I've seen this happen so many times that I don't even dare to try to count how many times it has happened. People decide to hit the great unknown but the only places on their travel itinerary for the entirety of their travels are hot, tropical countries. I've seen it in South East Asia, Africa, India, and Central America. People bring so much clothing with them that I can't imagine that they have left much of their warm weather clothing back in their home countries.
For the most part these people tend to be novice travelers and hopefully they will learn their lesson after just one time of making a terrible mistake of overpacking. I'm not judging these people because in my first travels as a backpacker over 20 years ago, I made the same mistakes. It isn't just that reusing your clothes isn't going to bother anyone that you hang out with, it is the fact that most of your clothes if you come from a normal western climate are going to be made of the wrong materials and you are simply going to be uncomfortable the entire time you are wearing them.
Now if a traveler is going to be going to multiple countries during a time of year where the temperature is going to wildly vary, I would understand this tendency to overpack. However, a vast majority of the people that I have met are not doing this. They are simply going from one beach to another with maybe a couple of jungle locations mixed in between.
Even simple things like T-shirts should be brought over sparingly. I know that most T-shirts sold in my home country are made of MUCH thicker cotton than the shirts that are sold - at a fraction of the cost, mind you - in the countries that have year round summer. These things can be purchased almost anywhere and while they are almost certainly not the genuine article, they are going to cost a few dollars at most. There is literally no reason to bring half of your wardrobe with you when backpacking to the popular non-European backpacking locations.
src
have fun... I'm sure she was miserable every time she changed addresses
It may come as a surprise to some people, and i am being facetious when I say this, but clothing that is appropriate for the area and the climate of that area, is sold in every single country in the world. It could actually be an opportunity for novice travelers to realize how much they are being ripped off in their home country because I know it was a real eye-opener to me when I saw that non-designer clothing costs around 1/5 abroad then it does in my home country.
I think that when someone is packing for the type of vacation / holiday that almost all backpackers engage in, there are only a few items that are necessary to bring along. This includes swimwear, athletic shoes, a couple of pairs of shorts, and underpants. MAYBE a handful of light-weight shirts. The rest you should really just buy while you are traveling.
Are you going to end up looking like a tourist if you wear the stuff that is sold where tourists normally end up and shop for clothes? Yeah, of course you are but guess what? You are going to look like a tourist anyway no matter how bohemian you try to be. It is obvious that you are not local and honestly, why are you worried about that sort of thing anyway?
After my first backpacking trip abroad I learned a very valuable lesson: Bring as little with you as you possibly can. If you are going for a month, there is really no reason to have anything larger than a carry-on rolling suitcase especially if all the places you are going to be going are beach and jungle locations - which is what 90% of backpackers end up doing anyway. If you have a favorite shirt, bring it! You don't need to bring 19 of them. Laundry service is extremely inexpensive and very easy to find all around the world. It's so cheap in fact that laundromats the way that we imagine them at least in USA are almost non-existent. There is no reason to do your own laundry when someone with a house full of washing machines will charge you almost nothing to do it for you. They are also going to do it better than you.
So save yourself some backache and additional luggage charges and just leave most of your gear at home. I'm speaking with more than 20 years of traveling experience and I can honestly say that you really don't need it!