All A Dollar

"Seventeen countries. Six weeks. One pair of award-winning underwear!" boasted the claim on a pair of matronly-looking 'travel underwear'. Really? And while we're at it, ewwwwwh.  

Last Saturday, I spent a frustrating hour at a "bargain basement" sporting store trying to stock up on basics for my trip. Little did I know that I should be shelling out $15 (on sale!) for 100% polyester underwear that I never have to change. After all, aren't most women's underwear "lightweight," "synthetic material," and "compact?" And honestly, I think you have bigger worries if you don't have space in your bag to pack more than one pair of panties. Seriously people. 

Which made me think, how much of the niche, travel supply products are really necessities and how much, with a little creativity, can be found elsewhere? Does one really need to pay $9.99 for a mesh travel bag to separate our clean from dirty laundry? 

So instead, I made a trek to my favorite dollar store at 17th and Mission. Yes, the one without a name, just a big "One Dollar" sign announcing its intentions and a perpetually smashed out side window. Nothing fancy, but at the end of the day I got the following for under $10:  

- 2 travel mesh bags (Devil's advocate: the quality is probably not as good as sporting supply stores, but then I'm only traveling for a few months.)

- Plastic container with separate compartments - I think this will be great to separate small items, cords, maybe even makeup. 

- Coffee Filters - Heard that along with a Steripen, these are great for filtering particles out of water.

- Earplugs - Helpful at hostels and other noisy hotels (or when you don't want to hear your seat mate snore).

- Laundry pins and rope. In fun neon colors too!

- Drain stoppers in multiple sizes. Good for plugging sinks to do laundry.

- Travel bottle set. Selling up to $10 elsewhere!

And with the money I saved, I bought me these....a few motivational stickers for my trip.