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The Travel Skirt: An Unlikely Companion

"When trousers are too casual..."

If you think a travel skirt sounds like a nutty item to take on your trip, think again.

I traveled the length of Africa wearing a skirt most days and it's the best item of clothing I took along.

Why?

It's cool and allows the air to circulate around your legs better than travel pants (trousers, if you're from the UK).

It's culturally appropriate for women traveling in conservative countries to wear skirts of a certain length (best not above the knees or too tight if you're in a country where modesty is valued).

It's flexible. If you choose the right skirt, you can wear it to travel during the day and to go out at night.

If you're sold enough on the idea to give it a try, I'm familiar with two types of skirt - but there must be many more.

The one I used in Africa is by Tilley Endurables, and I know they have many different styles. In fact, I had two, a long one and a knee-length one - but that's overkill. I rarely wore the knee-length but I still have and use the longer one.

I could crush it, snag it or scrunch it but somehow it always looked fresh. It also dried quickly, which is essential for a travel skirt.

The other outstanding range of travel skirts is the Macabi skirt. I don't have one myself but several of my friends do - and they absolutely swear by it. I will definitely try it on a future trip.

The skirt is resistant, wrinkle-free and attractive, and dries quickly too. It's unusual feature is that it can be worn short or long - and as a pair of pants! That's right. A set of snaps holds up the skirt and changes its length and appearance. Talk about versatile.

One thing to look for in a skirt is pockets - can't live without them.

As I traveled, there were occasions when trousers were too casual, so I've learned my lesson - and wouldn't dream of taking a long trip without a skirt in tow.

A word of warning though: you can't always wear a skirt, for example when there are ticks or snakes or other creepy crawlies around. But then, that's just common sense, isn't it!