My recent 23-day trip to Europe included four countries, lots of transit, and multiple travel days. I could bring only one travel backpack, which made packing challenging. My goal with clothing is to appear socially acceptable while wearing clothes that feel like pajamas, and for this trip I needed easy-to-wear layers that packed small, could be worn multiple days in a row, wouldn’t wrinkle, and would be easy to mix and match.
As I neared despair (and my millionth trip into the closet), I had a lightbulb moment when I spied my Free Fly layers hanging on a corner rack. These are the clothes I wear when I go fly-fishing. I discovered Free Fly through my job writing about outdoor gear and apparel, and the brand also came highly recommended from my connections in the hunting and fishing world.
It’s a somewhat niche company I seldom see outside the outdoor industry realm, but its range of apparel is well suited for more than a day of casting streamers. Fly-fishing is often a full-day activity in variable conditions, so the clothes have to be comfortable for all-day wear, hold up to long hours outside, and allow for plenty of movement without feeling tight or twisted.
So into my suitcase went the Breeze Joggers, Flex Long Sleeve, Weekender Long Sleeve, Lined Skort, Bamboo Lightweight Long Sleeve, All-Day Leggings, and Headwind Jacket. I wore different combinations of these layers for 12-hour days walking around Barcelona, Malta, Madeira, and Rome, and never felt desperate to rip them off at the end of the day. They look put-together enough for restaurant dinners as well as touring the basilicas in Rome. We kept our activities and restaurants casual, but the outfit I wore for slightly nicer occasions was the All-Day Leggings and the Weekender Long Sleeve paired with a patterned scarf.
The soft-yet-technical designation comes from many of the company’s signature tops being made with bamboo viscose, which is temperature regulating, naturally wicking, and odor resistant. Thanks to this wonder material, I was able to wear my shirts and pants multiple days in a row without offensive odor accumulation by just letting them air out overnight. The clothes are comfortable for both lounging and high exertion (walking around the Vatican Museums for six hours clutching an interpretive audio headset counts as high exertion, in my case).
The clothing I wore most frequently was the skort paired with the Lightweight Long Sleeve. It was easy to wear and flattering, and I never felt sweaty stomping up and down Malta’s hills. During our travel days hopping between countries, I wore the joggers with a Flex Long Sleeve. This outfit kept me comfortable while I was crammed in the back of a Ryanair plane, which is kind of like sitting in a bus someone launched into the sky and then turned off the air vents.
Maybe the best thing about wearing Free Fly clothing on this trip was that I didn’t have to think very hard about what to put on day-to-day. And now that I know how well the clothes travel, I’m looking forward to not having to think very hard about packing for my next trip.
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