The advantages of packing light aren't always obvious[1] until you experience them, so you can pretty much tell someone's level of travel experience by how small their luggage is. I've yet to meet someone who packs more and more stuff based on past experience.
As the article mentions, good fabrics (like merino wool) can go a long way.
(1) Reliability and flexibility being foremost. Not having to worry about lost luggage. Itinerary changes are much easier when all your stuff is with you and can fit on your lap or under your seat. Then comes the comfort and speed. Being able to take the stairs or not blinking an eye at walking an extra half mile go a long way towards making travel enjoyable.
pgwhalen 16 minutes ago [-]
As someone raised as a light packer, I've come to the opposite conclusion a little: I'd prefer packing "medium" to have a lot of flexibility to be dressed well for whatever may come up. A small half-full duffel bag isn't that much better than a full one, so if I'm on a short trip I've found that I'll often appreciate having the extra options.
That being said, I literally do not own a roller bag, and am quite happy taking the stairs.
popalchemist 46 minutes ago [-]
For people without children, yes; with children, often, the opposite.
gensym 24 minutes ago [-]
For me, it was having children that really forced me to learn to travel light. We lived in Chicago and going to the airport meant walking to the transit stop to get to the airport, so I needed a way to carry luggage (I did so on my back) for a mile while also being able to push a stroller.
jjulius 42 minutes ago [-]
That's just relative, no? Surely people with children pack more, but the concept is the same - you pack a lot the first time you travel with them, and then narrow it down the more you travel with them.
(Said as a parent)
coldtea 43 minutes ago [-]
Same exact principles apply. You just add the children's stuff, taking care to pack those light too.
freetime2 4 minutes ago [-]
Being able to pick light and travel with minimal belongings is a great skill to have. But on the other hand, if your itinerary looks like home -> car -> plane -> car -> hotel, then you can pretty much go nuts bringing big checked suitcases with as much junk as you think you might need. Just keep the essentials in a carry-on in case the airline loses a bag.
allenu 12 minutes ago [-]
In a world of abundance in consumer toys and tech, it's definitely tempting to bring everything with you, especially when it comes to entertainment. I'm definitely guilty of trying to bring too many things to read or tech gizmos to play with while I'm away from home. Usually I end up not using everything I've brought and it adds an element of analysis paralysis as I can't decide what I want to read or do if I have some free time.
I've learned (slowly, over many years) that if I pack just one book, I'll end up reading it, whereas if I pack a retro game system, a couple of books (I still do the dead tree books and often have one fiction and non-fiction I'm leafing through), and maybe a magazine, I can't decide what to pick at any moment.
A small paperback is nice because it's easy to put away, it's not distracting (there's only one way to use it), you can see your progress, it's battery-free, and if once you're done with it, you can pawn it off to somebody else.
srean 53 minutes ago [-]
Unless I have to travel to a destination with a drastically different weather or I have to stay longer than ten days, it usually takes me no more than 15 to 20 minutes to get packed.
With my undiagnosed ADHD I usually start an hour or two before my airport cab.
My problem is not what to pack or that I pack too many things but to actually begin the process of packing.
al_borland 29 minutes ago [-]
I usually travel with one 19-22L bag (the same one Tynan, mentioned in the article uses… or used a decade ago). I ran across one of his videos when looking for a bag, and everyone was recommending the same Tom Bihn bag at the time.
I found traveling light requires understanding and accepting 2 things:
1. You will do laundry while on vacation, how much you pack determines how often laundry is done.
2. Unless going to an uninhabited area, people live their whole life where you’re going. If you forget something, you can probably buy it at the destination. I almost always buy toiletries locally to avoid dealing with liquids and TSA. I’ve bought stuff a couple times, but it’s rare. I find that with 19L, I still over pack and have stuff I bring and don’t use.
