Care to dress for dinner?

It's not going to happen.

There's only so much room on a bike and, to be honest, clothes are not a top priority. That's not to say you don't take any (corr!) but you don't take much. You get properly practical.

I'm aiming to go to generally hot places (it's supposed to be a holiday!) so that colours my take on things slightly. As a bloke, my clothes tend to be physically bigger and of a heavier weave than that of the ladies which certainly doesn't help. Indeed, I've often wondered if a woman's entire ensemble has as much material as a pair of my boxers. It's so unfair!

In general, then, for under crackers and t-shirts you'll probably have three: wearing one, one waiting for the wash, one waiting to go on. I have taken fairly heavy duty t-shirts in the past and then lightweight modern "sports" t-shirts (think running jerseys) and it really hasn't made that much of a difference. Yes, the high-tech wicking fabrics are considerably lighter, take up very little room and wash&dry very easily but they still get sweaty and stinky. The heavier weave material holds up slightly better if the night breeze is a little cooler than you were expecting and can't be bothered getting your long-sleeved shirt out of the bag.

I have yet to take my Liverpool football shirt -- super lightweight modern fabric and respected all over the world! Maybe this time.

I take a couple of pairs of heavy socks for boot/shoe wearing. I'll have a long-sleeved shirt for emergencies/cold evenings. A pair of long trousers (jeans remain fairly smart -- if jeans can ever count as smart). I'll take a pair of football shorts as they fold up nice and small. Actually, I might take a pair of Speedo shorts which can (obviously) be used as swimwear and have the benefit of integral tackle containment nets which means you can wash all of your pants at once.

Ladies might begin to wonder if three pairs of knickers is quite enough but I am led to believe by other adventure bikers of the female persuasion that it is. Just. (Again, I'll suggest that women can pack more of the same vs. their male compatriots so take any absolute numbers with a pinch of salt. You're limited by space.)

As an aside, when traveling through Africa, my partner at the time bought a packet or two of ultra-mini pads which allowed her the same sort of pant reuse as gentlemen are ever proud to demonstrate.

Note here, at this point the parachute cord you included in your general kit can construct any amount of washing line in your room/camp.

I take a pair of walking shoes -- fairly presentable and you can do a bit of tramping in them.

I don't take a jacket or jumper. I have a very good jacket I wear on the bike that it quite good enough to wear out and about and it it's getting chilly I happen to know can be made extremely warm.

A woolley hat for camping...I get a cold noggin!

A Tilley hat.

Foldable, machine washable, looks the part. 'nuf said.

As a general point, I've always previously had some form of cargo pants/shorts when traveling but I don't seem to feel the need quite so much when on the bike. I always used to fill the pockets with too much crap as well so maybe it's a good thing.

One bad thing about not taking cargo pants/shorts that I could always put my passport/wallet in an unfeasibly difficult-to-pickpocket thigh pocket.

I don't take a traveler's neck or gut wallet either, on the bike, cunningly hiding passport/wallet from prying eyes -- except that most of us have protruding guts rendering its security through obscurity null and void.

As if being a Mzungu and therefore guaranteed to have money on you wasn't painfully obvious anyway.