Hit 50 nights in hostels last year and it changed how I pack

I booked 50 hostel nights across 12 countries in Southeast Asia last year on a $40 daily budget. It forced me to ditch my 40L backpack for a 25L one because I kept having to store it in lockers. Anyone else find that staying in hostels actually makes you pack lighter than hotels ever would?

2 comments

2 Comments

riley86017d ago

I read somewhere that hostel life basically trains you to treat your backpack like a survival kit instead of a suitcase... once you're constantly moving and storing your stuff in lockers that barely fit a 40L bag, you start realizing you only actually use like half of what you brought. I did three weeks in Thailand with just a 20L daypack and honestly never missed my bigger bag. The trick is wearing your heaviest stuff on travel days and using packing cubes to keep things tight. Down from 40L to 25L is a huge leap though, that takes some serious discipline.

juliagonzalez17d ago

Is that the one from the guy who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail with a 15L pack? I swear I read the same thing on a travel blog once, the guy basically said you can survive on a t-shirt, a pair of shorts, and a rain jacket if you plan right. How do you deal with laundry though, do you just wash stuff in the sink every other day or find a laundromat? My biggest problem with going that small is I'd have to do laundry way too often and that eats into time for exploring.