries quickly.

Slightly too thick flip flops

I use flip flops as shower shoes as you definitely do not want to go barefoot in shared showers unless you like athlete's foot. The ones that I had previously were slightly thicker on the soles and had a synthetic rubber strap. These wound up being difficult to pack with my 2nd pair of shoes in my bag's shoe compartment. I got thinner flip flops in Guatemala with cloth straps. It's not much, but it made fitting everything much more doable.

Way too many medications

You don't need the whole pill bottle. Seriously. You don't need access to 120 capsules of Tylenol at any given moment. And believe it or not, you can buy things outside of your home country when you need them. 😜 When I bought medication in Latin America, the pharmacists asked me how many pills I wanted. They didn't sell me the whole bottle, though you can do that if you want. Just bring 2 or 3 in a tiny plastic bag. You can buy what you need when you're there.

Cotton pajama pants

Again with the cotton! It took up a tiny bit too much space in my bag, so I found some synthetic and short inseam pajama shorts. This is one more trend that I've done: I've tried to get shorts that aren't so long so they'd not take up so much space in the bag.

Too large swim trunks

Same with the pajama shorts. I found some swim trunks that can double as workout shorts, but are also much shorter on the inseam. I could probably also go with a speedo, but right now I'm happy with the space that I have.

Pretty big thermos water bottle

I went through two water bottles before settling on what I have currently. It's still insulated, but smaller. I could carry my original one with me, but it was slightly too large. With this one, I have to fill it more since it's about half the volume, but I can also pack it much more easily. It holds enough, so I'll be sticking with this one.

What I've added

Those are some of the things that I've gotten rid of or swapped out. But what about things that I've added?

Probably my best addition is a square knife sharpener. It's flat and easy to pack, but it's been a meal saver since hostels and shared kitchens never have good knives.

My next favorite addition is a collapsible silicone measuring cup. It's also flat when collapsed and is something that many hostels haven't had on hand.

Something I keep considering getting rid of: an extra screen. It's flat and light-weight, but it still takes up weight and space, and I don't really use it that often. But when I do I appreciate it. I bought it off of a guy at a hostel in Guatemala for half price, so it was hard to pass up.

Refillable tubes for shampoo, conditioner, and lotion. But the important thing is that these are more like bags than tubes, which mean they collapse when they're empty and they're sized for airlines, so I have never had to get rid of them. Even having multiple with shampoo in them, I've never had to dump them.

A hat/sombrero from Argentina. The sun in much of the country is brutal on the skin. I eventually had to get some extra protection. I found a local brand that hand-made in the country and bought it. One thing that I like about this had is that it ventilates well and that ventilation allows air to flow through, meaning that the wind doesn't carry it away very easily. The downside though is that traveling with a hat on buses and planes means that it's resting on my legs. Overhead spaces can get it squished or can be full of spilled soda or other nastiness, so on my leg it goes.

Wax cologne. Fulton and Roark make a cologne in wax form. It's great for travel and smells just like regular cologne.

Something I tried to get rid of and couldn't

It's my toiletry bag. I got one that's rigid in structure, but holds a lot. The rigidness means that it's always the same size and doesn't compress. Additionally, the structuring itself takes up extra space. However, it's really nice being able to grab one thing and be ready for a shower, shave, or anything else. I tried to get rid of it for something smaller since I used to travel with less. But I went back to it because I now carry stuff I didn't used to worry about, like shampoo.

What I learned

Having limitations can be freeing. There were several times when I really wanted to buy something but didn't because of the space and weight in my bags. I also am full-time nomading, so I don't have a “home” to bring them back to, although my parents would happily let me mail things to them. The funny thing is I no longer remember what those things were that I thought I needed.

A trend that I've found to work is to focus on flexibility. Flexible things and a flexible bag (ie cloth instead of a hard shell) make it easier to fit your bag in places. Structured components take up space and make it harder to be flexible. Cotton really does take up a lot space if it's not a T-shirt.

I never did use those 120 capsules of Tylenol.