Embrace Your Inner Onion

• As I walked around downtown D.C. freezing every exposed portion of my body off, I realized that in about three weeks I'll be even colder as I walk around in Tallinn, Estonia all day. This brings me to the point of my title for this blog. One trick that I've learned through my years of traveling is layering. Now, I'm not talking about the cutesy layering where you put a lacy camisole under a nice sweater. Oh no, I'm talking backpacking through the mountains kind of layering. Now you may think to yourself, why would she want me to bring more clothes rather than less? There's actually several reasons:

• Suitcase space: OK before you say I'm dreaming, I promise you it will in fact save you suitcase space. Rather than packing several big, bulky, space devouring sweaters you pack several thinner tops which together will still probably be less than the sweater.
  


• Temperature control: I happen to be one of those people who gets sick to my stomach if I get hot so being able to cool off is a must. The same goes for your kid. Kids aren't happy campers if they are too hot or too cold so being able to adjust how warm or cold they are will make everyone happier in the long run.
  


• More outfits with less clothing: Here's how it works. Say you wear two (or even three) shirts one day. A few days later you can wear the same exact outfit just in reverse, wearing the shirt that was closest to your body on the outside and the shirt that was on the outside now will be the under shirt. You've now got two outfits but are only taking up the space of one sweater in your bag. Obviously this wont work if the undershirt from the first day is on the "ripe" side in which case you could either air it out, wash it and hang it up to dry, or just wear the outer shirt from a previous day as an undershirt.

If you travel in winter a lot, like I do, you can also invest in some "second skin" thermal shirts. These are ultra thin shirts and leggings that keep you warm while not bulking up your outfits or your suitcase. They also make for great sleepwear which will also cut down on the things you have to bring. Best of all, because they are so thin, they will dry in a jiffy if they need a washing so you can wash them in the sink at night and they'll be ready for more walking around the next day.

So, with all that said, everyone enjoy freezing to death in this wretched cold!