OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light | Hacker News Reader

OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light

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171 pointsnavanchauhan202 comments

I’ll offer up my one bag take that’s very much against the mainstream of one bag aficionados. I love traveling light, but think the carefully curated list of expensive branded items are counterproductive. I’d much rather the bag and everything in it to be functional, ugly anonymous and replaceable. If the bag gets stolen, I should be able to walk into the nearest mall and replace everything that was in it without a second thought or single shed tear. And rather than plan for every eventuality, I would much rather buy a cheap thing on the spot and donate it as I am leaving if it can’t carry it home.

I agree that packing lists often devolve to the Minimalist(tm) Shopping List.

For me, packing light is about lack of hinderances. I carry two bags (!!!) because I find the organization to be easier, but I can still ride on the back of a hired scooter and walk 5-miles across town if needed. I'd rather just pack more underwear than spend time washing it in the bathroom sink.

I live in a small town where the shopping sucks.

If I am going to a big city I am inclined to leave with one bag but go shopping (I like socks and underwear from the Nike store) and fill up another bag to bring home.

I check out OneBag stuff on the internet every so often. Sometimes I'll find good travelling tips or secondary uses for items. But so much of it is so wrapped in brands and buzzwords and precision it makes me laugh. It reminds me that even if I share some of the ideals with this community, I probably wouldn't travel well with a lot of them haha.

I'm with you: the more replaceable and maneuverable the better. My focus is on freeing myself from as many logistic problems as possible while remaining tolerably comfortable. I've travelled with one bag in a few different countries, doing a few different kinds of things. Every trip I get a little better and carry a little less.

I think things like this are very boring. Functional, frugal, practical, efficient but boring. Which is a good thing. But people like to romantecise over the most mundane things that it soon becomes a fad or a statement and a community. Soon, the sellers swoop in and turn it into a brand and a lifestyle to get you to buy the expensive stuff.

Seeing this right now also in the "bikepacking"/"gravel" community. Sure, custom bike bags and nice performance wear are comfort-increasing costs, but very quickly things skyrocket away from functional/utilitarian toward things like brand fealty, collective hype, etc. If you drill down, you will usually not be able to justify an expensive part vs a cheaper alternative (esp. used!), except for things like electronic derailleurs, etc.

In the hiking community travelling light has become an obsession for some people. Some going as far as cutting their tooth brush in half just to shave of a few grams. I get spending a fortune on a lightweight tent and gas burner which can save you several kilograms in your backpack, but when you go down to shaving off 10g and less I think it has moved away from the practical over to a hobby in and of itself. Nothing wrong with that of course, just saying.

It's the same culture these days in bikepacking and one bagging really.

Arc’teryx is my weakness

A late friend of the family was a Presbyterian pastor and an avid hiker. He'd do things like cut the covers off his palm-sized Bible to save a few grams.

Remember when it was just called bike touring or bike camping?

I do have a fairly carefully curated pile of stuff I travel with. But it's mostly a variety of practical/comfortable synthetic or merino wool shirts, pants, a light rainjacket, compressible outerwear, etc. It's not replaceable except as a stopgap with some cheap stuff from the nearest mall. But it's not fancy brands. It's just stuff I'm comfortable wearing, looks good but not fancy, and I can wash it in a hotel sink.

Yeah, it's a ridiculous take because the specialized things you have in a nice onebag setup are not going to be easy to find in a random store. Just replacing the backpack itself is going to be a major issue if you are outside of the United States.

Exactly, which is what makes the mainstream approach very brittle and difficult to recover from failure. If even replacing the bag is a major project, then my vacation can easily be ruined. You say “nice onebag setup,” I say “white elephant that wants me to spend my whole trip focused on it.”

planning everything around rare failures seems silly to me. If an expensive item has good value, adds utility over a less expensive option, and can still be functionally replaced in case of rare failure mode, i don’t see any white elephant in that picture.

Other than contact lenses/glasses, I'm hard pressed to think of anything in my one bag setup that I couldn't replace easily should my bag be stolen or lost. Electronics (phone, usually the only thing I travel with), documents, and cash notwithstanding. Those would likely be on my person at all times so for them to be stolen would mean I'd have bigger problems than replacing my clothes and backpack (like having been mugged).

The only reason my setup is worth more than $200 (maybe $300) total is because of my glasses and contact lenses.

I take an iPhone and a laptop of course, but if you look at some of these one bag packing lists, they run into the thousands with every last sock being highly technical, boutique, and exorbitant.

there’s literally nothing brittle about a $15 dollar pair of merino socks though, which is the argument I was responding to. If you lose it you can still buy a cheap backup and still have socks, nobody is spending all their time and energy worrying about losing a pair of $15 socks. Some things really do provide more value for a higher price, but everyone’s utility curve is different for each item.

Mostly though i think it comes down to the old joke “everyone who spends more than me is wasting their money on exorbitant whatever and everyone who spends less than me is a cheapskate.”

Here’s the top rated packing list on the One Bag subreddit, which is pretty representative of what the community likes.

https://jeremymaluf.com/onebag/

The list looks like the very definition of brittle to me. Every single item is from a different manufacturer, possibly rare, bespoke, or hard to find (a Japanese version of a highly technical jacket, underwear that even says it’s hard to buy in the description). We’re way beyond preferring wool socks here.

I mean, if the objective would be to replace with exact 1-to-1 replacements, sure that's brittle. But someone listing "Levi's Jeans" may also be hard pressed to replace them with the exact brand when traveling in many countries (ignoring knockoffs and outside of major cities). If the objective were to replace the bag with good-enough locally available things, the listed items are all trivially substitutable for local items, outside the tech gear (which I'd consider a problem for anyone wanting to travel with expensive electronics regardless of their style, one bag or twenty bag).

Sure, that’s exactly my philosophy, to bring things that can be trivially substituted or replaced. The electronics are also trivially substituted, grab another black rectangle of glass off the shelf and have the cloud repopulate your profile.

Then we are in agreement, a list of mostly clothes is not a "brittle" set of items. They are all trivially replaceable.

Then I think we agree with each other, but the One Baggers would not agree with us since they are gear obsessive compulsives and we do not seem to be. At the risk of creating a straw man, I don't think that community would generally say their pack list is trivially replaceable.

> I’d much rather the bag and everything in it to be functional, ugly anonymous and replaceable. If the bag gets stolen, I should be able to walk into the nearest mall and replace everything that was in it without a second thought or single shed tear.

I do that if it fits the purpose off the trip. I buy clothes during the trip if needed and that clothes are a nice memory of the trip when I wear them at home.

But quite often, my trip stars as a business trip, so I have to carry my laptop, or I want to do photography and I want to carry my camera and other equipment. For that I need a reasonable bag.

Wisdom and making money are often somewhat at odds to each other.

I am reminded of a TV show with two guests, one selling gadgets and the other a famous author. It was a disaster. The famous author kept saying "Why would anyone do that? You can just do blah instead and it's better for thus and such reasons."

But you can't readily make money off of blurting "This is a better method for X that takes less time and hassle and doesn't involve selling a gadget."

I'd be curious to see that... sounds amusing, even if unintentionally so.

Like the Jack Ma and Elon Musk debate.

I feel bad for the ridicule Jack Ma got after that. There's clearly a language barrier in play.

Your approach seems a little like applying certain ultra-light hiking philosophies to one bag travel. E.g., Don't buy a fancy usb-powered travel toothbrush - buy a plain manual toothbrush and cut off the handle to save space and weight.

I admit, I did take some inspiration from the ultralight community. Setting off for an expedition with something on your back that would hardly make a good shopping bag is a pretty radical take and I think can be applied to other areas of life as well. Ultralighters are also famous for finding bits of paper from construction sites, a little aluminum from the garbage and breaking mom’s sewing machine to create their life sustaining equipment. It’s often a good antidote to consumerism and traditional minimalism.

