Now you can travel with no luggage at all, thanks to the 'Airbnb of stuff'

A Japanese entrepreneur has come up with a novel solution for those who wish to travel lightly - by offering them a way to rent or borrow the things they need in their destinations.

His concept, Locarry, is a sharing network that Shimpei Watanabe came up with after he took a suitcase to China last year, and a friend said he could have just borrowed his stuff. Now "the world's first luggage share platform" links up locals willing to rent out their items to travellers who need them.

Which means you can take "going where the locals go" a step further and actually be wearing their clothes when you do it. And since you have to meet up to borrow the items, there's also a bit of a chance for making local friends.

The list of allowed items includes clothing, sporting gear, gadgets and "items suitable for specific occasions" - such as "cosplay ears". Forbidden items include underwear and live animals.

Locarry makes no money itself, and is free to join. Lenders list their items and set their fees or can lend their goods for free.

Currently, listings appear for cities such as Hanoi, Vietnam and Bangkok, Thailand, though the majority are in Singapore and Japan. In Tokyo, for example, you can rent a pram for $9 per day; a skateboard for $3; a Star Wars light-saber ($2) or a pair of red running shoes ($3). See locarry.com