Quick Travel Tip #6 – Travel with a Shawl

Quick Travel Tip #6 - Travel with a Shawl

A shawl is one of those multipurpose items that should be packed in your carry-on bag on every trip both near and far.

I actually like to carry a couple:

  • A thicker shawl that can double as a scarf / sweater if I get really cold.
  • I also bring a cheap, thinner cotton one that I can wash in the hotel sink and hang to dry

Here are my 10+ Reasons Why you Should Travel with a Shawl

  1. A shawl keeps you warm when you are in the plane, train or car
  2. A shawl can cover your shoulders / head / legs in places of worship
  3. A shawl can be used as a beach blanket
  4. A shawl can be used as a towel
  5. A shawl can be used as a swim suit cover-up or robe
  6. A shawl can be used as a table-cloth for a spur of the moment picnic
  7. The ends can be tied together to make an improvised bag
  8. You can use a shawl as a privacy curtain in a hostel or to block the sun from your eyes if you want to sleep in the car
  9. A shawl can dress up an outfit in the evening
  10. You can use a shawl to wrap a not so clean pillow and protect your head
  11. A shawl can be used as a lumbar support
  12. In the case of injury, you can use the shawl as a sling
Quick Travel Tip #6 - Always Travel with a Shawl by Calculated Traveller

These are just a few ideas. What do you use your shawl for?

Related articles you may find helpful:
– Review: Go2 Travel Towel – A Travel-Friendly Towel
– Some Don’t like it Hot – Cooling Towel Review
– Travel Tip #7: Carry a Travel First Aid Kit
– Pack This! Eating and Drinking on the Road
– Review: TravelPro MaxLite 5 Rolling Under Seat Carry On

By admin

Mary Chong is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A food and travel writer, and founder of Calculated Traveller, when not working as a freelance graphic designer, Mary is either travelling with her husband Ray or planning the next big adventure.

3 comments

  1. I say the same things about a sarong: they’re multifunctional pieces of pretty fabric with uses limited only by your imagination. In addition to what you have listed above, I’ve used my sarong to augment not-quite-warm-enough bedding, as a sun shade on a sailboat, as an impromptu backpack tied African-style around my forehead, as a skirt, as a halter top, as a welcome aboard gift for people staying on our sailboat, as an emergency patch for a partially shredded mosquito bed net, to sit on when the rental car seat was too hot for my skin, modified-scarf-style to discretely protect my nose from the really bad breath of the man sitting next to me on a long bus ride, to trade even-Steven-style with local ladies for some of their own indigenous fabric, to capture and evict a rat, and as a decorative touch to liven up a bland room.

  2. When we were in Turkey I bought a large head scarf due to the cold temperatures and wind. I have left it in my jacket and found multiple travel uses for it since then. A shawl would have been even better since it is so much larger. These are great tips!

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