It does depend a bit on your needs. If you're only traveling for a few days, or you have convenient access to laundry, most of the hardcore one bag stuff is unnecessary.

A lot of the expense comes from working out clothes that fit multiple needs and can be reworn multiple times without getting disgusting.

(I will say: a good bag is actually worth the money almost-regardless of how long your trip will be. Well designed straps and load arrangement make a substantial difference in how your back and shoulders will feel after carrying it through a trip. Matters less if you're doing 100% car travel, of course.)

If you're one bagging for any amount of time I highly recommend washing clothes while on your trip. A laundromat works wonders, but bar that I often bring some clothesline and hang clothes that I've washed in a dry bag. Unless you're camping in high humidity conditions, you should be fine.

Oh, for sure. It’s just the difference between clothes you can wear a few times and only once -- it mostly means you can afford to either pack a bit lighter or go longer between needing to find laundry.

"I’d much rather the bag and everything in it to be functional, ugly anonymous and replaceable." I agree with all of this except 'ugly'

I travel fairly light, and if Im down to one bag, its a durable Chrome "diplomat" messenger bag. It's a workhorse for me.

I can get another if I break it, so a clay cup trumps a grail. - Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, classical Urdu and Persian poet from the Mughal Empire

... via https://github.com/globalcitizen/taoup

I've seen this site before. It's, um, zealous.

I travel light. I have since the 90s. I never ever ever checked a bag before 9/11, but since then I've often done so for two reasons:

- Absurd restrictions on liquids in the cabin; and

- Equally absurd restrictions on carrying my Swiss Army Knife.

Once you check a bag, you need another bag to carry some essentials aboard the plane.

Even on a short weekend trip, though, if I buy sample sizes and ditch the SAK, I end up with a small additional bag. It's easier to do that than constantly open the overhead to get a different book, or your tablet, or whatever.

One-bagging is also a poor choice for business travel, since you likely want a smaller computer bag so you don't have to use your much larger "one bag" as your office bag.

OneBag purists also have a WILD hatred of wheelie bags that seems rooted in a refusal to realize that, for many people whose travel patterns are home to airport to destination hotel/home, they're perfect. The extra weight isn't a problem because they roll. There's a great reason why they're very very popular with full-time/very frequent travelers.

The absurd restrictions on knives really needs to go.

A blade is a necessary tool for a lot of people in everyday life. It's time to get over the unfounded fear and face reality like adults.

It's especially ridiculous because of how ineffective it is, https://onemileatatime.com/tsa-fails-tests-95-percent/. This is a worthless waste of resources that only serves to inconvenience regular people and give the masses some feel good security theatre.

And it affects more than travel. I'll never put even the smallest knife in a bag I use for airline carryon because I will forget it's there and probably end up losing it.

I once lost a very nice wine corkscrew to the TSA that I forgot was in a backpack due the little foil cutter blade.

The guy in charge acted all jubilant, like they successfully thwarted a hijacking.

I've _only_ had success with regularly carrying "prong-style" wine openers (especially internationally).

https://www.amazon.com/Belwares-Wine-Opener-Two-Prong-Stainl...

I'd even gone through the trouble of dremel'ing off the foil-cutter blade on a "double-knuckle" corkscrew in order to comply with the "no blades" rule.

I was able to exit the U.S. with it fine, but Mexico security refused it for simply the corkscrew part (and I wasn't willing to argue about it).

I'd just like to reaffirm pretty much every aspect of his experience and recommendations. It's great to see so many overlaps between my favorite travel-gear and his.

I carry one of those cheap corkscrews where you pull off the corkscrew cover and insert it through the hole at the top of the corkscrew.

BUT they're really crappy corkscrews and I've sometimes had a lot of trouble getting the cork out and have ended up opening bottles in the bathroom because I was afraid I'd get wine flying everywhere.

And I've even had one of those confiscated in Spain.

I've lost two multitools that happen to have small knives on them this way. Very frustrating and embarrassing.

Funnily enough I have a credit card sized (well, roughly triple thickness) thing in my wallet, never occurred to me before now, hasn't been flagged in X-ray yet. (I suppose now I'll remove it if I remember though.)

I lost a tiny SAK -- the keychain size -- a while back, and it turned out it was stuck in a weird crease in the bottom of my computer bag.

I found it, most of a year later, when TSA finally noticed it. I had flown with it "lost" in the bag literally dozens of times.

It's so inconsistent too. I cannot bring my safety razors on board, but it's ok to bring a bunch of razor cartridges that are filled with blades... Even traveling with the safety razor but no blades is inconvenient, since the TSA will frequently do a secondary inspection to confirm that there is really no blade. So you gotta travel with the thing disassembled which means I cannot use my regular case.

Sometimes you can even buy a full set of kitchen knives in the duty free shop on your way to the airplane!

A bottle of whiskey from a duty free shop can be just as deadly as a knife.

And any battery can be used to start a fire.

I've had TSA open my kit and triumphantly remove a blade from my safety razor that I'd accidentally forgotten to remove, while missing loose blades I'd also accidentally forgotten to remove.

Just put it in any small cardboard box and have it shipped as you would do with a small bag, then collect it from the baggage collection place upon arrival.

Small cardboard box might get easily lost; also, you now have to wait for the baggage collection.

Then lose your knife ok.

I'm not a OneBag purist (and, in fact, always have a fairly full carryon backpack and a small shoulder bag). But I don't much care for rollaboards in part because I don't like them myself and partly because they're a big cause of overfull carryon compartments.

I can live with those restrictions fine for city travel, though they're a pain. The bigger annoyance is that there's a decent chance I'll get a hiking pole confiscated. (They're theoretically not allowed.)

It's odd not being able to take a walking pole considering that tripods are on the allowed list.

> - Equally absurd restrictions on carrying my Swiss Army Knife.

You're not wrong, but for possible future reference, multitools are fine as long as they don't have a knife (<4" scissors are fine):

* https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/...

The TSA can and does confiscate anything they want. If you happen to get the wrong agent on the wrong day, they may still choose to confiscate a technically compliant multitool.

...additionally, international security screenings can be arbitrary in different ways. A strange one to run in to is high-capacity rechargeable batteries.

One guy confiscated my lockpick even though they are allowed.

Hate the TSA

I had all my toiletry containers, specifically chosen because they were 100ml, confiscated because they "looked big" to the agent. The agent literally said they "looked like 110ml versions". I had like 4 total.

I had an almost-empty container clearly marked 150ml (or something) confiscated because it was.. marked more than 100ml.

Also razor blades, I don't know if they're supposed to be allowed, being only about an inch long, but nope - shaving with expensive junk or growing a holiday beard are the only approved options!

> almost-empty container clearly marked 150ml (or something) confiscated

That's correct according to the TSA rules.

https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/liquidsrule_example-...

(We can wrap ourselves around many axles debating the utility of these rules, but that's at least a correct interpretation of the rule.)

Well it wasn't in (or travelling to) the USA, but sure, it may have been by whatever book was in use. I'm just saying it's nonsensical; that what we put ourselves through is quite detached from actual risks and what's reasonable.

I can buy a >100ml container post-security, or even take an empty one through, and decant there, so what's that protecting against?

> they may still choose

Which is the biggest problem, the TSA does not have to follow its own rules. And if you dare point out the rules to them, you will be told that "for your safety and security" individual screening is "up to the agent's discretion" and asked "do you want to fly today" while also being loudly informed that you obviously "do not care about the security of others."

This is why I am such a huge advocate for trains, though I imagine that if rail got more usable and widespread here the TSA would just infest it as well. Until that happens, I will always take a train for short regional trips. SEA to PDX might be scheduled for 45 minutes on the plane and 3 scheduled hours on the train, but the experience is so much better on Amtrak not having to put up with the sad mess our airports are.

Institutional rot corrupts all of civilization. The TSA is an example of an institution that has largely become a malignant tumor, contributing very little while actively contributing to the relentless de-humanization of society.

