When I used to travel last year, I used to travel intensively and relied on my traveling schedule to take care of my fitness. I am technically chores illiterate as I grew up in India. As standard with Indian middle class households, you always have access to Help who take care of your chores like washing clothes, helping in the kitchen to completely cooking your meals (depending on the arrangement.).
So when I started traveling to the Western world – there were countless road blocks for me.
Laundry
In the first year, I used to rely on Shampoos provided by hotels to do my washing and hanging my clothes around the room. It made my clothes have varied smells due to different shampoos. Plus, sometimes they made clothes very itchy to the point of rashes.
Then I was suggested by friends in Budapest, I should rather buy washing powders which are available in tiny packs to deal with my laundary. They allow you to skip those rashes. All the hotels I usually stay at, usually has iron provided in the room or I can always ask for one.
Another Tip would be to buy clothes that don’t require ironing. They don’t look as elegant but they can still look smart casual.
This year, I started looking for cities that offered Wash and Fold services. They turned out to be value for money. As they wash, clean, iron, and fold your clothes. They usually charge per kilo. Most of the places – it was fixed rate – so I would pay €8 to €10 and it would even turn out cheaper than putting coins as I had more laundry per kg.
This turned out to be excellent – time saver. As I would just drop my clothes at one of the services. Head for the sightseeing or any other meeting. I would come back in the evening and collect my clothes. They usually charge per kilo and I don’t have to wait for putting clothes in the machine, waiting for them to wash. Once they are washed, put them in dryer and wait for a while again. It saved me a lot of time. Usually reviews of the servies are available online. Ofcourse, be careful about your whites.
For me, I can never think about the hotel’s laundry service unless it’s included in packages as they are usually very pricy. Sometimes, they can cost more than the cost of the stay.
