Travel Clothing – Pants & Shirts

There a lots of good choices. REI, Columbia, Ex Officio, Rail Riders, etc. Just set your budget and go shopping. REI carries several brands so you can start by looking online there, and may find cheaper sources. For shirts a simple poly dress shirt (wrinkle free will work), but may not be as durable.

The IDEA of convertible pants is good. I find the practical aspects sometimes lacking. To wit:

That zipper adds stiffness across your thighs. I don't like that.

You have to take your shoes off anyway to switch to shorts, so unlike full-zip shell pants (like for climbing and X-C skiing), it's not much harder to just change to shorts.

As they age, the shorts get faded and worn more than the legs. Fine outdoors, but it looks a little funky in the city.

I'd go with simple, light, cheap, nylon shell pants. Then either small light runner's shorts or I've found some underwear that passes as bicyling shorts – black, wicking, quick-dry, light, cheap – and it helps avoid chafing on long trips. That way, you're passable when you're washing your long pants.

Convertible pants — as well as shirts and pants with 18 bellowing pockets — are perfectly fine for trail wear, but are UGLY AS HELL in urban areas.

For myself, I bring only two sets of clothes with me regardless of the length of travel (my longest trip is seven months) — one set on me and one in the pack. Wash at night (5 minutes) and they are ready the next morning. I never carry dirty laundry around.

I highly recommend poly or poly/cotton blend for their quick drying, minimal wrinkling, very durable, yet very comfy qualities. Choose simple styling in neutral colors — so you can easily mix and match and have yourself 4 different outfits.

I wear these from trail to city (for all except for the most formal of occasions):

o Mountain Hardwear Canyon shirt (l/s) — or any poly/cotton blend tee shirt
o Patagonia Nomader pants
o nylon socks (black or dark brown)
o Ecco Cross suede walking shoes (black or dark brown)

To the above, just add a shell jacket (Patagonia Houdini) and an insulation jacket (MontBell down jackets depending on climate), and a compact umbrella to complete the travel wardrobe. Optional: hat and light flip flops (good for hotel and beach wear).

Finally, if hiking for multiple days where rainproofness is a must, then substitute the wind jacket with a wp/b rain jacket instead.