Like Gulliver tied down by hundreds of tiny strings. Death by a thousand cuts.

I've never had the TSA confiscate my bladeless Swiss Army Knife (it has scissors and a screwdriver).

But I have had it confiscated abroad more than once. Many other countries won't allow scissors, or anything that looks like a knife, to fly.

I had a Knifeless Fuse for a while so I could have something when traveling, but TSA goons are so, well, goony about everything that it became not worth it to explain that it didn't have a blade on it even if they managed to notice it (which was, we should be clear, nowhere nearly half the time).

Not in most European countries, where what matters is whether the blades are lockable or not

> One-bagging is also a poor choice for business travel, since you likely want a smaller computer bag so you don't have to use your much larger "one bag" as your office bag.

I just keep a very small shoulder bag inside my one-bag that fits my Macbook and acts as a walk-around. In travel mode, it's used to compartmentalize. Likewise, my wife has a small ~15L daypack inside her one-bag that is empty and rolled-up in travel mode.

No wheels is also great for sprinting to be the first to the border patrol line :D

There are expandable backpacks that are business looking when compressed.

I probably want a small bag with things I want in the airport/on the plane anyway. The bag that I normally use--which I've had for decades and use for almost everything--takes very little space by itself. So it makes sense for me to use it for compartmentalization even if I stick it in my carryon.

I went through a Timbuk2 phase but this old Mountainsmith bag (nee a big fanny pack, now with added strap) works better for me these days.

Yes makes sense. I used this https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32975256528.html which is very cheap and 22lt for daily use expandable to 37lt profesdional looming enough.

There's absolutely nothing on a Swiss Army Knife that's going to make me want to wait through luggage multiple times for it to arrive. There are travel limitations but not prohibitions on liquids. TSA sized toothpaste is 3.4 oz. I'll live.

BTW, an up to date passport is worth it, TSA Pre is worth it and Global Entry is worth it. GE requires an interview but if you live near the office, after you get your appointment, just go to the office on a Sunday and wait through line. I took BART to SFO on a Sunday morning and waited an hour. Done. The California Enhanced Drivers License was much more of an ordeal.

If I'm not going through TSA, sure, bring tools.

If I'm going light, I pack up an REI Flash 22 day bag ($50) with whatever. A Macbook Air fits in easily. Side pockets for Nalgenes. Ripstop. Light. I can't praise it highly enough.

My daily driver is a Timbuk2 Messenger ($80) bag. I think equally highly of it. It is more rugged and so usually the Air lives here.

Carryon policy is one bag plus one smaller, personal-type item. These two pass muster.

If you must know, yes, I have an American Giant hoodie.

The big annoyance with checking a bag imo is dealing with the entire process.

Many airlines charge you per leg per bag. Then there is sometimes a holdup at the bag drop. Then there is the weight limit. Then after you are done with the flight you have to wait at baggage claim which can be quite long at certain airports. Then there's the nonzero chance that something catastrophic has happened with your luggage; I think we all know a few people with luggage fiasco war stories.

With a carry on, you roll in and out and you are gone. No extra lines. No extra nickel and diming.

Oh, absolutely. This is why frequent fliers almost never check bags, or at least traditionally don't. I almost never did when I was flying all the time.

> One-bagging is also a poor choice for business travel, since you likely want a smaller computer bag so you don't have to use your much larger "one bag" as your office bag.

For small work trips, I generally just pack all of my clothes and toiletries in my laptop backpack. When I get to the hotel, I take all that stuff out and leave it in the room and then bring the same bag into the office. Works fine for me.

FYI: airlines usually allow a purse or small laptop bag for free, in addition to your carry-on bag.

Wheely bags just gross me out because you roll them through public bathrooms and city streets, then you have to access that underside to get at the zipper.

It's good for the immune system.

If you’re grabbing the wheels, you’re doing it wrong. Also, if you get urine on the zipper, you’re doing it wrong.

Ultralight travel is the best. I was first inspired by this post from 2007: https://tim.blog/2007/07/11/how-to-travel-the-world-with-10-...

... In the 15 years since then I've gone all over the world with just an 25-liter backpack. The biggest benefit I enjoy was the freedom to move from place to place without being tied down to a hostel/hotel/town just because "my stuff is there."

Oh and it's a lot easier to sprint through an airport to catch a flight when you have just a small backpack.

For example here's my packing list for a trans-siberian rail journey (which I would've missed if I had to wheel a suitcase as I ran through the airport): https://www.gregkogan.com/journal/russia-trans-siberian-rail...

An interesting side-benefit I've observed: When you return from an ultralight trip, you realize just how little stuff you need to be happy. All the crap in your closet feels more than enough, if not excessive. So you end up buying less step or even donating a bunch of your existing stuff, thus lightening your life overall.

More airport-related benefits:

- Be able to sprint through an airport to be front of line for border patrol.

- Not have to wait along with 100+ people at the baggage claim and just walk out to grab the first taxi.

- Not have to wait at long and slow lines to check in luggage

- Not having to worry about being first to board a plane and search for an overhead compartment

- Not having to worry about lost luggage from the airline

- Not having to worry about checked luggage if a flight gets delayed or cancelled

- Save money on checked + carry-on baggage fees

- Not tripping people when dragging your luggage behind you

Also once went straight to an NYC airport to the Museum of Natural History and got in with my backpack. Useful to just have a backpack when it's too early to check in to your hotel, or for the time between your check-out and your flight to wander around.

Also you can walk out of the airport to the main road, avoiding the ripoff prices the airport taxis charge.

Also you can hop on the back of a motorbike taxi if you're in a country that has those. Can be a huge time saver since motorbikes don't get caught by traffic as easily.

- If you travel light and appear low value, you can often also avoid the worst of the taxi touts and thieves at airports. It sometimes helps if you can speak a second language that isn’t English.

- Having a single small bag you can keep on yourself is critical if you wish to use buses in poor countries.

Great list, i have all chargers can switched with a multi gan2, and some toiletries with mini soap/hair/shower bar.

I bought a Goruck GR2 (40L capacity) in 2013 and cumulatively lived out of it for ~4 years. It's been with me up every mountain I've climbed, on 3 continents, on my back as I rode a motorcycle through a snowstorm. I've slept on it, swam with it, skied with it.

After nearly 9 years, it's in perfect condition, and one of my most cherished possessions. I'm not one to anthropomorphize... but this one bag is my best friend. It has quite literally been with me through everything.

Also, a good bag has got to be the most underrated item in any apocalyptic scenario. Travel and scavenging become the primary methods of survival - a strong, sizable bag allows you to securely store food, water, medicine, ammo, tools, printed and digital media. A zipper breaking as you flee from danger may make the difference in survival.

I've had a HMG 3400 SW and my wife a Gossamer Gear Mariposa for 6 years. We got it for backpacking 5+ days in US wilderness, but they act as our one-bags across Latam. We didn't have a "one bag" mindset, we always just pack light.

They collapse down enough that they easily fit underneath the seat on a budget airline and look like a college kid's backpack. And they expand enough they we've done multiple 4-7 day treks holding tents and sleeping bags (40L and 50+10L).

And we roll up some smaller day bags inside for daily use.

I've had the GR2 34L since it was released (maybe 6-7 years ago) and I've traveled the world with it. I have the same affection for it that you have for yours. I can live out of it indefinitely as long as I'm not in extremely cold climates. Worn in and in perfect shape.

I have the 25L I use for everything for almost 5 years now. Still see no signs of wear and I do not treat that thing nicely.

I am wondering for the 40L, can you bring it as carry on item on flights? For the 25L I can and it is usually large enough for me. A bit larger would be nice, but I usually just cut something I will not need anyway.

I usually use a 46 liter Osprey which is supposedly carry-on size, certainly seems it, and I've never had an issue. It's a bit easier to squeeze into tight overhead space if it's not too jam packed full.

