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"This is the way we wash our clothes . . ."

© Diane Goldberg under the original topic name

I'm heading out to the beach for a few days --- and, I'll probably pile more clothes into my car for a few days than I'd pack to spend a month jumping from ferry to train. One of the great advantages of car travel is that you can cart everything you think that you might consider needing or wanting.

Dragging half your house with you is one type of budget traveling that folks who think it's all about back-packer chic miss. Car travel presents chances for big savings. Grocery stores and drug stores in resort areas tend to take advantage of the tourist trade to charge top prices. I plan to pack my car with local generic soda --- $.44 per liter.

This is a departure from my usual litany: travel light, travel light to save money. Unless you are taking the entire trip in a car, traveling light is the best way to go anywhere on the cheap.

Whether it's back-packer chic or doing the cross-continent one small suitcase boogie it's essential to know the secrets of laundry on the road.

Two distinct schools of thought exist regarding travel laundry --- the sink washers and the find a Laundromat every two weeks crowd. Before signing onto one point of view or another, consider your upper body strength. If you can't carry enough clothing for at least a week being a member of the Laundromat brigade can be a real drag. Alternatively, if you swear off Laundromats entirely once your denim is dirty it is out of the running until you get back home. Science has not yet found a way to wash blue jeans in a sink and dry them in less than a week --- you may as well hike to the laundry.

After years of allegiance to sink washing, I've mellowed with age and come to see that a combination of the two methods works best. Most of my travel gear can and does bathe in the sink with an occasional side trip to the Laundromat in the middle of longer journeys. When I am crossing two or three climate zones I really appreciate the luxury of having a few heavier items --- the heaviest stuff does not sink wash well.

Sink washers need to develop a friendly relationship with polyester and nylon. Silk is the only natural fiber that does a good quick wash and dry. While most travel catalogues offer extensive travel shirts and pricey choices, many discount store synthetics do just as well. I love my travel skirt from http://www.travelsmith.com but as for blouses a few ready for Goodwill old polyester things do just as well and dry literally in minutes.