As a somewhat frequent traveler, the answer is unfortunately yes.
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A couple of reasons are convenience and laziness. I know I can get those little travel size bottles and fill them up with my own toiletries, but I am just too lazy. I know this sounds silly, but I find it fun buying stuff in travel sizes. However, I end up buying a lot of things that I never thought about buying, but since they happened to be in the travel section of the store, they get added to the cart.
I have this mindset of trying to be as prepared as possible for the trip and the travel products seem to reinforce that mindset. For instance, I bought hand sanitizer, travel wipes AND tissues. Why? Honestly, you never know when you would need them. Depending on which country you are going to, they most likely would have similar products on hand, but if you are going to a developing country, then they may not have what you need. On my trip to Peru, my friend had forgotten to bring protein bars from home that we were planning on eating during our strenuous hike. When we were given the opportunity to shop in the local village, much to my dismay they didn’t have anything close to protein bars. We ended up buying several chocolate bars instead.
What I really should do before I go shopping for my vacation, is have a specific bin or box of travel gear, so I can readily access it and grab all the things needed for the particular trip. I will grudgingly admit that my travel gear is in several places all over the house. The travel backpacks are in the basement. My travel pillow and travel towels are in one of the drawers of my night stand. My travel adapters in one of my desk drawers and I just realized a few weeks ago, that I have several duplicates of plugs that will not work in the country I am going to. Argh.
So a set of travel plugs is another thing I have to buy!
(Note to self: Now that I’ve mentioned my travel bin idea, I think I’ll make one sometime this weekend).
I always seem to buy clothes before I go on vacation.
I use the same old excuses: “I have nothing to wear.”
“So I have something nice to wear for pictures.”
And the best one of all: “BECAUSE I’M GOING ON VACATION.”
So whenever I go somewhere new, I seem to need some new clothes for the trip. Mind you, after having recently done a clothing purge, I actually do need some new clothes. And a new pair of ballet flats. Honest. A consignment store is opening up next week near my house and I plan to do a bit of shopping over there to save some money. I also plan to make a list, just like I do with grocery shopping, so that I don’t (hopefully) end up buying more than I should. It’s funny how you always see people grocery shopping with a list, but never when it comes to clothes shopping. 🙂
And finally, I seem to spend more on food. Ready made food that is. As the departure date gets closer, I tend to spend less time on cooking because I don’t want to end up with leftovers. Yes, I know I could portion the food out and freezer, but unfortunately I’m a very picky eater. However, I literally just thought of freezing the leftovers just now.
Wow, I just seem to have a lot of frugal a-ha(!) moments today. 🙂
I don’t buy a lot of fresh produce either because I feel I wouldn’t be able to finish it and I’d end up throwing them out beforehand so they won’t become rotten in my fridge. I guess I could probably look into buying frozen produce just for that week.
I used to buy a lot of magazines and puzzle books for the plane ride. Puzzle books aren’t too expensive, but magazines sure are. I may just end up bringing a library book or two. Hopefully I’ll remember to bring it back with me. I do want to buy a Lonely Planet book on Greece though so I could read up on the country. I haven’t purchased an actual novel in YEARS, but I like to buy travel guidebooks from time to time.
Do you find yourself buying a lot of miscellaneous and sometimes unnecessary items before you go on vacation? What are some things you do to save on vacation supplies?
I keep all of my travel stuff in one spot and it saves me a ton of time and I forget a lot less. I have my travel toiletries bag inside of my travel backpack, this way I have my little shampoo bottles ready where I know I need them so I don’t have to buy new ones. I also have my foreign country power adapters in my backpack (where else would I ever need it), locks for my bag, deck of cards for when I’m bored, poncho in case of rain, neck pillow for planes/bus rides… you name all of those little “travel only” things, are all in one spot.
When I’m about to go on a new trip I just go through my bag and pull out the things I won’t need. If it’s a beach destination, rain gear is out. If it’s in the US, then power adapters are taken out, etc.
One thing that I like to do on my trips is to take old clothes to purge them. Being a guy, I typically wear things until there are holes in them or the fabric thins to a point where it borders lace. I usually round up these clothes and bring them on my vacations and after I wear them I throw them out so I don’t have to bring back dirty clothes or wash them while I’m there. If it’s a long trip where I can’t bring that many clothes, then I will bring only 1 or 2 sets of these clothes to throw out while the others will get washed on the trip.
One of my favorite parts of vacations has become the purge, normally I’m really bad at throwing things out. But for some reason I have found a way to get rid of things that should have gone years ago.
P.S. Camping is awesome, because then you can just burn the clothes.
I ended up using one of my small storage bins and putting all my travel gear in it. It’s one of those clear bins so I can see what’s inside it (Not that it takes a lot more effort to remove the lid of an opaque bin, but when you have a lot of storage bins on a shelf, it makes things easier). I’m surprised I didn’t think to do it sooner, considering on how many trips I’ve gone on.
Most of the clothes from my backpacking trip in Europe, I threw out because I wore them for a month straight.
My spending normally increases as we get ready for the trip. But I’m OK with it because my savings has been increasing in the months leading up to the vacation. I set aside money and designate it for vacations so when they come I’ve got the money to spend.
I think from now on I need to throw in an extra $100-$150 in my travel fund for miscellaneous spending prior to the trip. The same way people plan for those extra costs when they are closing the deal on buying a house.
Yeah I have a tendency to spend a little more, especially if it’s doing something way different than what I’m used to, like you said when you went to Puru. For my trip to Iceland though I tried to save money by borrowing a few items that I needed but would hardly use again, like a winter coat, from friends.
I probably could have looked into borrowing hiking boots from one of my girlfriends who’s really outdoorsy and into camping for my trip. Oh well. Will definitely consider it for next time.
I used to buy magazines for the plane ride, but now I rent movies and watch them on my iPad. As for other things, I stopped buying toothpaste and floss as I just use the small sample sizes that the dentist gives me when I get a checkup.
And being a guy, I don’t go on big shopping trips to get clothes for a vacation. I just wear what I already have.
We’ll probably end up doing the same thing with our tablet. I just recently went to the dentist for a check-up and was planning on doing the same thing! 🙂
You know what I spend a lot on? Last minute replacement electronic items such as camera charger, adapters, converters, etc. We buy the same things over and over again because I have a terrible habit of losing or misplacing the items and becoming unable to find them right before a trip.
Same here! I have two adapter plugs of the same kind, and they’re the ones NOT for Europe. So I had to buy a new one. Lol.
Now that I have my travel bin, hopefully losing items won’t be so much of a problem anymore.
You are preaching to the choir.
I’m sure I’m not making life better for you, but are you aware that there’s a website called 3FLOZ that has travel sized EVERYTHING. It’s awesome. Minimus also has lots of great travel sized products.
I also buy a bottle of water and a Cosmopolitan every single time I fly. I think my brain thinks that by doing that, I’m safely keeping the airplane in the air. It’s kind of ridiculous.
Seriously Mel…. You probably just made my next vacation more expensive with that comment there. damn you.. grumble grumble grumble…
I had no idea. I’ll have to check those websites out for my next trip, whenever that may be. Yes, I am already thinking after my trip after. Lol.
Hi, which protein bars do you recommend? I am using battle oats at the moment when I travel but fancy a change.
Thanks,
Kevin