I have 40L/50+10Ls that I can even fit underneath the seat

I use the same. I'm not sure it will technically fit into the baggage check thingy at the gate if it's packed full but I've never had to check it unless the overhead bins were already full or on a short hop flight with smaller overhead bins where most bags get gate checked.

Even packed to the gills, I've never had an issue on any domestic or international flight using it as a carry on. I can recall maybe one or two occasions where no overhead space was available and I needed to remove a few items from the fully loaded ruck to fit it beneath the seat, but those were situations were outliers.

The 34L that I have fits under a plane seat even if its packed full. I prefer it in overhead obviously, but for a short flight with packed overhead, it's nice to have the option.

My GR1 26L has been an ideal travel companion, I was on the road with that, a rolling bag, and a shoulder suit duffle, for the better part of three years.

On my third rolling bag and suit duffle, the GR1 is untouched. It has been hosed out a few times.

This thing is coming with me if I lit out, and no mistake.

> A zipper breaking as you flee from danger may make the difference in survival.

In an apocalyptic scenario, zippers are way too annoying to fix and replace. Rip out your zippers and replace them with cordage through metal grommets, or with button flys. Army duffels use overlapping folds of material with metal grommets and one giant metal clasp. Roll-top bags just need rolling and can be tied closed with cord.

My favorite travel hack: Wool shirts and wool socks. They need washing less often so you pack less clothing.

And, showering with hand-sanitizer on arm pits.

https://www.woolly.clothing/collections/190-gsm-shirts/produ...

https://unboundmerino.com/collections/socks

https://www.smartertravel.com/unbound-merino-womens-v-neck-r...

They also dry very quickly when you do wash them. Very convenient for hotel/hostel sink laundry days. My first longer-than-a-weekend trip was 2 weeks and I took cotton undershirts (mistakes were made). Since they tend to pick up odor quickly (at least the way I sweat) I had several days worth and they took a while to dry. Switching to wool shirts, I could pack 3 and do laundry once on the trip and no one would notice, and the faster drying time meant that if I did have a particularly sweaty and malodorous day, I could quickly wash that shirt and it would be dry in a couple hours.

Sometimes I travel with carry on and other times with checked luggage.

The part of travelling with one bag that I don't like is having to do laundry more often.

Like, I gain 30 minutes by not waiting for luggage at the airport, but sometimes that offset by the time spent doing laundry.

That's reasonable, but I've found that switching out my cotton (entirely) and synthetics (mostly) for wool (lasts longer without odor than both, dries faster than cotton) lets me pack 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, 3 pairs of socks, and enough underwear to last a week if my goal is to do laundry only once a week, and even then I could go longer if I absolutely needed to without doing a wash of everything. Underwear and socks wash easily in a sink and dry quickly, so I can get by with 1-2 pairs of packed socks and 2-4 pairs of packed underwear with only 5-10 minutes of time spent in the evening washing things every 2-3 days, and a bigger wash once a week for shirts and pants. All of that comfortably fits into most backpacks, I only take a larger backpack because I often pack a camera.

I would be annoyed if it took me an hour or more at a laundromat every few days, but I haven't experienced that since my clothes dry fast enough, I can just spend 30 minutes or so once a week in the hotel room (morning or evening, I don't normally sleep in when traveling so I have time to kill when I wake up). Admittedly, I don't travel to hot and humid climates, that would change things (especially the way I sweat).

Wool is known to take longer to dry, while retaining isolation properties even when drenched

Or synthetic/wicking shirts. Packs extremely small and dries very quickly.

I have to vote synthetics on this one due to price. There are some lower cost mass produced shirts claiming to be >80% wool, but the rest of that is probably synthetic.

Synthetics are also more durable. I really like merino wool and I keep my eye out for a good sale but I generally won't pay list price.

Synthetics are the worst on airplane and they smell quickly. Yea they dry fast but you have to wash them daily.

Hm, I never had them become smelly. Depends on the fabric and body and climate, I guess.

They’re also just generally more comfortable. Wool insulates even when it’s wet, so if your feet sweat (or you step in a puddle) you don’t get that awful clammy/moist feeling in your shoes. Wool socks come in varying weights so they won’t be too warm if you choose the right ones. I traveled to India for a week long business trip where the temps were regularly over 100 F and wore thin wool dress socks the whole week. I was never uncomfortable and they never smelled (took several pairs and washed them several times in the hotel sink over the course of the week).

Darn Tough socks are the way.

Combo with silk sock liners. Change (and wash) the liners every day. They dry almost instantly in a bit of sun, and you can wash your wool socks less frequently (thicker wool socks take longer to dry).

Minimally: https://www.amazon.com/Fruit-Loom-Invisible-Breathable-Liner... (gets the sweaty bottom of the feet)

Taller: https://www.amazon.com/Pairs-Ultra-Dress-Business-Trouser/dp... (covers calf, etc.)

With most of my travel being more casual these days, I just carry one Wool and Prince button down collared shirt in addition to a few synthetic and wool pullovers in a couple different weights and, in warmer weather, synthetic polo shirts.

Problem is that they're bulkier.

Moreover, when you wash them, they take longer to dry.

One-bagging has its place, but it's not "all the time."

I love to one-bag it whenever I expect to have multiple destinations and am traveling via transit, for example. Flying to Europe and taking trains between a few cities? Definitely! I have a Farpoint55 with a zip-off day pack so I can leave the main pack (with my clothes) in the hotel/airbnb/hostel/etc and carry my laptop with me in the day pack. I bring a minimal set of light, easy-to-wash, fast-drying clothes and pick everything in my pack with care.

But plenty of trips don't fit this model. If I'm visiting my family or going to a conference, my luggage just goes car to airport, roll to the plane, roll back off the plane, car to destination. Then the same thing in reverse in a week. Weight barely matters - my luggage is rolling on smooth surfaces or sitting in a car's trunk the whole time. And there is value to optionality in what I pack: several different kinds of clothes, chosen to be appropriate at different kinds of events (rather than being super travel-friendly). So I use a suitcase or two and it's fine.

Both models have their place - no need to be dogmatic about either!

Reddit has an active community of Onebaggers. https://reddit.com/r/onebag. They have often great advice, although admittedly expensive taste.

I guess this subreddit's wiki gives a good overview of what onebagging is:

Anyone can one-bag travel, whether with expensive gear or their everyday kit. The secret: pack light, don’t pack your fears, take only what you need for about a week, and do laundry along the way. Plan the laundry into your trip. For some people this means booking an airbnb with a washer, and for others it could mean only bringing quick-drying clothing to make sink washing easier, and for some it might mean washing clothes in the shower. Once your clothing is down to a week’s worth, pare down your toiletries and your electronics to only what you absolutely need to take with you. Now everything you’re bringing should fit in a backpack or a small duffle/suitcase. If it doesn’t, pare everything down again. A good goal is to shoot for a 25L-35L bag.

Onebagging is a trade-off between the convenience of living like you do everyday, and the convenience of being mobile, traveling light, and fully experiencing the environment you are traveling in. A big saving is often electronics: do you really need huge headphones, that gaming device, or even a laptop? Remember, people almost certainly live wherever you’re traveling to. If you absolutely need something, it’ll be available when you get there. You may even have an adventure getting it!

That's a good summary.

I do carry a second small bag but that's in part because I want the bag anyway for walking around once I arrive at my destination. So why not compartmentalize?

I also don't pare my electronics and just in case stuff to the absolute minimum but that's partly because I like to have standard "grab kits" that I can just grab and throw in my bag most of the time. (With some exceptions, e.g. plug converters which I don't carry everywhere.) But it's all mostly small repair, medical, and other stuff that has been useful from time to time. I periodically revisit as otherwise it grows over time.

