First off: this is so not a sponsored post. I am just acutely aware of the difficulties of trying to travel lightly when you have to pack a cumbersome towel and would like to share my experiences with a product that, quite frankly, has been quite a game changer for me.

The normal towel that I use at home, while soft and fluffy, easily takes up a good fourth of the backpack that I usually use on trips, even when it’s rolled up tightly. It also takes forever to dry so I always had to make sure that I keep a spare plastic bag to stick it into on the last day of my trip so that it doesn’t stink up my bag and my clothes.

When my mother received a microfiber towel a couple of years ago for Christmas, I thought that my problems were solved. This particular brand of towels boasted of being quick drying and being extremely lightweight. While it was significantly smaller than my fluffy towel, it did still take up a lot of space (by my standards anyways; I always travel with a small-ish bag).   Truthfully I could have lived with the size – it was the way it dried down that got me to stop using it. For some reason the towel would start to smell after three days of use, despite my meticulous efforts of making sure that it was fully dry before I storage. I only use it on my body and even though I’m clearly not the cleanest person in the world, I’m not that filthy. It just seemed unreasonable to have a towel that you needed to wash every three days or so. That would be such a pain, especially if you’re on longer trips.

Then my friend C mentioned this local brand called Towelite during one random conversation. At the time the company only sold their towels and a limited range of dry bags but they have now expanded their product list to include yoga towels and belt bags. I got intrigued because the pictures on their site of their rolled up towels looked tiny, like they could have fit in the palm of my hand.

They describe their towels to be absorbent, compact, lite, made up of microfiber and quick drying. They featured many sizes; the smallest was the Hand Towel (180php) and the biggest was the Beach Towel (695php). I was sorely tempted to get their Gift Set (1050php) that included a Bath, Sports and a Hand Towel but I figured that three towels were a bit excessive.

I can’t remember how I figured out that they had a stall in Market Market!, but I remember being extremely determined to find it before my Japan trip. I quickly realized that the material was the same as the microfiber towels I’ve seen my brother use in cleaning the car. I eventually settled on getting the Hand Towel and the Bath Towel because I’m extra like that and I needed two towels in my life – one for my hair and one for my body. Funnily enough, I ended up suing the bigger one for my hair and the smaller one for all over my body.

So what’s the verdict? I loved it! Both towels roll down to tiny, tiny things that hardly take up any space in my bag. The Bath towel came with a mesh container with a clip that was pretty nifty because you can clip the whole thing to the outside of your pack and the towel can air dry while you’re on the go. Unfortunately I have lost this mesh container so I keep both towels in the Hand Towel’s small container. It’s so tiny that my camera is probably even more bulky to this thing.

All of their towels also come with this clip on hook, a feature that I’ve used many, many times over the short duration of my having these products. I’ve always just clipped them to one of the hoops in my bag so that it can dry even when I’m in transit. And since they dry pretty quickly, I usually ended up stuffing it inside the bag once I’m inside the bus back to Manila.

Just like the shamwows that my brother used for his car, the Towelites are also extremely absorbent. I had very long hair during my trips to Japan and Bataan last year but the Bath towel managed to wring out the excess water enough for the mess of my hair to be somewhat manageable.

I can definitely see myself using these towels for a long time – provided that they don’t wear down to threads anytime soon. I’ve already seen little bits of fraying around the edges but then again I haven’t been very careful with these so I guess I shouldn’t be shocked at the damage. If they do wear down though, I’m definitely repurchasing.