Comment by InefficientRed | Hacker News Reader

Comment by InefficientRed | Hacker News Reader

This is interesting because I tend to think of packing as a dirtbag thing rather than a nomad thing... when I'm hotel hopping for extended periods I just bring normal luggage. Maybe I should start bringing my backpack instead.

My first impression is that this is a LOT of clothes and the electric stuff is a bit weird.

A few differences between dirtbag and nomad (the latter AFAICT is mostly hotel/airbnb hopping?):

First, you think a lot about food and water. Especially water, and especially sans car. It's VERY heavy and very necessary.

Second, my emergency pack is almost completely different. No vitamin shoppe merch. An ACE bandage, 8 aspirin per day from civ, 1 dose of imodium per day from civ, gauze, anti-bacterial cream, tape, suture kit, and one dose of a more powerful pain killer for serious emergencies if you can get it. No rapid tests (travel usually required a PCR anyways), but a couple KN95s. Cash in both USD (clean, unfolded, new bills) and the local currency. Maps.

Third, weight really matters.

Fourth, cleanliness really matters. You're essentially homeless. Diners and cafes kick out homeless people if you try to stay 9-5. In addition to organizing my life around being clean, I also had a whole separate emergency "Not A Dirtbag For A Day" kit.

I guess the other big difference is that all of my day-to-day stuff fit in roughly 15L so that I could carry 5L water and my gear could consume the other 20L.

when I'm hotel hopping for extended periods I just bring normal luggage. Maybe I should start bringing my backpack instead.

Wife and I use an Osprey Farpoint 40 [1] pack each when we travel. Max size for most overhead bins, comfortable for walking a few miles, and enough pockets to do some basic organizing. Longer trips might end up supplemented with a smaller carry-on bag (usually for my camera kit, or bike helmets and shoes if we’re cycling). It’s great for travel in Europe, where you often get off a train and the hotel/airbnb is a few blocks away (and hardly worth a cab/Uber).

1 - https://www.osprey.com/us/en/product/farpoint-travel-pack-ca...

I have an Osprey Porter, the 4x liter size--pretty much the same thing--and an old Montainsmith large "fanny pack" but mostly use it over the shoulder (or in the Osprey). For business casual-dress business travel and some lightweight hiking and other recreation, I can straightforwardly go for 3-4 weeks like that. Winter is a bit tougher but can still manage as long as it's not too cold.

Overall, I don't carry as much day to day base layer clothing and just rinse in the sink, don't really have laptop stands, may have a mirrorless camera, have a small kit with repair and other small just in case items. (When I was traveling a lot it was handy to have fairly standard kit bags I could just toss in my luggage.)

Got this bag also, it's the best!

I have and love that bag as well. Laptop sleeve included.

Like the OP here, I have another small bag that fits inside the Farpoint when not in use. It's a REI 18(I think?) liter bag - really lightweight, big enough to carry the laptop and day use items while leaving the big bag in the hotel room, or optionally keeping handy on the plane with food or something.

Ultimately, the clothing really dwarfs everything else. This is much easier to pull off if you have a casual style (like the OP) and don't mind having, essentially, a "uniform" where you can just throw on any old bottom and top and go.

For clothing, we've both invested in some decent travel items. Wool underwear, socks, and Ts. Travel pants that dress up ok (Lulu Lemon has some nice men's pants), maybe some hiking pants. And a button up shirt or two. Add a windbreaker, brown loafers that are comfy enough to walk around town, and either sneakers, hiking shoes, or sandals depending on itinerary.

The key is a willingness to wash items while traveling. I usually only bring 3-4 pairs underwear/socks, and wash mid-week in the sink. Light wool air dries reasonably fast and doesn't hold odor as much as synthetics.

The only times I struggle to pack everything is trips where we're planning sports. Backpacking, cycling, etc mean more gear - tents, sleeping bags; shoes, helmets, spandex, pedals (usually rent the bikes).

Why would you need so much aspirin?

> I tend to think of packing as a dirtbag thing

You think it's dirty to pack things for a trip?

get a suitcase you bum! (/s)

Pretty sure they are referring to camping outside with a sleeping bag in the dirt -> dirtbag.

Still don't get it - only people who sleep outside need to pack for a trip?

"Packing" in this case I infer to mean hauling possessions via a backpack as opposed to a suitcase.

"packing" as in "backpacking", not "packing" as in "packing for a trip".

Dirtbagging doesn't necessarily entail living outside. Could bum a room for a while. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirtbag_climbing for context.

To clarify: I tend to think of living out of a 40L pack as a dirtbag thing rather than a nomad thing... most of the nomads I know just use hard shell luggage, including me when I hotel hop (I've had nice expensive backpacks destroyed by bag handlers, so hard rollers are better). OP mentions that thy don't have to check their 40L bag; I've always ended up with mine checked but I guess splitting the load into a second personal item could make that less likely.

Think backpacking, where you're surviving on just what's in your backpack for multiple days at a time.

The focus on "packing" there is on weight/volume minimization - for example backpackers have been known to shave down the handle of their toothbrush to save a few grams. That sort of thing.

The reason to cut the toothbrush handle is to reduce its length not its mass. It fits in a much smaller stuff sack when it's 10cm long than when it's full length.

Since that stuff sack contains other things of approximately that length or shorter (in my case, stuff like: nail clippers, travel sized toothpaste, floss, extra lighter, a pair of corded earplugs, headlamp, possibly a spoon [0]) it gets awkward to have one pokey-outy thing when you're shoving it in amongst the other gear in your pack.

[0] Yeah, yeah, I know: there's earwax on my spoon and toothbrush. That's never felt that important five days removed from a shower :-)

They're referring to "dirtbag" as a lifestyle-movement. It mostly, as I understand it, came out of rock climbing -- people who gave up a regular life to go live by rock climbing spots, getting by on seasonal work and few possessions.

It leads to a different aesthetic and priorities than the (coming later) techno-nomad movement. Notably, it doesn't kinda-imply that you also have a good-playing remote job, which changes a lot of the calculations... and the aesthetic leans closer to the kind that gets you kicked out of coffee shops if you linger. It also, of course, is focused on spending a lot of time outdoors and engaging in a fairly dangerous activity.

https://www.desktodirtbag.com/dirtbag-meaning/ or https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dirtbag

why are you carrying 5l of water?

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