I didn't plan it, but I did this once in Bergen, Norway. Showed up and immediately got soaked by the rain (I think I had a pathetic little umbrella). Noticed that most people outside seemed okay with the rain and had nice rain jackets. Found a store, bought a nice rain jacket. It comes in handy now when my kid wants to play in the rain and I don't want to be miserable afterwards.

Pack nothing but your American Express and just buy everything you need at the destination! That's one way to pack light ;-)

Well you aren't fully packed unless you also pack an income source to refill the card, travelling (at least for a lot of "true" travellers) is about finding a sustainable means of "going infinite" (to borrow MTG terminology).

But then your spending your time at the mall instead of exploring

> the right clothing will be cheap and easy to find

Tell me you’ve never lived in a place with actual winter without telling me. The clothes aimed at locals are designed to be a 5 to 10 year investment. Not a jacket you buy to throw away in spring.

That said, you are right that unless you’re in a place like that, the correct gear isn’t even available for you to buy.

You can get pretty far with a thick wool base layer, packable down jacket, and a wool hat/mittens/socks. Maybe not ultralight one bag travel, but with some reasonable clothing choices - not terrible.

You could probably get something used, but it would be a bit of a hassle. Or another way to experience the city like a local.

But while you’re shopping, and the trip in from the airport would be pretty miserable.

I'd tend to avoid buying used long underwear or wool socks.

The "cheap, serviceable, but used" is... fairly picked over by the locals (and especially the homeless).

Consider San Francisco for a moment and the daily occasion of tourists who suddenly find that the fog rolling in the evening is cold and then buy the "cheap" (but horribly marked up) jackets that aren't the right size in which they stand out like sore thumbs.

Or they could go to the Salvation Army store and buy a winter jacket - consider the availability of them there.

Or they could go to REI or Farm and Fleet (I know there aren't any F&F in SF) and buy a new winter jacket there.

After childhood, locals have winter clothes that often last 5-10 years or more (and they pay for durability). My winter jackets are from '10 (I've got a medium weight photographer's jacket that I got in Keeble & Shuchat in '01 that I still wear... wish I could find something like it again). My father's winter jackets are in the 10-20 year range.

I'm also going to note the plural. Locals will often have two or three "winter" jackets depending on the weather.

The only time you get a jacket for a season that is cheap is for a child who is going to outgrow it by the next winter.

Of course I don't live in a country that has actual winter, that's the point.

If I buy winter clothes in my home country, the clothes will be ugly, expensive, and I have no way to make sure if they even work for their intended purpose. It's too hot here.

But when I go to countries that have actual winters, especially First World countries, then I can find decent winter clothes even in, say, a Target.

> The clothes aimed at locals are designed to be a 5 to 10 year investment

Not if you shop at Target :)

Taking a quick look at Target's winter coat selection for men... the coats that are appropriate for December - February in Chicago are still in the $150+ range price there. There are some in the $100 that wouldn't be awful for going a block... maybe two... but I wouldn't want to be wearing them if there was a substantial wind, snow, or if I found that I needed to turn around and go back to the bus stop and wait for the next bus.

We're comparing https://www.target.com/p/cutter-buck-mission-ridge-repreve-e... (and honestly, the puffy jackets are... to me, as a local to the upper midwest, those... they're not what you see many locals wearing... some, yes... but not many) to things in https://www.rei.com/c/snow-jackets?ir=category%3Asnow-jacket...

When I went to Minneapolis in winter a few years ago I brought lots of winter clothes. I ended up replacing most of it with cheap clothes from Target, except the coat and the boots.

My own experience is that in Canada and northern US states cheap and high quality winter goods are easy to find. Usually used.

Sure. Enjoy walking up to the stores in -20C (or -5F) in your light clothes from home (and before someone goes "but actually I'm gonna rent a car" suuure you think that will solve all your problems. sure)

Easy yes, cheap, not so much.