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 s…
"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 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 thi…
Here’s the top rated packing list on the One Bag subreddit, which is pretty representative of what the community likes.
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.
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....)
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!
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 thi…
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…
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).
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 s…
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
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 hassl…
I'd be curious to see that... sounds amusing, even if unintentionally so.
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 go…
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 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 d…
Remember when it was just called bike touring or bike camping?