The title sounds like an advert for a piece of clothing. It isn’t. It’s an appeal to common decency. Obvious to many, I’m sure, but in my own experience not to everyone. It’s about a non-verbal way of dealing with people, about respect for others and about your own feel-good factor.
Spend two weeks eating up track kilometres, sleeping in the roof tent and using the winch more often than the coffee machine, and you get used to a certain… let’s call it: earthy patina. But even the hardest off-roader reaches the point where he swaps the solitude of the desert for civilisation, if only for one evening.
That’s exactly when your civvy wildcard comes into its own: a dark, clean pair of jeans, a tidy polo shirt or a loose blouse, and shoes that don’t look like they’ve just lost a mud fight.
The upgrade kit
There are a few good reasons to pack your “civvy set” into a big vacuum bag or ziplock and bring it along, beyond the fact that the polo shirt stays dust-free and dry in the boot even after three weeks of corrugated track and doesn’t smell of diesel from the jerry can:
Gendarmerie diplomacy
Border crossing, police check out in the sticks or the national park permit office: a collar works wonders. In a dusty tank top you’re just an “adventurer” to the official, someone who makes work. In a clean polo shirt and decent jeans you signal: “I respect your country and your rules.” You’ll be surprised how much faster barriers lift and stamps land on paper when you don’t look like an extra from Mad Max.
The end of the tinned-ravioli era
At some point you’ve had enough of the gas stove. You drive into that small, characterful village, find a fantastic trattoria and just want to eat well. Without doing it yourself and the washing-up afterwards. Just let someone spoil you. If you then walk in caked in mud and full camo, you’re the odd ones out. With the civvy wildcard as your upgrade set, you become guests.
Clean jeans on, polo shirt or a loose blouse over the top, a quick tidy of the hair, that’s all it takes. You show the landlord that his place is worth the small effort to you, and most of the time he returns the favour with a good table and the wine he doesn’t put in front of every tourist.
The feel-good factor, or the mental reset
After days of dust, the smell of diesel and checking tyre pressures, the moment you swap the dirty boots for clean shoes is pure luxury. They don’t have to be black patent shoes or high heels. A pair of clean, and yes, sturdy outdoor shoes will do the job too. Even flip-flops can look decent, as long as they’re not the blue-plastic kind but maybe leather, and the place is relaxed enough for it. It’s like a short holiday from the adventure. You feel like a person again, and less like part of the vehicle’s fittings.
It’s about respect, both ways
Let’s turn it around. When you arrive somewhere, border or restaurant, and the people working there look grubby and unkempt, what does that do to you in that moment? Does it lift your trust, your willingness to deal with them? Probably not.
So we shouldn’t take liberties we wouldn’t want from the other side either. Just because we’re on holiday and travelling and they aren’t. Often you can catch a few glances beforehand of what the right outfit for the evening might be. The choice won’t be huge anyway. On holiday in particular we come into contact with settings where the person opposite us is under a dress code. Because they hold an official position, or the employer demands a uniform. Those people might rather walk around in shorts and a T-shirt too, but can’t or aren’t allowed to. We should keep that in mind.
Where there’s a will, there’s a spot
As 4×4 travellers we know the space problem. Unless you’re blessed with enough room in the vehicle, every square centimetre is fought over. So the easy-going traveller is naturally tempted to leave the good wardrobe at home. Swimming trunks, jogging bottoms, loads of T-shirts and the one thing that must never be missing: the hyper-functional outdoor trousers. Sometimes there isn’t much room left after that.
You should still bring those two or three good items. I’m sure you’ll find the space, and the person across from you will thank you for it.