Fully agree on the large headphones. Never got the over the ear Bose noice canceling for that reason. I do mostly travel with a laptop. Never been able to get into working on a tablet. But I do have a strict rule of no more than one laptop-type device and one tablet-like device (iPad or Kindle).

My considerable efforts to the contrary notwithstanding, it is clear to me that some people take the wrong message from my OneBag.com site. Usually they do so as a consequence of a superficial reading of the information to be found there. Arguably the most important advice there is to be found on the "Using a Packing List" page, which attempts to make the case that if you have nothing to measure, you have nothing to control. The section people tend to focus on is the "A Packing List" one, which lists examples of the items that are on MY packing list (note the title's use of the indefinite article); there is no stricture, however, that they should be on YOUR list, only that you should HAVE a list (see first point).

Very cool, another backpack enthusiast here! I built a backpack review aggregator, dedicated to finding the best backpack accroding to the internet. Sources include Reddit, Youtube or Outdoorgearlab: https://baqpa.com

Since 2018, I've been traveling with a 45L GoRuck GR3 and a small backpack for my laptop. I fly carry-on only (1 bag, plus "personal item") and manage to cram a lot of useful stuff in very small space, including a lot of stuff that many minimalists wouldn't carry.

- Two laptops: A company MacBook Pro, plus a personal LG Gram with Pop_OS!

- A Keychron K3 keyboard, Roost stand, Apple Magic Touchpad and USB/HDMI adapter so I can expand my mobile office just about anywhere

- A 30,000 mAh backup battery with solar charger

- A two person hammock

- A collapsible backpack for day trips

- A sleeping bag

- A rain coat and fleece jacket, which combined with two merino wool shirts underneath makes a perfect winter coat, but each piece can also be used separately in warmer weather

- A week's worth of clothing based on merino wool, 1 long sleeve shirt, 1 pair of jeans, 3 jean shorts, 7 running shorts, about 12 short sleeve shirts for different occasions, 8 pairs of boxers and socks

- Running shoes, leather shoes for nice occasions or cold weather, hiking sandals, flip flops

- Elastic bands and a yoga mat for workouts

- Assorted other things: toiletries, medicines, documents, cables, power adapters

I'm probably forgetting a few things.

Most days, I don't miss anything. The few things I miss occasionally are some toys I'd love to play with more: a guitar, a drone, windsurf equipment, a bike. Sometimes I rent these things, but they're a bit expensive to rent, so I don't do it often. I'm thinking about switching to a van lifestyle so I can carry more of those things, and also some kitchen supplies so I can have more control over my diet.

Can you get away with not using the yoga mat and just doing yoga on the ground? I love my yoga mat but if you are looking to stay minimal…I wonder if the original yogis used mats? :)

Yep, I could, but I'm not trying to be as minimal as possible, only to fit everything in carry on luggage, which I'm already able to do.

I haven't heard of this bag brand and I'm not a one-bag person, but just looking at their technology, the 1000 D. Cordura Nylon seems interesting, I wonder if anyone knows if it contains PFAS?

I went the other route: I used to be minimalist, now I even bring my kettlebells, game pads and different pairs of shoes on my business trips.

Even in the moutain, I now have a heavier bag. E.G: my latest knife is way bigger, sturdier and so weights a lot more, I also have a smaller one as a backup now.

Being minimalist is not an end goal, it serves a purpose. E.G: to make your life simpler, easier, to help with focus, or to go green.

But I feel like people are more and more travelling light for virtue signaling at this point. You cannot just travel light. Everybody must know you do.

Do you fly with kettlebells? Isn't that very expensive?

No, for the plane, it's indeed too expensive and I'd rather then pay for a gym membership on arrival.

I found this a particularly interesting page: https://www.onebag.com/wheeled-bags.html ('Wheeled Bags (A Disputation): The Dismal Downsides')

It's a weird article of faith for OBers that wheelies are bad, but for a huge chunk of travelers they're exactly the right option because their travels are comprised of home to car to airport to plane to taxi to hotel, all on smooth surfaces.

They're the rule for business travelers and (significantly) air crews, and those choices aren't made out of fashion or inertia.

I mean, if you're trekking in Nepal, yeah, it would suck, but it seems like the OB faithful have a one-size-fits-all disdain for the whole category.

At the bottom he links to another page:

https://www.onebag.com/business-bags.html#carts

Where he discusses luggage carts as an alternative to a wheeled bag. Which is actually pretty sensible, since removing the permanently attached wheels and extending handle from your bag gets you more carrying capacity and, even combined, lower total weight. So maintain capacity at a modest weight increase, or reduce capacity at a higher weight increase. At least he provides an alternative.

Having two things when combined hybrids exist and work well is anathema to simplified travel.

If your travel pattern is home to car to airport to hotel and back, a wheeled bag is a great idea. Again, there's a reason why they are so popular.

I'm a hardcore backpacker, but one baggers can stray into religious fervor on the subject of wheeled bags. My wife won't backpack, and it has never been an issue, including on fairly off the beaten path trips in Asia. Backpack is marginally better, but the main advantage is just having one bag, regardless of type. I vehemently disagree with this assertion, "few places worth visiting are conducive to rolling a bag behind you."

I haven’t used a wheeled bag in years (including several international trips) and I would recommend it if you’re physically capable. Particularly if you ever fly on regional jets. Whenever I’m boarding a full flight the flight crew starts going around asking people to gate check their wheeled luggage. Not once have they told me I need to gate check mine.

Modern wheeled luggage can be a godsend with heavy checked luggage. But I've never owned a carryon with wheels. They obviously make sense if someone has trouble carrying their carryon around. And I can see them for people who are dressed up. But I do think a lot of people default to them who would be happier with something else.

This misses a common reason to avoid wheels: upcharge on carriers that charge for carry-ons. If you are carrying a tiny bag/purse and it has wheels, it is at a minimum considered a carry-on, so you'll have to pay for it, and sometimes check it. Every time I take a cheap flight I hear some poor flight attendant explaining how having wheels puts it in a specific price class.

Laundry is one of the biggest hassles of travel, IMHO. Hotels charge extortionate prices to launder your clothes. Many cities don't have self-service laundromats, and even if they do, you don't feel like wasting two hours using one. I personally do not like washing things in my room, but if you do, there you go.

What I've found, though, is that it's easy and cheap to get someone else to do it for you. In Sydney, I got a laundry place to do my clothes for AUS 15. In Chicago, a lot of dry cleaning places will also do your laundry for you, at reasonable prices. That's probably true in any city.

Less obviously: in Rosh Pinna (Israel), there weren't any of either type of place, but my B&B had a cleaning staff person who took the clothes home with her and washed them, using whatever method she uses on her family's clothes.

>I personally do not like washing things in my room, but if you do, there you go.

The trick is to carry the right clothing IMO. You're probably not going to wash jeans or a heavy cotton hoodie. But it's pretty easy with lightweight synthetics and wool.

I have used wash and fold places on longer trips especially when I've been doing hiking in addition to business/cities. But you have to find one. Drop clothes off. Pick them back up. Which all takes time even if you don't have to hang around while they're being washed.

For me, sure the hotels overcharge a lot but it is so much less than the flight ticket there I usually just shrug. For longer stays I just buy some detergent locally and was in the bathtub, many hotels have a string you can dry clothes on.

Also, when I am backpacking I am OK with wearing some dirty clothes. Never had an issue with it, these days dress code is pretty optional as long as you present yourself well and can pay.

Easy to dry noniron clothes. Retractable zipline, 5lt mini dry bag for a washing machine and mini blowdrier for extreme situations. And for hair.

There's always the old pro-cyclists trick for washing kit.

Back in the day these guys were always moving to a different hotel every night and had no real support from the teams, unlike know.

They used to was their kit in a sink or in the shower and then roll the wet items in dry hotel towels. The towel pulls the water out remarkably well.

I'll do this but then sit/step on the rolls to get a bit more water out.