On an overnight trip, I only brought a plastic shopping bag with me. We were going by bus and would arrive late in the evening. The next day we’d be out and about all day, before meeting up at the bus in the evening to head home. I knew I didn’t want to be saddled with luggage, so I wore cloths that were on the verge of being thrown out, and brought a change of clothes and a phone charger in the grocery bag. The next day, the other people on the trip who brought multiple bags, laptops, coolers, etc for 1 night, were stuck sitting in one place watching their bags. I was able to roam free like a local. No regrets.
SoftTalker 38 minutes ago [-]
> I had my worst-ever packing experience in the late nineties, when I was a teen-ager.
Is hyphenating a word like teenager a New Yorker idiosyncracy? Or is that a "soft" hyphen that crept into the final article copy?
On the topic of packing, my advice is to roll your clothes instead of folding them. Rolling avoids wrinkles and allows more space-filling options. That plus the general advice of packing just a few universally-appropriate items. If you really need something else you can always buy it locally and then discard it (or something else) when you pack for the return trip.
jaggederest 33 minutes ago [-]
It's a New Yorker style manual thing, just like diaresis on reëducate for example [1]. I think it's sensible in this specific instance (and others like it generally) because it allows the user to disambiguate [I had my worst] [ever packing experience] from [I had my worst ever] [packing experience]. I'm not sure what other punctuation or style you'd use there to clarify that, besides letting the user figure it out from obvious context.
The New Yorker has a variety of these kinds of somewhat-archaic patterns, and I actually really like them because a) I think it gives a bit more literary feel, like the MIT Tech Review that also uses them, and b) it makes the text accessible to a broader audience, people who might speak english as a second or fourth language and not natuarally scan that phrase without punctuation.
Actually my question was about teen-ager. Haven't seen that hyphenated since before e-mail stopped being hyphenated.
Worst-ever does make sense in that usage.
OkayPhysicist 21 minutes ago [-]
Even better than rolling is a suit fold. I inherited one, and only got around to using it years later when I needed to fly in to a buddy's wedding with a suit. Ever since, it's my go-to piece of luggage. It's small enough to fit in a seat well in a pinch, it's light and portable enough to sling over your shoulder for a multi-leg public transit journey, and your clothes don't need any ironing to look immaculate when you get to your destination.
twentyfiveoh1 22 minutes ago [-]
I am usually only traveling with a carry-on and I use something called "ranger rolls".
Roll them as densely as you can get them. try not to leave them that way outside of immediate travel. I like it precisely of your space filling comment. I can fit clothes into what was ordinarily dead space with any other method in any other bag or suit case.
mplanchard 33 minutes ago [-]
Teen-ager and some other unusual hyphenations are New Yorker style, yes
AlotOfReading 50 minutes ago [-]
I really don't understand what people are putting in the 2-3 large suitcases I see them struggling to shove in overhead. For one, rolling luggage is usually a mistake for anyone who's not flight crew.
I bring a week's worth of thin clothes that layer. If I need more, I'm either washing by hand or using a service. Basic toiletries, an e-reader, phone, keys, charger bricks, a notebook/pens, daypack. It fits into an underseat backpack with room to spare.
This has scaled fine all the way up to multi-month scientific expeditions in remote locations. Sometimes I need to accommodate specialized equipment like formal clothes/shoes, camera bodies/lenses, excavation equipment, tent, water purification, sleeping pad/bag, etc, but that's solved through the magic of bringing a slightly larger bag.
peezd 35 minutes ago [-]
I've had this conversation a lot with my wife, as we have divergent philosophies.
I'm an old Peace Corps hippie that then road warriored for a few years where I would do a 4 day work trip and limit myself to a bag I could fit under the seat on a plane. You have to be ruthless, rewear stuff that will be fine for multiple days, etc. You also learn what is non-negotiable to bring.
My wife is a planner, so she builds for redundancies and tries to pack for every scenario. She targets to fill a roller bag and the biggest personal item tote she has. But I will also admit there's much more social pressure on women than men in terms of what makes up an outfit.
coldtea 38 minutes ago [-]
>For one, rolling luggage is usually a mistake for anyone who's not flight crew.
Rolling luggage is amazing, especially that that goes into the overhead compartment.
