Had a hostel owner in Medellin tell me I was packing wrong and I changed my whole system

Stayed at this small place in Medellin for a week last November. The owner, this older lady named Marta, saw me struggling with my duffel bag on the stairs and laughed. She said 'you bring too much, you overpack the wrong things'. Then she showed me her trick: bring only 3 tops and 2 bottoms that all match each other, plus one good pair of sandals and one pair of walking shoes. No jeans because they take forever to dry. I used to bring like 10 shirts and 4 pants for a 2 week trip. Next trip to Costa Rica I tried her method with just a 30 liter backpack. Saved $60 on baggage fees alone. Has anyone else had a local tell them something that totally changed how they travel?

2 comments

2 Comments

irisross4d ago

Yo, so does Marta do workshops or something cause I need to send everyone I know to her? I mean I still catch myself overpacking sometimes but her rule about cutting jeans out changed my life honestly. I swapped to those quick dry hiking pants from Uniqlo and it made a huge difference for laundry days on the road. Also the matching tops thing sounds like a capsule wardrobe trick, I've seen people swear by that for carry on only trips.

hunt.jana4d ago

Used to think capsule wardrobes were just for people with no style honestly but @irisross is right, matching tops with a few bottoms makes packing so easy. I tried it for a weekend trip and it clicked how much less I need to haul around.