Travelling for two to three weeks at a stretch can leave a stench in the clothes. Carrying enough clothes means carting extra luggage only to bring back more dirty clothes. Right from the first overseas trip, one happy accident was discovering a cheap laundry service a few meters away from the hotel that gave a quick service far cheaper than the hotel.

Ever since, I find it better to travel light and spend a little on getting the laundry done. If you have relatives in the place of holiday who will accommodate you with this service, all the more better. Otherwise, it is also simple to use the local launderette. In fact, it was an experience in itself for us.

The first time we entered a launderette, we had absolutely no idea how to use the service. But it was an opportunity to taste the local life too. The owner was a pleasant Pakistani gentleman, who helped us out. While waiting for the laundry to get done, a Jamaican lady got talking to us and much to our amusement asked us if she can have the remaining washing detergent since we had a large box for just one use. So the laundrette can be a chance to actually interact with the locals.

It is always better to carry cotton clothes that can be layered up if it gets too cold. A set of thermal wear is sufficient for too cold climates instead woolly and bulky outer clothes. For our first trip to Europe, we overestimated the cold weather carrying all possible woolens. It ended being too warm to use them and we ended sweating it out as we had not carried any light or cotton wear. Also I thought we looked rather foolish wearing woolens when the rest around us wore their best coloured cottons. Thankfully the girls were too young at the same to be fashion conscious of what they were wearing. We must have passed off as jolly villagers in big city.