Clothes for travelling on Gap Year

[Isthatmybear]

My DSD has a packed gap year coming up and really needs to sort all the clothes now as once A-levels kick in she doesn't stop for over a year!!
In the summer she's doing 6 weeks in Europe with friends, this one is more cities less beaches.
Then off to SE Asia and Australia until Christmas, very much beachy.
Then to Costa Rica for 4 months volunteering
Then wrapping it up with 3 months in central and South America!

Obviously she will be home in between Europe and SE Asia and at Christmas before Costa Rica. Then her dad is planning to go out and see her in Costa Rica before she goes backpacking again and will take a lot of her stuff home with him.
We aren't funding this her mums side of the family are.
She has savings and wants to get new cloths for going. Think the very "Gap Yah" style. Floral skirts, crochet tops and linen trousers!!
Obviously she will take some leggings/shorts work out type clothes for hikes but wants to look cute.

She's planning on getting a 70l backpack when seems absolutely absurd but she feels anything less won't be enough? She's considering getting a second smaller one for the Europe trip though.

So far she's looked at Hollister and Superdry and found a couple of bits.

Does anyone have any ideas where she can find this style of clothes? Not crazy expensive ideally but not SHEIN or Primark.

TIA

Isn’t “Gap Yah” style wearing the fisherman’s trousers you bought in Thailand with the poncho you bought in Bolivia and a fake Hard Rock Cafe T shirt from Goa or some other destination where there isn’t one? 😂

Your DD might feel a bit uncomfortable wandering around Rome and Paris or trekking through a rain forest in festival wear… It sounds a bit like she is planning a wardrobe for an extra in a gap year film rather than the actual destinations and activities she has planned. I would pack a very minimal capsule wardrobe and save the shopping for when she gets there.

If she is insisting on lugging a huge wardrobe around, I would suggest looking at backpacks with wheels. Make sure it has a cover for the straps for flights. One with detachable day pack that zips onto the main backpack is useful too but not essential. They are obviously heavier than a normal backpack but unless she is going to be trekking up a mountain for days where she has to carry it all the time and can’t wheel it that shouldn’t be an issue. My Osprey backpack has been all over the world and I rarely need to carry it. It’s been wheeled along remote dirt tracks in Africa and Asia. They aren’t cheap though.

Packing cubes (or carrier bags) to store things in the backpack are essential. Otherwise you end up leaving half your belongings on a bus in Bogota when you rummage through the backpack trying to find your book at the bottom of the bag.

Dark clothes are practical but some biting insects are attracted to dark blue/black!

I don't know if it's "gap yah" style or whatever, but my DD wore similar in SE Asia and Europe.
DD just wanted the lightest most compressible fabrics to make best use of backpack real estate. Obviously it depends what your DD has planned but I can't see an issue with what she wants to take.
DD did one trek and 2 nights camping but that was it. Most of her time was on beaches or in cities/towns. To tackle the humidity light and quick drying was all that really mattered.

Sorry OP feel like I'm spamming but DD has suggested I recommend the Hollister "Gilly Hicks" active range, apparently they do cute little dresses and skirts but in the same material as work out clothes so super quick drying etc.

Something to look at. Here's one of DDs favourites but there are more styles.

www.hollisterco.com/shop/uk/gilly-hicks/p/gilly-hicks-active-tie-flutter-skortie-55597327?categoryId=610530850&faceout=model&seq=03

She needs to sort this herself. Bad enough her travels are being funded for her. She needs to learn independence and self reliance. And she can buy clothes, if she needs, when she’s away-they do sell clothes in other countries!

Can I ask what's wrong with her having it funded?

Taking plenty of underwear is a must, for whatever reason DD really struggled to find pants in SE Asia??

No it's not. One to wash, one to dry and one to wear - plus a spare pair for emergencies. I just washed them when I had a shower or washed in the river each day.

Having said that, ants did eat holes in my knickers when I hung them to dry on a line from a tree to my tent in Malaysia.

But I did go to M&S in Singapore and bought a 3 pack for my last couple of days before flying home. The months before that just 4 pairs of knickers sufficed.

I guess that's personal preference then.

DD was on the move a lot and didn't want to have to do much in the way of washing. Her friends agreed. But if what you did worked for you then that's an option too !

I'm very much in the Pro-pants group. As long you have clean pants, a passport and money, the world's your oyster!

This. Just wear your clothes to Europe. Buy a few cute dresses/trousers front eh aforementioned shops.

Pack light for SE Asia. And buy dirt cheap there (whatever is 'in' there). The least fashionable thing you can do is lug around an enormous 70L in the humidity and heat of SE Asia looking like a newb. Anything travellers are wearing in Asia will be instantly made by the market traders and for vastly cheaper than at home. Being able to hop onto a local bus without displacing four local people with your pack is just polite!

I think that Primark is totally the best option here. I'd never buy from Shein but primark is on a par with every other high street retailer in terms of ethics.