Yeah, there are zillions of articles about tricks for washing your own clothes in the sink, rolling them in a towel, wearing synthetics, bringing your own laundry line with you, etc. If that appeals to you, you can find lots of tips.

If it doesn't anymore for some reason (as it doesn't for me), then there are other options, which you won't read about nearly as often.

Always happy to see OneBag shared, even if the forum doesn't seem to be apt. This incredibly comprehensive work by Doug Dyment has made me into the traveler that I am today. I have been following his guidelines and recommendations for almost 12 years now with great success.

I used to travel every week as a consultant. I did this for about 2 years.

The goruck GR1 26L bag is easily the best one bag travel bag imo.

I'm 6ft tall 200 pounds and I can fit a week and a half of clothes in the bag depending on the weather.

After I left my consultant job I took a couple months and just traveled around Europe with it. Trains, planes, etc.

The open flat design is critical for good packing.

The bag still looks the same as when I bought it. I've had it and traveled with it extensively for ~5 years. It's a buy it for life product.

I was super tempted by the GR bags a while back, but I ultimately couldn't get past the "tactical" look. Where I live, at least, tactical stuff signals a political leaning I don't share.

I'm a big fan of the Osprey 46 liter bag. Used to use the Patagonia MLC but I prefer the backpack-first design of the Osprey rather than tack on a couple of thin backpack straps approach of the MLC.

They make "slick" versions of their bags without the molle strips, but the 1000D or 500D fabric is overkill for most. The one external pocket can be hard to dig into if the bag is packed full.

For me the issue with GR is the weight. Those packs are too heavy IMHO.

If I'm travelling light I think I'd rather have something equivalent to an OMM Classic 32 runner's pack[1].

That design, originally from 1973, is a classic for a reason.

Shaving a kilogram or so off the weight of an empty bag is definitely worth it.

That's just useless weight you're going to have to lug about all day.

Especially so if you face hand luggage weight restrictions too.

1. https://theomm.com/product/classic-32-2/

I almost didn't get it for the same reason.

Since I have the all black version it ended up not being a big deal.

They have a slick version that doesn't have the webbing (which I never use anyway) and if I was buying it today that's the version I would get.

My current setup is a Cotopaxi Nazca 28L [0], which I think is the ultimate bag for traveling light. It comes in just over (by about half to 1 inch) most airlines' personal item size, but since it is soft, it can, if needed be pushed into their testers. I've never had this happen though of around ~100 flights over 12 months of continuous travel. At this point, I don't pay for a carry on, and if I have to pay the $99 at a gate, its been worth it to not over the previous N flights.

The bag is clam shell and on one side I have a single packing cube with all of my base and mid layers, then tech in the upper section of one side of the clam shell. The other side is my jacket + rain coat + quick dry towel + sleeping bag/sheets if I'm bringing that. If anyone is interested I can write a full packing list. But with this setup I've traveled. 3 x 4 month trips without issue in hot and cold climates in the same trip.

[0]: https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/travel/travel-backpac...

Would love to see full list. Especially interested in how you can fit a jacket, towel, and sheets all together .

An entertaining (if not extreme) take on this general topic is the “Vagrant Holiday” series of videos.

I appreciate his dedication to ultra minimalist travelling without any of the hype that is usually involved. Nothing about expensive gear, just actually not needing much.

https://youtube.com/c/VagrantHoliday

Alternative if you're flying: two bags:

1) A small backpack for anything fragile that goes under the seat in front of you.

2) A SOFT sided duffel for your clothes. Take than m-f'er and cram it into the overhead bin. It'll fit in the smallest crevice between two rollaboards with enough force.

For minimum clothing volume, pack one set of outer garments (optional if you're wearing them on the flight, which I presume you are. Maybe throw a jacket in instead if you need it) and a daily change of socks and undergarments.

Jeans and a fleece and n days worth of undergarments and socks is super efficient. If you can get away with wearing sandals, you need only one pair of socks (for airport security. I have no desire to go barefoot in the airport).

Edited to add: undergarments meaning something for your bottom half and a t-shirt you can wear without something over it. And bras if you wear them, obviously.

Actually, if you're going to a conference and feel sporting, skip the T-shirts and trust you can get them as swag as needed.

Very jealous of those who can manage this. Personally i have to have one smallish bag just for my medical stuff (CPAP, ergonomic pillow for my neck, bunch of meds, the wrist braces I sleep in so I don't wake up with numb hands....)

Yeah, it's inherently ableist.

I replaced my CPAP with a mouth guard that keeps my lower jaw forward to open my airway just for the purpose of not having to lug around a CPAP. Given how much CPAPs suck, I don't know why the mouth guard isn't the very first thing they try for people with airway obstruction.

Do you have a link? It'd make the most perfect gift for a friend!

Unfortunately it's not the sort of thing you purchase for a friend. You need to go to orthodontic specialist, get a custom mould of your teeth created (this can involve electrical stimulation of your jaw muscles in order to get them into a relaxed position), and titration of the apparatus after the lab delivers it.

I got a tooth protector (the kind that's used for boxing) on amazon with a self-mold: you return it to the company that makes the final plastic thingie for you.

That'd be the preferred option, as it doesn't require any prescription or interaction with a specialist whose interest might not be aligned with the patients (multiple office visits = an opportunity to milk the insurance for more money)

If no company offers an option, I see an opportunity there!

With respect - sleep apnea is not something you should be fooling around with.

I very much misunderstood the title... Was expecting the physics of photons

A photon checks into a hotel, and the bellhop asks him if he has any luggage.

"No", replies the photon, "I'm travelling light."

FWIW, I've used nested soft packable mostly-shoulder bags. Sometimes adding a semi-disposable interior cardboard half-shell, cut from a box, refolded, gaff taped, and edge mashed to transit size restrictions. So bag number and volume compress for transit, and reinflate at destination.

I envisioned adding optional shoulder pads, backpack strapping, waist belt, and even packable strap-on wheels... but the need hasn't been pressing.

I'd hoped instead to find a one true travel backpack, but the diversity of personal-item size restrictions, a brick of thinkpad, and a tech load tightening the volume budget, had me failing to find a bag which fit the constraint space, didn't regrettably narrow it, and leveraged opportunities (eg, with the laptop as pack frame, another would be excess - and it already barely fits flat as a United free personal item).

Off topic, I just saw a baggage size checker in an unexpected place: a NYC public library local branch. Together with additional luggage-in-the-library restrictions. I assume it's targeted at homeless, but seemed potentially problematic for travelers seeking wifi. I use public transit even in places where it's very class segregated, and the line between digital nomad, and impoverished homeless with nice kit, can be though-provokingly narrow. With an associated need to easily alter class flags, depending on who's inclined to hassle you as being out of place.

The site focuses too much on the bag and not enough on the context that determines how you travel. For some kinds of travel, you don't need a bag at all. For some you have to compromise on what you bring. For some, carrying more than one bag is just optimal.

Most of my international travel has used one bag. In many cases I use hacks to avoid even paying the carry-on fee, and very rarely I'm caught and have to pay for the carry-on. But for my last long trip, I checked my bag, and carried a small bag onto the plane. I wanted to be able to transport stuff they won't allow as carry-on, and it was just less hassle to check it.

My favorite bag is a small soft roll-top backpack with a waist strap. Because it's a roll-top it can expand or be packed down tight, and it's narrow so it ends up fitting more places when it's packed tight. Outside straps and mesh water bottle compartments let me carry an extra pair of shoes (or water bottles). One exterior zip pocket, one interior zip pocket. I think one version of this bag has a padded laptop sleeve with zip, but I don't really need the feature. And I found one that has an internal frame which makes it more breathable and easier to carry when heavily packed.

I've been a one bag traveller since approximately forever. One hitch I encountered after getting married: the spouse's family has a tradition of bringing back gifts for everyone from any major trip. I understand that back in the olden days, rare and exotic items (an orange? for me? really?) could only be shared via travel. But those days are gone. There are nearly no other remaining friction points left our otherwise awesome marriage.

