10 packing tips for lightweight travelers
10 Packing Tips For Lightweight Travelers - Jordan - Medium
Even homer doesn’t approve with this much stuff!Living out of a backpack isn’t always easy. There is always a dilemma of what do you bring? Do you need 7 pairs of socks, 7 pairs of underwear?When we started our 5 month journey, my backpack weighed around 35lbs, which over time, I got rid of things that were unused or things were left at Airbnb’s. My pack went to about 30lbs during this period, however, our obsession with finding sea glass in Croatia caused my pack to increase in weight once again.To get straight to the point, here are 10 tips I would give to a new traveler who is trying to be lightweight(note I do not say ultra-lightweight).10) Pack, Repack, Repack, and RepackThis seems a bit of an odd point to make, but make sure you pack your gear in a way that you can repeat the process easily and effortlessly. We did not do this prior to leaving, and it took a fair amount of time finding the right place for everything so that it made sense and was easily placed. Once everything has a place, packing and repacking can be done in 10 minutes or less.9) Clothing — Less is betterI can’t express this enough. The less stuff you have, the lighter your bag will be, the longer you can walk, the less money you’ll spend when traveling. Due to the area, season and our plans, I had to pack an extra pair of jeans, and the long underwear. Next trip, I would cut out a pair of socks, and only have the SmartWool Boxer Briefs. Heres my clothing list:- 2 x SmartWool Ultra light shirts- 1 x Ably Crew neck T-shirt- 1 x Emiqude long sleeve button down shirt- 1 x Nike Golf Dri-Fit shorts(to match my button down)- 2 x Old Navy built-in-flex jeans- 1 x Nike Dri-Fit Sweat Pants- 1 x Billabong Stretch boardshorts(for hot weather/swimming)- 1 x Columbia Omni-heat jacket- 1 x Columbia outer shell rain jacket(updated model from my actual one)- 2 x SmartWool boxer briefs- 1 x Nike boxer briefs- 1 x Smartwool long underwear- 3 x Darn Tough socks- 1 x Scarpa Men’s Margarita Casual Shoe- 1 x Crocs MODI flip flops8) Quality make a differenceTheres always a compromise on price vrs quality. The higher the quality, the more your going to pay. We decided to go with the cheaper REI version of packing cubes while Blaire had one Eagle Creek brand as well, however, by the end of the trip, all the REI packing cubes were starting to come apart at the seams while the Eagle Creek brand was still going strong as if it was new. We take into account what the company policy of the products such as Darn Tough socks have an amazing life time guarantee. Some times, spending a bit more means you’ll have a product that will last much longer, not just while traveling, but while back at home.7) Odor — The culprit that causes us to wash our clothes more often than notThis may be gross to some, but I would wash my clothes about once every 2 weeks. The primary reason we wash clothes is due to odor buildup within the clothing. I opted to purchase Merino Wool and focused my clothing around this fabric. Merino wool is not itchy/scratchy like normal wool, it helps regulate body temperature in hot and cold and it has odor resisting properties. At the end of the day, the clothing I’d wear I’d hang up on something in the Airbnb and let it “air out” over night and the following day.6) Electronics — Less is moreThis is something I made a mistake on. I didn’t think through how much stuff we had in terms of electronics. This alone added a good 8–12 lbs to our packs. I packed too many cables, some devices(like 3ds) that were never or rarely used and one too many laptops. Especially if your traveling in modernized countries, only bring ONE or TWO cables for each plug type as you can always pickup replacement cables on the go.Heres our electronic list:- 1 x Macbook Pro 2017 model- 1 x Microsoft Surface Pro 4 w/ keyboard- 1 x 2TB Seagate Ultra Slim external HDD- 1 x 1TB LaCie Porsche Design external HDD- 1 x Sony A6000 mirrorless camera w/ extra battery- 2 x Amazon Kindle Paperwhite- 1 x GoPro Hero 4 Black w/ 2 extra batteries & dual charger- 1 x Loop Travel adapter w/ integrated battery bank- 1 x Nintendo 3ds — I’m a game nerd but I rarely played it- 1 x Samsung Galaxy S7 — With Google Project Fi data only sim- 1 x Google Fi LG Nexus 5x — HIGHLY Recommend for long term travelers using Google Project Fi as your cell phone carrier, we were able to use it everywhere we were while in Europe without any headaches! — Sign-up at this link to get $20 credit5) Size your pack accordingly — bigger isn’t always betterThe size of your pack should be within the carry-on size requirements by airlines. Blaire had the Osprey Farpoint 40 which I believe is the perfect size and its within airline carryon restrictions. I had the Osprey Farpoint 55 which is slightly bigger than the restrictions, however, we never had any troubles with it fitting in the overhead compartments or getting flagged as being to big. My pack is too big I believe as I was constantly overfilling it, however, with day pack was immensely useful, especially when using it on the front for balancing the weight. I would recommend buying a few packs, filling them with everything your traveling with and taking a good 2+ mile walk/hike and seeing how it feels. If the pack doesn’t feel good or comfortable, return it and try something else.4) Toiletries — Buy them when you get thereWe brought a fair amount of toiletries. Deodorants, conditioners, toothpaste, shave oil, shavers, etc. We also didn’t think this through very well in my opinion. All of these toiletries can be found around the world. Discount stores/dollar stores will have the cheapest supply. After about the second month we had run out of most of our supplies we had brought. Next time I’d say bring a travel toothpaste and make it a mission to go to the store to acquire everything else.Remember that when you are starting out, you don’t need to bring everything with you. Toothpaste, deodorant, detergent, its all used by everyone in the world. If you can skip out on some products when you initially start traveling to shave some weight, you’ll be thankful when your at the airport.3) Forget microfiber quick dry towelsI’m not a fan of the typical microfiber quick dry towels you find at camping/outdoorsy stores. The texture, the weight, the softness isn’t something I like, but dealt with. We found these ultra light towels through a co-worker’s recommendation and have since completely switched to them. They are lighter in weight, softer, faster drying, anti-microbial, spf protection and much more compressible. I would HIGHLY recommend purchasing these towels!2) Packing Cubes are a mustI mentioned this in one of the earlier comments about our REI brand packing cubes. I would recommend either Eagle Creek Pack-It Specter or the Eagle Creek Pack-It Compression Cube. My backpack had 1 large, 1 medium and 2 smalls.Large — solely used for all my clothesMedium — electronics storageSmall — medical supply storageSmall — Socks and underwear1) Day packs — couldn’t have done it without themMy backpack has a removable day pack that can be clipped onto the front shoulder straps. This was an incredible design as my pack in total weighed around 40lbs by the end of our trip(we collected sea glass). Having 40lbs on your back means your posture is going to be ruined and your back/hips are going to become quite tired. Being able to load 15–18lbs of stuff on my chest evened the weight out, however, it also meant that we had a backpack for when we were out exploring the city as well as a bag for groceries! My fiancee had a sling purse that she was not too happy with and on our next trip she is brining a daypack backpack.Theres so much that I’ve learned over the last 5 months, not just how to optimize the way I travel, but how to relax, enjoy the moments in life regardless if they are good or bad.Stay tuned for more posts from us or follow us on Instagram @queseraseratravel.Do note, almost all links within this article are affiliate links. It’s a way for me to collect some money for the efforts I put in for producing this content if you decide to purchase or signup for the items I recommend.