"I bring a week's worth of thin clothes that layer. If I need more, I'm either washing by hand or using a service. Basic toiletries, an e-reader, phone, keys, charger bricks, a notebook/pens, daypack. It fits into an underseat backpack with room to spare."
That's if you don't need to take more or heavier clothes, formal clothes, an extra pair of shoes, if you're packing gifts, or extra gear taken space elsewhere (e.g. camera and lenses in your backpack), and not taking stuff like souvenirs and such back.
>This has scaled fine all the way up to multi-month scientific expeditions in remote locations.
If you slob it like a 19 year old backpacker, sure.
AlotOfReading 19 minutes ago [-]
I'm not sure what you're considering "heavier" clothes, but my layers work just fine to about -20C. It was a bit chilly the times it was <-40C, but I don't think that's what you meant?
The comment covered special gear, so not really sure what you want me to add there. I use a slightly larger bag that fits in overhead.
PaulDavisThe1st 26 minutes ago [-]
> If you slob it like a 19 year old backpacker, sure.
Had an interesting trip when I was 55. First 7 days: my niece's wedding, a cross-country + transatlantic trip away, with lots of occasions (or need, if you were so minded) for good looking semi-formal wear. Next 20 days: backpacking (like a 19 year old) for 280 miles across the Scottish Highlands.
koreth1 33 minutes ago [-]
> For one, rolling luggage is usually a mistake for anyone who's not flight crew.
I used to travel with just a soft carry-on bag that converted into a backpack. It was great to just pick it up and go, and not have to worry about constantly extending and retracting the handle or bracing the bag so it wouldn't roll away on a hill.
But around the age of 50, my back informed me in no uncertain terms that those days were behind me. Now I let the wheels on my luggage carry the weight.
nradov 32 minutes ago [-]
No major commercial airline allows a passenger to put 3 large suitcases in the overhead bins: it's one carry-on bag in the bin plus a small personal item. If I'm going scuba diving, especially technical diving in a cold environment, then I need to fill my carry-on and personal item with the expensive or fragile dive gear plus check two large bags for the bulky dive gear plus whatever else I need for the trip.
AlotOfReading 11 minutes ago [-]
The description is a bit exaggerated, but I regularly see families with a large overhead suitcase + personal bag + secondary bag per person waiting at the carousel. I don't think many of them are diving in the places I go to, but who knows.
getfacl 40 minutes ago [-]
Used to travel for work 3 weeks a month and worked with a group of folks who took pride in traveling light. I learned to never pack for more than 6 days. After 5 days either do the laundry or use the hotel laundry service.
SoftTalker 32 minutes ago [-]
Hotel laundry service tends to be quite expensive, but many hotels have a coin-op (or maybe an app these days) laundry room where you can do your own. That's very handy for underwear, socks, and casual items.
And some people for whatever reason think that everything you wear once needs to be washed before you can wear it again. Break out of that mindset. You can usually wear pants and shirts several times if they aren't sweaty and don't have food spills or something like that. Hang them up or fold them at night, maybe touch up with an iron if they are wrinkled.
bluedino 24 minutes ago [-]
If it's a trip for work, who cares how much it costs.
SoftTalker 20 minutes ago [-]
I've never worked someplace that would reimburse laundry. Or maybe I never tried...
UnreachableCode 1 hours ago [-]
Pack what you will need, not what you might need. Anything you might need you can just buy.
pimlottc 8 minutes ago [-]
Buying clothes at your destination doesn't always work out if you're not a standard size -- which may vary dramatically depending where you're going.
lukan 44 minutes ago [-]
Unless the shops are closed and it is surprisingly raining now and you did not bring that rain jacket/umbrella.
stronglikedan 52 minutes ago [-]
Just leave some room in the bag to bring back anything you might buy so you don't have to ship it.
reg_dunlop 1 hours ago [-]
Exactly. Buy local. Support the local economy and blend in.
ausbah 44 minutes ago [-]
if you’re visiting major cities and need basic clothing you’re probably shopping at the some of the same name brand outlets or lines
jerlam 30 minutes ago [-]
But you will have a much better idea what to buy, when you have first-hand experience with the weather and are surrounded by locals who are adequately prepared.
badgersnake 44 minutes ago [-]
Depends how remote your destination is.
patcon 32 minutes ago [-]
Washing the days clothes as you shower is a game changer. Even Waring them into shower, soaping them while wearing, and rinsing out by hand.