Can't you just mail things back? We did that from a trip to Italy, mostly wines. Almost all local vendors of expensive items was well prepared to mail things to the US.

Depends on where. In Latam, I was quoted like $200 to try to ship back a small package to the US. We gave up on that quick. In Mexico, it was just about $30

Interesting to see all the "It doesn't work for business travellers" comments. I'm now retired, but was a business traveller (read: million mile flyer) for over forty years, and it has always worked well for me.

Also, there are MANY reasons (not just "less weight") to avoid wheeled bags ( https://www.onebag.com/wheeled-bags.html ).

What’s your favorite one-bag carryon? My partner and I have used an MEI Voyageur, a classic which was recommended by Onebag.com for recreational travel, but in black it still works for business travel. It didn’t disappoint and has held up so well over time and many miles and trips. For 3 lbs you get tough ballistic nylon material, durable zippers, well-padded hide-able shoulder and waist straps and a shoulder strap, internal aluminum frame stays for support and internal straps to stabilize your contents - all at a great value that can be half the cost of similar bags that are heavily marketed. The pack is still made by a small California shop and I’ve given it as a gift to students. My only real complaint is at my 6 ft height I’d appreciate a slightly longer torso, which can be done by asking the maker to attach the hip belt a few inches lower on the pack. I’m sure there are some newer bags out there with a bit sleeker design, but also certain they don’t approach the value of this bag.

PS Onebag does feature good suggestions, which helped me refine what to carry and what to leave behind, and which have helped me deal with many contingencies while traveling.

I wonder (aloud) how much of one bag ethos is linked to being a man. Culturally (my experience is US/EU/Latam) women are expected to change clothes often. And in some countries that also means changing belts and shoes. If traveling for business, even worse: few professional clothes designed for women are compressible/washable/fast drying.

This reminds me of the book, The Accidental Tourist by Ann Tyler, also a movie in which William Hurt plays a travel writer who specializes in travel guides for reluctant business travelers. It is to travel writing what Castaway is to survival, not particularly useful but still a lot of fun.

My life is in my carry-on plus personal item allowance. Contrary to what I expected, this has not been the dramatic shift in personal affairs I expected. Perhaps this is because it was mostly accidental and not intentional. It has enabled me to live on my friends' couches for the last five months though.

But I'll read this since what I've always wanted is an easy way to use my top-quality hardware and travel with it as much as possible. Some sort of easy organizer is probably all I need.

However, I'd strongly recommend the two-bagging since the "personal item" (my backpack) is something I can take on a day trip or whatever. That's one meaningful learning for me.

I don’t think you need to buy expensive brands (although I have some) to successfully one bag travel. My progression when I started out to now was just a succession of YAGNI realizations until I got to a point where my trusty Z28 backpack is spacious.

The biggest factor IMO is becoming confident and comfortable with skirting some social norms and either planning your trips or establishing yourself in such a way that it is acceptable to do so. Once that’s out of the way it’s fairly easy to make 3 outfits mix-match into a week, and launder as needed on the way. Clothes are the bulkiest items and everything else is tiny by comparison.

I haven't done much one bag travel myself, just a couple weekend or five day long trips, but one important thing is that it's a whole lot easier when you're not obese. I've lost nearly 200 lbs and it has become so much easier to fit everything into a single bag because my clothes are just so much smaller. The bag weighs less too. Or I can fit an extra camera lens in there since that's the primary reason I travel these days. A lot of the one bag travel advice I've encountered assumes that you're in relatively good shape.

I once did a three week trip to Africa that involved a light aircraft flight into the Okavango Delta in Botswana. We were allowed one small backpack and a small non-rigid holdall that they supplied prior to the trip. So okay, two bags, not one, but still a significant limit given that I wanted to do some serious big-lens wildlife photography. I managed quite well although I had one day of wet very feet when I flooded my only pair of boots. I also grew a beard so that I could leave shaving kit behind.

I have traveled with checked in luggage three times in my life: once when moving to the other side of the world, another time when going on a trip from Greece and bringing back presents, and again when going on a two-week business trip on another continent (traveled there with carry-on only, came back with a couple of gifts checked in). Most of the time whether it's business or pleasure, I hate having more than one bag with me and just take carry-on.

I have a Fugu[1] that goes from carry-on to a full-valise. I travel light when I travel alone, but like knowing that I could expand it if I needed to.

I travel light for pragmatic reasons, but don't mind check-in if I have a reason to. Flexibility is an asset.

Full disclosure: Am not affiliated with Fugu, but am friendly with one of the founders.

[1]: https://fuguluggage.com

One of the most impressive folks I ever knew with this, was a Japanese manager, at the company I used to work for.

This guy had been everywhere. If you mentioned a country or city, odds are, he could tell you a good bar, there.

He would go on these marathon business trips, lasting weeks or months.

He always took just one bag: A fairly big Zero Halliburton carry-on.

Once he got promoted to a VP, though, he had to start wearing suits, so he had to add a suit bag.

I always enjoy these sites that look like they came through a time machine. Such an interesting window into past web design trends.

It's interesting to me that GoRuck keeps showing up in the comments. I've seen it show up in several other contexts (geocaching, Ingress, etc.), and ... It seems like a "lifestyle brand", but are they also focused on one-bag ergonomics?

Not at all skeptical, just looking for an accessible intro to GoRuck.

> also focused on one-bag ergonomics?

Considering that they offer bags up to 40L, I guess go.

My GR1 23L bag has served me well thus far. Although I gotta say they are rather pricey.

They're kind-of lifestyle, in that they do strongly convey a certain "woo special forces oo-rah!" vibe (that I don't actually like -- though you can occasionally buy versions without all the MOLLE), but they do originate from being an accessory for a specific sport/exercise routine: rucking. I.e. long hikes in mud with heavy metal weights in your backpack. You don't need one of their bags to do it, but they're well-optimized for the task. Specifically: they're famously incredibly durable and last forever, and have good load-bearing traits so you can stuff 50lbs into them and expect to carry it about as well as possible. You can imagine how this translates well to less-demanding activities like walking through airports with all your clothes. :D

The main thing that might make you not want them is that they're very unstructured. They're a big empty box on your back with only minimal pockets, and if you want to impose any separation on gear you put in there you're going to have to do it yourself via other bags (e.g. packing cubes). This is in contrast to brands like Tom Bihn who have a bunch of specialized compartments to help you split stuff up. This is, of course, very much a matter of taste.

To put it in perspective: city-focused travel backpacks that were not hiking backpacks weren't common 8-10 years ago. The options were pretty much Tom Bihn, Patagonia, Osprey, Minaal, and Tortuga.

Anyways, Goruck bags were a welcome addition at the time because they were relatively discreet, easily accessible with their fold-open design, extremely well built (arguably overbuilt), and comfortable to carry heavy loads.

I worked with a guy who was a bag junkie, he'd get a few new bags every month, and had bags to carry other bags. The bags carried bags, and he'd carry a bag.

I have a nice size bag I usually use. If going away longer, I carry an extra one. I'm into some things. Bags is not one of those things.

I am not associated with that company, but the nomatic (original) backpack completely transformed my travel experience to something hassle free - I got it years back right in the aftermath of their kickstarter campaign.

I fly with my Osprey 40L pack, and it works ~when it fits in the overhead~ if it doesn't I'm Shit out of luck because checking a backpack SUCKS and completely defeats the purpose.

This website has taught me so much about travelling when I was in my early 20s, and I've been living out of a backpack ever since.

http://artoftravel.net is the original and still the best.

Would have been good in a previous life. As it is, travel is pretty much a past time. Luggage is the least of the worries.

I met a man who travelled the world with three socks. Two to wear, one to wash and dry. Rotate.

Is the escort eVest still a thing?

