Why I Pack an Empty Suitcase Every Time I Visit Korea
How a trip home became my yearly wardrobe refresh, without buying anything new
Every time I visit my family in Korea, I pack one suitcase almost completely empty on the way there. It's not for souvenirs. It's for clothes I already own — the ones sitting untouched in my closet back in Canada because I never got around to having them altered or properly cleaned.
The Habit I Started Almost by Accident
The first time I did this, it wasn't planned. I happened to mention to my mother that I had a few pairs of trousers that never fit quite right, and a couple of cashmere sweaters I'd been avoiding because dry cleaning them in Canada always felt like an unnecessary expense. She told me to just bring them next time — alterations and dry cleaning back home cost a fraction of what they do here.
What I Actually Bring Each Time
Now it's become routine. On my last trip, I packed about five pairs of trousers that needed hemming or a slight waist adjustment, along with seven cashmere sweaters and cardigans that had been sitting folded in a drawer, waiting for a proper cleaning I kept putting off.
Doing the Math: Why This Actually Makes Sense
A single cashmere dry-cleaning visit in Canada can cost more than what I pay for several pieces done at once back home. Multiply that across seven sweaters and five pairs of trousers, and the savings alone would almost cover part of my flight.
To put a rough shape on it: cashmere dry cleaning in the Fraser Valley has run me somewhere in the $18 to $25 range per piece depending on the shop, versus what feels like a small fraction of that per piece back home when I bring in several at once. Trouser alterations follow a similar pattern — noticeably cheaper per piece, and often finished within a day or two even with several pieces dropped off at once.
What I've Learned About Timing the Visit
I've also learned it helps to plan around the trip itself. I try to set aside the first day or two after landing to drop everything off, since jet lag mornings are often unstructured anyway. That way the pieces are usually ready well before I fly back, instead of becoming a last-minute scramble at the end of the visit.
Quick Answers If You Want to Try This
Do you worry about the extra luggage weight? Not really — the pieces I bring are already ones I own, so it's not truly "extra." I just move existing luggage weight around rather than adding new purchases on top of it.
What kinds of pieces are worth bringing versus not? In my experience, it's most worth it for anything that needs specialty care — cashmere, silk, or fit adjustments — rather than everyday cottons, which are easy and inexpensive to handle locally either way.
Does this only work because you have family there? Having a home base definitely makes it easier logistically, but the price difference itself is real regardless — it's just a question of whether the trip and the errand line up.
Coming Home With a "New" Closet I Already Own
I always come back with a suitcase full of clothes that fit better, look freshly cared for, and feel new again — without a single new purchase. It's become one of my favorite parts of visiting family: not just seeing them, but quietly restoring a closet full of things I'd almost given up on.
