quote:

Originally posted by BuckyE:
Well, the Rick Steves thing of taking old clothes ( especially underwear) and leaving them (or any other unwanted stuff) behind really gravels my belly. How inconsiderate is that, using your vacation rental as your garbage dump?

Thank you and amen. I think it's the height of American rudeness.

Ginger

I always take my best stuff that I would never leave, but I always assumed that taking old stuff and leaving it meant taking it out with the trash, not leaving it on the floor by the bed. Why would it be rude to dispose of old undies in the trash?

I've read several times about the 'take it and leave it' method of packing light...taking my old clothing and leaving it there. The problem for me is this: I love to wear good-looking, well-cared-for comfortable clothes. I feel good getting dressed for my day in clothing that feels good, fits good and looks good. I have a few scruffy things for yard work, but I gotta tell ya, I'm replacing them as we speak, because I'd rather have something that I feel good in, than something that I don't care enough about to bother keeping.

I usually shop for a few new pieces of clothing before a trip...usually socks, a pair of pants and also a few new T's, which are my staples for travelling. I can wear a pair of jeans or dress pants several times, as long as there's a fresh T-shirt to wear with the pants.

I'm not a clothes horse, by any stretch, I just like wearing great-looking great-feeling clothing. So, for me, the thought of taking all of my ready-to-throw-away clothing doesn't work for me...I can't imagine stepping on a flight to Italy or France wearing my saggy-a$$ed, baggy-legged pink cotton gardening pants over my 4 year old Jockey cotton thingies with less than a modicum of stretchable elastic left in them, topped with my 17 year old faded navy blue CHER concert T-shirt...hmmmmm, now that I see that in writing, I can't imagine wearing that again in my garden! Better get it to the rag bag, tout de suite!

Maybe that's another reason why I cannot pack light! Whatever the reason is, I think I'm destined to live the rest of my travel days with a good selection of great clothing in the closet of my rental apartment, and once in awhile I'll be faced with the enormous task of herding the bags to my next rental.

"The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage." ~ Mark Russell
Brenda

quote:

Originally posted by Chris:
I always take my best stuff that I would never leave, but I always assumed that taking old stuff and leaving it meant taking it out with the trash, not leaving it on the floor by the bed. Why would it be rude to dispose of old undies in the trash?

Vast accumulations of trash needing ever-growing landfill space are a problem everywhere. Of course we, as tourists, contribute to this problem when we travel, and especially when we travel to small towns whose municipal budgets are already stretched. It then seems to me--and it's just my opinion; I'm old fashioned--that deliberately planning to compound such problems is thoughtless.

Not that the relatively tiny amount I would leave behind would ever make any significant difference; it's more what the attitude evinces, I suppose. To me, it's no different from littering in public. I know it IS different to tidily dispose of trash, but still, that's just the way it feels to me. It's disrespectful: "I care more about my momentary convenience than your environmental problems."

And besides, as noted before, when I travel I make an effort to put my best foot forward. Wearing worn out clothes around in public doesn't jibe with that effort, nor does leaving them behind for others to deal with. OK, that's my two Euro cents worth. Thanks for listening!

American Tourists in Italy

I understand that you say it "feels" wrong to dispose of clothing whilst travelling but in a global sense it makes no difference whether you bin the items in LA or Rome. I personally usually give old clothing to charity shops who either sell it on or sell it for rags rather than bin it. I would not dispose of it on my travels for this reason and for the reason that I would not travel in old clothing as I like to feel smart and well turned out. But I suppose if backpacking for example this logic would not apply so then I can see the appeal of lightening the load en route.