I tried googling escort eVest and the first google search result was your comment :(

Probably Scott evest

I thought this site was going to be about photons. Not disappointed

I did the "ultralight travel" thing with my partner in 2018 for a 3-week trip to England and Europe and a 2-week trip to Japan. In short: There were times we were really happy all we had were our backpacks, and there were times it would have been nice to have "that one thing, that one time," but it wasn't the end of the world. Given the fact that we were in Europe and Japan, it's not like we couldn't run to a corner store for anything we really, really needed.

Both times I took the same 19-liter backpack. The primary thing that this did for me is it forced me to be very selective about exactly what it was I really needed to bring with me. I bought the latest and greatest cell phone with the best camera on the market, and I used the phone for all pictures, navigation, and all the great things modern phones do. All guides were in the form of audio files that I would play through my Bluetooth earbuds. I was able to pay for almost everything using my phone -- except the Tokyo subway. (Seriously, Japan, let's get with the times).

The cell phone pictures turned out just fine. Sure they weren't emaculate works of visual art you might get from a dedicated $1k camera with interchangeable lens and what not, but they were more than adequate, and it was really easy to just whip out the phone and snap a picture no matter where we were or what we were doing. That ended up getting us some really ad-hoc pictures that added a ton of character to our trip album. Look back on the pictures now, I really have no regrets about that, and I still wouldn't add a separate camera to my (very parsimonious) list of things to stuff in the backpack.

For each trip I had 5 pairs of undies, 4 pairs of Merino wool socks, 3 Merino wool tshirts, 2 pairs of board shorts, 1 pair of pants, and 1 pair of shoes. I brought a few ounces of liquid detergent, which at one point put me in a ridiculous position where I was washing my clothes in the sink of a ritzy downtown hotel in Paris. I had a combo battery/USB Anker charger that works on 120v and 240v circuits with some plug adapters. Worked fine everywhere in England, Europe, and Japan. No laptop -- the phone can run a terminal app just fine if I really needed to SSH home for whatever reason. And I'm not going to be wanting to bang out novels or anything while I'm traveling. (I did buy a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard ahead of time just in case, but I ended up deciding it wasn't worth the weight and space). Google Fi for the carrier, which worked great and was cheap. A synthetic down jacket and GoreTex shell took care of variations in weather, and they both compressed down to fit in one of the zipper pockets. Carabiner clips ended up being pretty useful once in a while. Bought an umbrella from a corner store in whatever city I was at if I felt I needed one.

Both going there and back I'd get flagged for a manual bag inspection at the airport. I guess traveling overseas with no checked luggage is a security flag? The worker would open the zipper, see the top part of a compressed mass of clothes, shrug, and then close it up again. I didn't care about the "boarding crunch" to try to jocky for overhead space. The backpack easily slid under the seat in front of me with plenty of foot-room too, although I'd just pull the backpack out after liftoff.

While the backpack had only 19 liters of volume, it was pretty dense, and so carrying it around for more than an hour or so would start to get tiring. The padded waist clip helped, but occasionally there were times I wouldn't have complained if I could set it on the ground and wheel it for a while. But then there were times in train stations when we would zip around tourists heaving several huge suitcases around and jockying for space to put them on the cars. When we stopped places on the way to the hotel we never had to stress out about leaving our stuff in rental cars to get stolen. Just grab the backpacks and wear them to wherever we were going. Most of the time, we would unload all the extra clothes at the hotel room and head out with mostly-empty backpacks at our destinations.

One time we decided spur-of-the-moment to watch a play in London, and the only shoes I had were my black sneakers. I had a button-up synthetic shirt (rayon and cotton I think) and a dark pair of pants, so I mostly "fit in," as long as you didn't look to closely at my feet. But at the end of the day, I didn't really care that much, and I wouldn't have tried to haul around multiple pairs of shoes just on the off-chance I'd want to go to the theatre and be "completely" dressed up.

In short, I'm hooked on the 19-liter backpack way of traveling. The space and weight scarcity really forces you to be thoughtful about exactly what you really need to take with you, and you can focus on the experience rather than stress out about all your stuff. (I'm sure there's a broader analogy that can apply to all of life here.)

how did this make it to the homepage? :O

I routinely travel with a single small bag and disagree with the primary claim of this site: that a packing list is needed to travel light. Sure, it is useful in other ways such as not forgetting things. But to me packing light is as easy as not bringing things I don’t need. You could just ask yourself if you really need something every time you pack it. If this question wouldn’t work, I can’t see how applying the same logic in list form would perform any better.

If you are anxious about traveling, then you are likely to over prepare for every scenario you think you might encounter. It is difficult for someone in this situation to do what you suggest because the asking whether something is really needed will result in "yes" because it is there to solve a situation they have anxiety about.

Without a coping mechanism for the anxiety, it is difficult to change the packing behavior. Having a friend review items with you is going to be much more effective because they can have that back and forth about whether the situation is likely or not. This situation is something people discover with their partners when they travel for the first time. Initially, it is tolerated, but as the relationship progresses it becomes more of a challenge either through travel constraints, or requirements for joint packing.

I’ll second this. Packing with a checklist means I pack less and have way less anxiety. Highly recommended.

If you travel a lot, it can also work to have one or two small pre-packed kits that contain various electronics, repair items, OTC medications, earbuds, etc. I'll adjust my electronics kit some--like I'll take out my presentation clicker if I'm not presenting. But basically I have a travel pile and I mostly just grab some things from that pile and toss them in my bag.

If you are anxious about traveling, then you are likely to over prepare for every scenario you think you might encounter.

That was the conclusion I came to on a motorcycle trip to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, which travels down the 400-some miles of the gravel haul road. Everything I had, and everything I needed, fit within the two saddlebags, the duffel strapped to where the passenger seat used to be, or the tank bag. No shit bungied to seat backs and saddlebags, just a nice, clean look. Were I out for two weeks or two years, didn't matter, I could live off that bike indefinitely with what I had.

And then there were the Jed Clampetts[0] of the motorcycle world, with stuff strapped everywhere, and little bags strapped to the frame, spare tires hanging off the back. I saw more of those than I did those that IMO did a more reasonable job of packing. Having spoken with a few around the campfire, my experience says that the hard-core experienced riders pack about like I do (editor's note: mikestew is NOT a hard-core rider, though he is experienced). Newer folk don't know they're not going to need it on that 2 year old BMW, so they pack it just in case the ABS module does go out.

I think life experience is a factor, though I'm a bit scant on anecdata for that one. Ever go backpacking? More than once? You might be a light packer. Most adventurous thing you've ever done is stay in a Motel 6 instead of a resort hotel? You might be attached to those two carryons and 125 litre checked bag.

In conclusion, yeah, "just pack less" doesn't work for a lot of folks. That might change later, or it might not. But in the meantime, a checklist constructed in conjunction with another traveller can set the constraints necessary to keep the imagination running wild with what might be needed.

[0] http://cdn.speednik.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/10...

It has to be the folksy Web 1.0 presentation.

the dream of digital nomadism

Hacking travel

I nomad. Travel with a multiple bags and planning to buy another one during the next Europe trip so I can bring back beer and licorice.

Also, if you have status with an airline you can bring a checked bag free. That sometimes means you can bring comforts and supplies that are unavailable or more expensive at your destination.

I do 3 packs currently:

- a 44 L osprey

- a 25 L dakine w/ 15” laptop sleeve

- a 2-3 L small pack... satchel. $10 here in Mexico.

Bought the last one recently for day hikes to hold water/keys/wallet/phone/small battery for charging phone.

Great for traveling & living abroad, 1 month+, while working remotely.

I carry the big one on back, midsize on front, and store smallest in the big one until I arrive at accommodations and am ready to go out for the day

Flying in America is horrible with all the people bringing huge bags into the cabin. Everyone is fighting to get on first with their massive luggage banging around. I wish they'd enforce a 20lb weight limit like in Europe.

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