Depends on climate, but if they dry in 2 days, you barely need anything
nradov 27 minutes ago [-]
You've got to be kidding. I'm not going to waste time on a trip washing laundry by hand. Just pack another bag, and if you're staying longer then pick a hotel with coin-op washer / dryer machines available for guest use.
mastermedo 43 minutes ago [-]
For me, colder weather doesn't necessarily dictate warmer clothing, it dictates a faster pace or more inside activities.
Another thing is getting used to and being comfortable with being cold and hot. Enjoying time in saunas and cold plunges made me pack even lighter than I already did.
crooked-v 2 hours ago [-]
From personal experience when I was younger: Spending a month traveling on European trains with a backpack will teach you a whole lot about what you actually need to pack, and what you will want to just leave behind and purchase again locally if you really turn out to need a given item.
For me, the starting point that makes a lot of it way easier is to focus on layering. Anyone who lives in the Bay Area will instantly understand it: you don't build outfits for different weather, you build outfits for all weather that just depend on how many layers you've got on. For example, no cold-weather coats: instead you pack a feather-light and very foldable rain shell, layer it over thin sweaters for cold weather (multiple, if it's cold enough), and wear it directly over a light outfit for warm rainy weather.
all2 1 hours ago [-]
The heaviness of your layering will depend directly upon the environment you will be in. The above is adequate for most temperate climates.
If you plan on being at higher elevations during local fall/winter/spring, your base layer will likely be light (and moisture wicking, please do this), and your first layer will likely need to start heavier than a temperate climate base layer.
Having spent a considerable amount of time in the North Central US during those seasons, the layering strategy is appropriate, but the heavier outer layers are non-negotiable, especially as the average temperature drops below 15F.
alistairSH 57 minutes ago [-]
That's true, but doesn't really negate the principle... the set of layers is just different. If you're heading to that high elevation where it's mostly cold, you probably don't need to bring shorts on the off chance it's 85F one afternoon - you just wear your lightest pants that day.
The other things I've found is it's pretty darn easy to wash a few items in the sink while traveling. A 14 day trips doesn't require 14 pairs of socks - 4-5 is plenty, just wash them. Etc. Most people massively overpack. I'm always amazed at the number of people lugging around full size rollers at the train station.
PaulDavisThe1st 24 minutes ago [-]
> you probably don't need to bring shorts on the off chance it's 85F one afternoon - you just wear your lightest pants that day.
or even bring pants that can have the lower leg sections removed, so that even if it is 95F one day, you still have some lightweight shorts ...
jerlam 46 minutes ago [-]
I tried layering when I traveled somewhere cold, where the high was just above freezing. I felt foolish whenever I went indoors and had to peel off three or four layers in order to feel comfortable.
The next time I went, I brought a proper winter jacket. When I was indoors, I took off my jacket. It was simpler and more comfortable, both outdoors and indoors. You cannot replicate a winter jacket with a rain shell and a bunch of layers.
The Bay Area has a lot of microclimates but none of them are really cold nor hot or humid.
nradov 17 minutes ago [-]
I live in the Bay Area and I don't understand that. Layering is a stupid hassle. I'll put on one jacket of appropriate thickness when I go outside and take it off when I come inside. Simple.
PopAlongKid 51 minutes ago [-]
In late 1970s, I spent two months hitching and riding trains around Europe, just an external frame backpack and a sleeping bag. A few years ago, I spent 2.5 weeks in U.K. and Ireland, with an 18-liter backpack and a waist bag (a.k.a. fanny pack ), which made getting around a breeze especially at airports and on trains. It even allowed me to carry a notebook computer. As mentioned in TFA, merino wool and no cotton garments helps. The rain was a minor inconvenience, but I did have lodging where I could get things rinsed and dried out in my room. I did buy an umbrella but should have splurged on better quality, even if I would end up abandoning it.
