Shorts, Pants and Trunks

If you're packing for long-term travel with a small backpack, bottoms are where the space goes; a single pair of jeans takes up more room than three quick-dry shirts, so the pants and shorts you choose (and how many) will make or break your pack.

I pack three: one pair of convertible hiking pants and two pairs of quick-dry shorts that double as gym shorts and swim trunks.. that's it, and it's been plenty for warm climates, cool climates and everything in between. Here's how I think about it, and what to look for if you're building your own set.

How many pairs of pants do you need for long-term travel?

One. If you're doing laundry regularly (I wash mine in the shower every day), one pair of pants is enough, and if you're sticking to warm climates, you'll barely wear them anyway.

The one-pair-of-pants rule sounds extreme until you look at your own habits; most people wear the same pair of pants for days on end at home, they just don't admit it. Pants don't touch your skin the way shirts, socks and underwear do, so they don't need to be washed nearly as often, and one pair drying overnight while you wear shorts is a perfectly workable system.

If one pair makes you nervous, pack two and see how often the second pair leaves your bag; my guess is not often, and you can always drop it in a hostel donation box once you realize it's dead weight. I've packed two pairs in the past, but one is plenty.

Convertible hiking pants (ugly, but useful)

Zip-off hiking pants are the single most useful piece of clothing I pack, and yes, they look like something your dad wore to a national park in 1998.. I'm aware.

They're worth it because one item covers three jobs: long pants for travel days, chilly evenings and any place with a (loosely defined) dress code; shorts for hiking and hot afternoons; and in a pinch, swim trunks. Most are made of lightweight nylon, dry in a few hours, and come with more zippered pockets than you know what to do with. I went with a pair from Columbia because they were comfortable, light and had plenty of zippered pockets; any major outdoor brand makes a similar version.

As for the look, I wear my convertible hiking shorts out to bars, and no one has ever said a word. If you're worried about it, read No One Cares (Except Maybe You) and then stop worrying about it.

A few things to check before you buy: the zippers should sit above the knee (so the shorts are actually shorts), the waist should have some stretch or an integrated belt, and the fabric should feel like nylon or a nylon/poly blend, not cotton canvas.

Quick-dry shorts with zippered pockets

My other two pairs of bottoms are basic quick-dry shorts, the kind sold as gym shorts, hybrid shorts or "amphibious" shorts depending on which brand is trying to sell them to you; the label doesn't matter, the features do.

Look for:

• At least one zippered pocket: ideally two. Zippered pockets are a traveler's best friend; your phone and wallet stay put on buses, beaches and bar stools, and you stop patting your pockets every five minutes.
• Nylon or polyester: these dry in a couple of hours hanging in a hostel bathroom; cotton shorts dry sometime next week.
• A flat waistband with a drawstring: elastic-and-drawstring waists work as gym shorts, swim shorts and "I ate too much" shorts, and they don't need a belt.
• A length you can live with everywhere: somewhere around the knee works for hiking, the beach and dinner. Very short running shorts are great for running and not much else.
• Lining, or not: some shorts come with a mesh liner, some don't; comfort is king when you're wearing the same two pairs every day, so try both and stick with whichever you prefer.

Can swim trunks double as regular shorts?

Yes, and they should; a pair of swim trunks and a pair of quick-dry shorts are basically the same garment with different marketing, so pick whichever you'd be happy wearing to lunch and buy two of those.

The rule works in both directions. Quick-dry gym shorts with a zippered pocket work fine in the ocean (leave the wallet in the locker), and most modern swim trunks, minus the loud print, work fine as everyday shorts. The things to avoid are the obvious ones: board shorts with a stiff, laced waistband and no pockets, trunks with a bright pattern you'd be embarrassed to wear to a restaurant, and anything with a thick liner that takes forever to dry.

If you're a woman reading this, I unfortunately can't speak to the swimwear side, but the shorts and pants advice holds, and a swimsuit takes up so little space that packing one extra item won't hurt.

Fabrics: what to buy and what to avoid

Stick to nylon, polyester or blends of the two; they're light, they dry fast, they don't hold odor as badly as you'd think, and they're cheap to replace when a coral reef eventually rips them.

Skip denim entirely. Jeans are heavy, take a full day (or two) to dry, and take up more space than everything else in your bag combined; the same goes for heavy cotton chinos and canvas shorts. If you want a pair of "nicer" pants for going out, look for stretchy travel chinos in a synthetic blend; they weigh a fraction of jeans and look about the same at night.

Colors and fit

Neutral colors pair with everything and hide dirt; I pack gray shorts and pants, black shirts and black shoes, and getting dressed takes zero thought. Gray, khaki, navy and olive all work; bright colors and patterns are fun until you realize you only own two pairs of shorts and one of them is orange.

On fit, remember you'll be sitting in these for 12-hour flights, hiking in them, and sleeping in them on overnight buses; a little stretch in the waist and a slightly relaxed cut through the thighs beats anything tight. Slim-fit hiking pants look better in photos and worse at hour nine of a flight.

Final thoughts

Three pairs of bottoms - one convertible pant and two quick-dry shorts, all in neutral colors, all with zippered pockets - will cover hikes, beaches, bars, gyms and long travel days, and they'll dry overnight when you wash them. You won't win any style awards, but you'll stop thinking about what to wear within a week, and that's the point.

If you're still on the fence about packing this few, start with 9 Tips for Packing Fewer Clothes, and check my packing list to see how the bottoms fit in with everything else.

Read Next: Travel Clothes (What To Look For)