I agree with packing light and buying on the go. I bought some fabulous silk day dresses in Bangkok on the markets.

1 pair of loose cotton trousers, a lightweight fleece and fluffy socks. god send on air conditioned buses/ trains /planes.
Two kaftans, one long sleeved, great for the days you get burnt or for visiting religious sites.

Agree that patterns hide a lot.

SE asia is amazing, if you ask around there is usually local women who will wash and iron you clothes for a small fee. I had three cotton shopping bags to separate my clothes, which worked well as I could just hand the dirty bag to the washing lady and she would wash that too.

I also recommend an umbrella 😂 I know it sounds weird but very useful if you can't find shade or get caught in the rainforest.

Definitely umbrellas. In many Asian countries women carry them for the sun so it's not weird. I LOVED mine. Silver-lined so definitely designed for sun, not rain.

I have an alternative idea. Pitrok solid deodorant. No problem taking on aircraft and it doesn’t smell. So tops need less washing.

I think it sounds weird to brits. They are fab for shade though, I climbed Ben Nevis in a heatwave, walked the whole thing under my umbrella, people wanted to buy it 😂😂

Honestly, my niece is currently on her gap year. She intentionally over packed as she wasn't planning any hikes and didn't want to do loads of washing. She took a 70l as her main backpack then a day bag too.
She seems to be wearing a lot of her normal brands, I dropped her off at the airport in Toms Trunks trousers and a Ralph Lauren hoodie. I think Crewe do some nice boho/hippy style clothes.

You think clothes get more ruined by hand washing than in machines?

Nothing lasts forever. She should still have clothes she feels comfortable and good in.

A 70L back pack?
Am assuming your DD is 5 10 plus and athletic.

If she is backpacking in June 2025, March 2024 is too early to be buying clothes.

Treat her to a couple of silk jersey T-shirts from Patra, a pack of micro fibre knickers and some very sensible socks, maybe a technical rain coat and walking boots if she is very serious about hiking. The rest she can pick up in a 20 min internet shopping spree in 15 months time.

She needs a 50Lish bag and a 15L day bag. Most clothes need to be Primark level as she won't come home with the same stuff she left with.

@NerdWhoEatsMedlar where has the OP said it's not until 2025?

In the first paragraph; My DSD has a packed gap year coming up and really needs to sort all the clothes now as once A-levels kick in she doesn't stop for over a year!!

@NerdWhoEatsMedlar

Pretty sure she meant once she has done her A-levels this summer she doesn't stop travelling for over a year.

@OscLia I think you're right.
I just assumed that a 18yo who could travel could also buy and pack clothes.

My point about a 70L pack stands, that will weigh about 20kg when full and is unlikely to be manageable.

My point about a 70L pack stands, that will weigh about 20kg when full and is unlikely to be manageable.

Depends what she's used to - if she's done anything like DofE, she'll have a good idea of what she can carry. But also, if she'd done that, she'd have a good idea what to pack.

If she's going anywhere with altitude, that can be cold at night.

I took silk pyjamas - a luxury, but they are light, pack up small, wash and dry easily.

Also, I sent a couple of parcels of stuff home by seamail - some books I had picked up and one or two other bits. Probably not wise to plan for it, but it's an option.

Well she is exactly 5'10 and very athletic (competitive tennis, done lots of hikes including Ben Nevis). Do you think 70l will be ok in these circumstances?

I’d say 70L is on the larger side and she may regret it. I’d go smaller personally, more like 45/50L. Just because she CAN carry 70L doesn’t mean she will enjoy doing it!

I’d also consider a backpack with wheels like a PP said, although depends how remote she’s going. Do get a backpack that opens suitcase style for easy access (Decathlon do them)

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/backpacking-packing-guide#

Well she is exactly 5'10 and very athletic (competitive tennis, done lots of hikes including Ben Nevis). Do you think 70l will be ok in these circumstances?

It's not just carrying it. It's fitting it in places. Transport in SE Asia tends towards small seats, small spaces. A giant Westerner with a massive pack takes up so much room. It makes people look like they're taking over. Less of an issue in Europe where the whole continent is lousy with giant people and massive packs!

Ben Nevis is one thing. Ben Nevis in 40 degree heat, 90% humidity, with traveller's diarrhea is quite another! I got very ill (hospital) and cursed my rucksack regularly for a good couple of weeks afterwards.

Added to which it's important which kind of travelling she's doing. If it's train overnight to Place, then a few days mooching about with a daypack; great. If it's two nights Here, There and Everywhere carrying the whole thing every two days, it's a lot. You can also do clever things with leaving the big pack places and going with less to explore a region.

Wheels are controversial BTW. I never have wheels on a rucksack because they take up space, add weight and I found them not very useful. Where I want to go backpacking, there aren't flat surfaces.

Sometimes for a big trip with a hub, I've taken a maybe 40-50L pack (something like an Osprey Farpoint), a wheeled carry-on and swapped based on location, leaving one at the hotel/station/airport. They're manageable together for big distances, and can both do a few days alone.