Best packing advice I ever received: take half as many clothes, and twice as much money, as you think you'll need.
ghaff 1 hours ago [-]
There are certainly circumstances where you need really warm clothes. And hiking (and requirements for dress clothing) complicate thingx as well. But if I'm visiting cities and towns in not surefrigid weather, I can generally handle carry-on with some washing out in sinks and so forth with the right low maintenance clothing.
fra 36 minutes ago [-]
I have a simple list: money, medication, identification, underwear, bathing suit. Everything else you can figure out.
ausbah 45 minutes ago [-]
interesting how much overlap onebagging has with ultralight backpacking
As the article mentions, good fabrics (like merino wool) can go a long way.
(1) Reliability and flexibility being foremost. Not having to worry about lost luggage. Itinerary changes are much easier when all your stuff is with you and can fit on your lap or under your seat. Then comes the comfort and speed. Being able to take the stairs or not blinking an eye at walking an extra half mile go a long way towards making travel enjoyable.
That being said, I literally do not own a roller bag, and am quite happy taking the stairs.
(Said as a parent)
I've learned (slowly, over many years) that if I pack just one book, I'll end up reading it, whereas if I pack a retro game system, a couple of books (I still do the dead tree books and often have one fiction and non-fiction I'm leafing through), and maybe a magazine, I can't decide what to pick at any moment.
A small paperback is nice because it's easy to put away, it's not distracting (there's only one way to use it), you can see your progress, it's battery-free, and if once you're done with it, you can pawn it off to somebody else.
With my undiagnosed ADHD I usually start an hour or two before my airport cab.
My problem is not what to pack or that I pack too many things but to actually begin the process of packing.
I found traveling light requires understanding and accepting 2 things:
1. You will do laundry while on vacation, how much you pack determines how often laundry is done.
2. Unless going to an uninhabited area, people live their whole life where you’re going. If you forget something, you can probably buy it at the destination. I almost always buy toiletries locally to avoid dealing with liquids and TSA. I’ve bought stuff a couple times, but it’s rare. I find that with 19L, I still over pack and have stuff I bring and don’t use.
On an overnight trip, I only brought a plastic shopping bag with me. We were going by bus and would arrive late in the evening. The next day we’d be out and about all day, before meeting up at the bus in the evening to head home. I knew I didn’t want to be saddled with luggage, so I wore cloths that were on the verge of being thrown out, and brought a change of clothes and a phone charger in the grocery bag. The next day, the other people on the trip who brought multiple bags, laptops, coolers, etc for 1 night, were stuck sitting in one place watching their bags. I was able to roam free like a local. No regrets.
Is hyphenating a word like teenager a New Yorker idiosyncracy? Or is that a "soft" hyphen that crept into the final article copy?
On the topic of packing, my advice is to roll your clothes instead of folding them. Rolling avoids wrinkles and allows more space-filling options. That plus the general advice of packing just a few universally-appropriate items. If you really need something else you can always buy it locally and then discard it (or something else) when you pack for the return trip.
The New Yorker has a variety of these kinds of somewhat-archaic patterns, and I actually really like them because a) I think it gives a bit more literary feel, like the MIT Tech Review that also uses them, and b) it makes the text accessible to a broader audience, people who might speak english as a second or fourth language and not natuarally scan that phrase without punctuation.
[1] https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-...
Worst-ever does make sense in that usage.
I bring a week's worth of thin clothes that layer. If I need more, I'm either washing by hand or using a service. Basic toiletries, an e-reader, phone, keys, charger bricks, a notebook/pens, daypack. It fits into an underseat backpack with room to spare.
