Once you decide to go on a trip, what is the first thing you tend to do? For many people, it is heading to the local mall to buy new clothes. In most cases, you this is mistake and a waste of money. If you are going on a trip, you can usually find all the clothing you need already in your closet and drawers. For those of you like me who are messy, you can find it on the floor. Behind the couch. No, to the left. Yep, there. In all seriousness, there are a couple of items that just need to be addressed.

Not to be too severe, but you can easily identify a fool. It is the person who is on a trip and wearing brand new shoes. This is the cardinal mistake of many travelers. Buying new shoes for your trip is akin to putting your feet through the Spanish Inquisition. We are talking torture here. New shoes are not broken in and do not conform to your feet. This means you can expect to get blisters the first few days of your trip.

If you are going on a longer trip, these blisters can often turn into bloody things that would make the star monster in a horror flick cringe. More important, they are painful and can really limit your ability to get around. If you are going on a trip, stick to the shoes you current use for walking around. If you must buy something new, do it a month before and break in the shoes. It is easier to deal with blisters when you are home!

Being an upstanding human being, you probably wear some refined pieces of clothing. Refined clothing does not do well on trips. Personally, I believe just thinking about putting it in the luggage will ruin it, but who am I too say. Regardless, you should avoid any clothing that requires dry cleaning. Do you really want to spend part of your trip waiting for the dry cleaning, assuming you can even find a dry cleaner? A better approach is to purchase the wrinkly free pants and shirts available. I know I said you shouldn't buy anything new, but this is the one exception.

We all have our tastes when it comes to clothing. One of the factors we consider is the color. Some people look good in blue and others do not. Whatever your color, you should try to pack a selection of clothes in it. If most of your clothes are blue, for example, you will generally be color coordinated regardless of the combinations you wear. This is particular good advice on longer trips where certain pieces of clothing just will not survive the wear and tear. If you look like you are wearing a loud golf outfit at the end of the trip, you got it wrong.

If you are going to be traveling for any extended amount of time, you should incorporate the above into the basic following rules. Take only clothing that is light in weight. Take only clothing that can be rolled up. Take only clothing that can be easily washed. Never take anything you will wear only once or to a special occasion unless you are absolutely sure the occasion will occur. Now get out there and have a blast!