In this Lightweight Travel Tip I talk about alternatives to shaving gels and cremes. I don't carry these items anmore because I make do with whatever I can find when I arrive. As long as it creates a bit of lubrication to help the balde glide, it's good enough. I have used soap, but I don't recommend his because it dries out the skin. If the hotel supplies soap, the chances are they also supply body-wash or hair conditioner and those are both beter opions imo.
Lightweight Travel Tips is a series of short videos where I showcase the lightweight travel philosophy by discussing specific situations. The individual tips are gateways to the lightweight travel mindset.
I can recall my first trip overseas with overweight suitcases full of things I never used. Even though I have larger baggage allowances than ever, I take less. Less luggage makes it easier to move around, and I'm less likely to lose an item because I have fewer items to track. It's easier to move through crowds and over imperfect ground.
Lightweight travel tips combine my experience in travel and the outdoors to examine what I carry and if I could do without it. I'm not an ultra-light backpacking gram weeny - my outdoors philosophy is more informed by bushcraft, where I learned to make the most out of whatever I carry while keeping necessities and local conditions in mind. So, lightweight travel is a mindset of efficiency - that each item must be helpful or it should be left behind.
At the core of my philosophy is: Passport, Credit card, Phone - everything else is a solvable problem or a luxury item.
This isn't to say you shouldn't carry anything - decide what balances weight, size, convenience and comfort for yourself and where you're going! Figure out what is available where you're going - both free at your accommodation or what you can easily buy.
How do I start thinking through a pack list? First, learn about the trip: what about the weather when I am there? What activities do I expect to do? What can I obtain at the destination if I need it? What equipment must I take? These questions are the genesis of thinking through what to bring.
And the biggest tip: Start with a small bag. If you can't make your load-out fit, it's easier to get a larger bag rather than the other way around. People tend to think in terms of bag size: it's the airlines that make us weigh everything!
Do you have some lightweight travel tips of your own? Please share in the comments.
Until next time.
▶️ 3Speak
Uh huh. This is one reason I now just buzz my beard off.. i no longer try to cut off a fine layer of my face to do it! :P
but back in the day, I would just use water on the disposable gillette ones.. they have a strip of the shave stuff to lube it as u shave.. I liked that.
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Just like that, there are some people who like to have a beard and some people who are clean shaven, so they must keep this gel inside their bag because when they go on a trip, all these things are a bit difficult to find.
I just don't bother with taking shaving gel - I'm okay with using whatever I find at destination. ;)
Oh thanks for the corrections..
This is one item I don't have to worry about since I'm not hairy. I just grow a small stubble, and water is the only thing I need. For a lightweight tip, I would suggest getting an all in one body wash [hair, face, body], and then you can shave while showering.
Good tip for backcountry, or some types of travel. Most places I stay provide these, though I guess hostels and campground don't.
Thank you for this episode of light weight travel
I will always put it in use anytime I want to travel
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Thank you so much for your consistency in the lightweight travel tips series. It always helps
Glad you're getting value from them.