This has scaled fine all the way up to multi-month scientific expeditions in remote locations. Sometimes I need to accommodate specialized equipment like formal clothes/shoes, camera bodies/lenses, excavation equipment, tent, water purification, sleeping pad/bag, etc, but that's solved through the magic of bringing a slightly larger bag.
I'm an old Peace Corps hippie that then road warriored for a few years where I would do a 4 day work trip and limit myself to a bag I could fit under the seat on a plane. You have to be ruthless, rewear stuff that will be fine for multiple days, etc. You also learn what is non-negotiable to bring.
My wife is a planner, so she builds for redundancies and tries to pack for every scenario. She targets to fill a roller bag and the biggest personal item tote she has. But I will also admit there's much more social pressure on women than men in terms of what makes up an outfit.
Rolling luggage is amazing, especially that that goes into the overhead compartment.
"I bring a week's worth of thin clothes that layer. If I need more, I'm either washing by hand or using a service. Basic toiletries, an e-reader, phone, keys, charger bricks, a notebook/pens, daypack. It fits into an underseat backpack with room to spare."
That's if you don't need to take more or heavier clothes, formal clothes, an extra pair of shoes, if you're packing gifts, or extra gear taken space elsewhere (e.g. camera and lenses in your backpack), and not taking stuff like souvenirs and such back.
>This has scaled fine all the way up to multi-month scientific expeditions in remote locations.
If you slob it like a 19 year old backpacker, sure.
The comment covered special gear, so not really sure what you want me to add there. I use a slightly larger bag that fits in overhead.
Had an interesting trip when I was 55. First 7 days: my niece's wedding, a cross-country + transatlantic trip away, with lots of occasions (or need, if you were so minded) for good looking semi-formal wear. Next 20 days: backpacking (like a 19 year old) for 280 miles across the Scottish Highlands.
I used to travel with just a soft carry-on bag that converted into a backpack. It was great to just pick it up and go, and not have to worry about constantly extending and retracting the handle or bracing the bag so it wouldn't roll away on a hill.
But around the age of 50, my back informed me in no uncertain terms that those days were behind me. Now I let the wheels on my luggage carry the weight.
And some people for whatever reason think that everything you wear once needs to be washed before you can wear it again. Break out of that mindset. You can usually wear pants and shirts several times if they aren't sweaty and don't have food spills or something like that. Hang them up or fold them at night, maybe touch up with an iron if they are wrinkled.
Depends on climate, but if they dry in 2 days, you barely need anything
Another thing is getting used to and being comfortable with being cold and hot. Enjoying time in saunas and cold plunges made me pack even lighter than I already did.
For me, the starting point that makes a lot of it way easier is to focus on layering. Anyone who lives in the Bay Area will instantly understand it: you don't build outfits for different weather, you build outfits for all weather that just depend on how many layers you've got on. For example, no cold-weather coats: instead you pack a feather-light and very foldable rain shell, layer it over thin sweaters for cold weather (multiple, if it's cold enough), and wear it directly over a light outfit for warm rainy weather.
If you plan on being at higher elevations during local fall/winter/spring, your base layer will likely be light (and moisture wicking, please do this), and your first layer will likely need to start heavier than a temperate climate base layer.
Having spent a considerable amount of time in the North Central US during those seasons, the layering strategy is appropriate, but the heavier outer layers are non-negotiable, especially as the average temperature drops below 15F.
The other things I've found is it's pretty darn easy to wash a few items in the sink while traveling. A 14 day trips doesn't require 14 pairs of socks - 4-5 is plenty, just wash them. Etc. Most people massively overpack. I'm always amazed at the number of people lugging around full size rollers at the train station.
or even bring pants that can have the lower leg sections removed, so that even if it is 95F one day, you still have some lightweight shorts ...
The next time I went, I brought a proper winter jacket. When I was indoors, I took off my jacket. It was simpler and more comfortable, both outdoors and indoors. You cannot replicate a winter jacket with a rain shell and a bunch of layers.
The Bay Area has a lot of microclimates but none of them are really cold nor hot or humid.
Best packing advice I ever received: take half as many clothes, and twice as much money, as you think you'll need.