Traveling light. A topic which is popular to discuss amongst 'regular travelers'. It is not uncommon to find chat groups on how to save weight, or how to multi-use certain types of garments. Whether you are heading overseas or packing the necessities of life on your back to walk up a mountain.. the task of simplification is a form of art.
In the early years of being a mum, I was fortunate enough to spend several months at a time with my family living in a caravan exploring all of the beautiful sights around New Zealand. If you have experienced 'van-live' you will understand that doing loads of washing is not a regular thing. Not to mention that hot showers, running water and flush toilets are a luxury.
Life becomes simple.
So when it comes to having simple, practical clothing... The more 'wears' you can get out of a garment before it 'needs' to be washed the better. The faster a garment can dry.. the better it is as well.
This is where NuYarn© merino technology takes centre stage. Softer. Lighter. Warmer. Cooler. Stronger. The list goes on. When I finally managed to find some of this magical material to make my first NuYarn© merino top I was instantly sold. The soft feel was a major winning point. Merino being reputed as the least itchy option of wool fibres to wear, I am one of the sensitive type that finds it a little bit irritating to my skin. NuYarn© is an absolute a game changer.
The feel alone is not the only thing that makes NuYarn© even more amazing than all of the other merino shirts I have owned.
NuYarn© merino is manufactured using 30% less raw materials. The way the merino yarns which construct this fabric are made has substantially less twist allowing the natural characteristics of the wool to perform. NuYarn© fabrics have more loft. The softer feel comes from having less twist in the merino fibres so fewer fibre ends protrude to cause irritation. With better utilization of raw materials NuYarn© dries 5 times faster than traditionally spun merino.
With the simple method of 'air and wear' it is possible to span several days before a garment needs to be washed due to smell. Awhile ago I shared my easy 'on the road' hand washing hack. I thought it might be time that I share it again.
My favourite soap bar to have on hand is the Ethique Flash bar which is made right here in New Zealand. It is a small firm soap bar which is easy to lather, easy to rinse, cleans well... and even leaves my hands feeling soft when I have finished. When doing washing 'in the wild' I will typically turn the garment inside out and wet the areas which need cleaning the most (underarm seams, or if there are any stains from wear). These 'need to clean' areas get a gentle rub with my Flash soap followed by massaging the suds, before wetting the remainder of the garment and giving a full squish and wash in large bowl (or pot) of water.
Not a fan of ringing water from merino, I prefer to place them in a small mesh bag and swing them round and round briskly to rid the garment of excess water. OR ..if you have not tried it already, I highly recommend using a string pull salad spinner to wisk out the worst of the wet before hanging the freshly washed garment up to dry. 😉
There really is no comparison for wash/dry time when comparing NuYarn© to a traditionally spun merino shirt. NuYarn© is so much lighter, so much easier to handle, and dries so much faster. Which also translates into how the garments perform when worn.. incredible wick and fast drying while on the go.
All of this being said.. I've had to make a few relatively big trips this past year. The latest of them was to spend 4 weeks in Midwest USA flying into late winter/early spring weather. My two children (7 & 9 year old) and my husband were also traveling with me. We managed our trip with a single checked bag for all of us, and it weighed in at 15.5kg. Not a bad effort if you ask me.
Do you have any favourite tips or tricks on keeping your pack weight down?
Drop an email to hello@yank.nz it would be great to hear from you. 🙂