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Indefinite Backpack Travel

jeremymaluf.com

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Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#341

Post by ptsneves »

Jedd wrote: post #287
jojobas wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Relatively few people's economic output can compare with them producing new people. If your last name is not Feynman or Curie your most valuable contribution to the society is a couple of kids.

Counterpoint - the best single thing you can do for the planet, in terms of minimising your consumption / ecological footprint, is to not spawn.

No need to blame it on one’s spawn, one can start now…

Also why is ecological footprint even important itself? Our eco system has no more reason to exist than any of its components, including humans.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#342

Post by reassess_blind »

bluehatbrit wrote: post #339
reassess_blind wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'One baggers', at least those who post online about it, are very consumerist in general despite the practice being about minimalism. You'll find people posting about upgrading their bag from the $300 Aer Travel Pack, to the $400 Goruck GR2 because of style preference. I've seen someone talking about repurchasing items they already own in a particular color to match their packs color scheme. I think the motivation for…

Yeah, I've come to realise that this is much more of a hobby for people than a genuine lifestyle. I think YouTube has caused a big increase in this. One bag, EDC, Ultralight - the videos are all completely the same. "Here's a bunch of things I just bought, and here's a bunch of things I've used for a month and am throwing away". With YouTube they can get paid to do it though, and get to add a new dimension to their h…

Surely this keychain flashlight will be the one to change my life?

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#343

Post by doctorhandshake »

sailingparrot wrote: post #105
doctorhandshake wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the limited amount of experience I’ve had with researching these things, embodied carbon can be a much higher number than you might think, even with something as simple as a cotton t-shirt. Odds are that shirt had already sailed around the world once or twice by the time you buy it, and it might make its way to another continent once you’re done with it as well.

> Odds are that shirt had already sailed around the world once or twice by the time you buy it, That's like... 40 grams of CO2 for those 2 trips for a t-shirt. Aka, a 2 min uber ride. Shipping containers are incredibly efficient. Modern large container ships consume about 200-300 tonnes of fuel per day, and could carry 742 millions t-shirts [1]. It takes 16 days to do something like Shanghai - LA, so that ends up bei…

I did make it sound like transport was contributing to the lion’s share of the embodied carbon and I shouldn’t have - it’s more in the production process. Would have been well served by an ‘in addition’ in between those statements.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#345

Post by dijit »

blackguardx wrote: post #240
dijit wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm one of those. I'd go iPad only, it's a versatile device after-all, but the truth of it is: it can't beat a laptop for "real work" (unless, real work is replying to emails and running an extremely cut down version of excel). Yet, a laptop is significantly more awkward to read with or watch media. When flying I have (nearly) lost a screen to someone reclining in front of me while I was using my laptop; this is not…

It is not cool or sexy, but a surface tablet makes a great travel device because it is a full computer that is also a tablet. You can also use it during takeoff and landing when laptops are not allowed.

Surface battery life is something like 1/2 of a Macbook or iPad in real world scenarios.

Certainly not a bad amount (5hrs) but enough that it becomes a conscious "I will have to charge this thing if I use it all day" thought.

I'm not trying to nitpick, this is genuinely what makes my brain hesitate.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#346

Post by techdmn »

Muromec wrote: post #329
falcor84 wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There might be some version of a future where robots take care of managing the industry for our benefit in a post-scarcity setting, allowing us humans to live as simple a life as we want, knowing that when a material need arises the robots will be willing and able to quickly fulfill it for us. I don't think that's where we're headed, but I like imagining.

With the direction everything is moving, we will get back slavery faster than we will get robots and AGI.

Slavery never went away, it just changed its name to Prison Labor. For fun here's a pair of stories about people being held past their release dates:

* https://promiseofjustice.org/news/louisianans-illegally-kept...

* https://www.corrections1.com/law-and-legislation/articles/re...

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#347

Post by sailingparrot »

doctorhandshake wrote: post #343
sailingparrot wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Odds are that shirt had already sailed around the world once or twice by the time you buy it, That's like... 40 grams of CO2 for those 2 trips for a t-shirt. Aka, a 2 min uber ride. Shipping containers are incredibly efficient. Modern large container ships consume about 200-300 tonnes of fuel per day, and could carry 742 millions t-shirts [1]. It takes 16 days to do something like Shanghai - LA, so that ends up bei…

I did make it sound like transport was contributing to the lion’s share of the embodied carbon and I shouldn’t have - it’s more in the production process. Would have been well served by an ‘in addition’ in between those statements.

Fair, didn’t mean to strawman.

Re: Indefinite Backpack Travel

#349

Post by arthurofbabylon »

I'm reminded of the tiny-home movement from the 00's, and how it evolved in our cultural zeitgeist. Early on, practitioners tried to cram as much as possible into the smallest amount of space; you'd see kitchen/dining/living/TV/office combo rooms. Over time it grew obvious that minimalism is less about the amount of space consumed and more about the human interface. For instance, a space that is easy to clean with limited visual noise would score higher on minimalism than those early little multi-use rooms even if 5-10x the size. Now, a minimalist home is all about how the person inhabits it, even if the structure itself is rather large and feature-rich.

The author seems to partially grasp this notion with a clear intent (focus, spontaneity). However, the emphasis on stuff seems notably anti-minimalist. I suspect the objects in the author's life could have an even smaller role than they do. Some 3/4 of that post was dedicated to the objects; what about walking, or attention, or connecting with locals... aren't these the real challenges/opportunities?

Take for example a mentor of mine who would travel to a new continent and craft a new material life: buying a van (old and used) in the tourism off-season, finding a cheap stove, gathering some padding and bedding, etc etc, continuously replacing and evolving his kit, never attached to any object, willing to forget about the whole thing, spending maximum time in nature and connecting with friends. You almost forgot about this guy's material life because his non-material life was so rich: gregarious, generous, present in nature, skilled in his pursuits. The kit was just a tool so that he could be in the places he wanted to be in, and not the other way around. If he were to blog about his lifestyle, he would probably highlight less the object he found and more the fact that he found it because he had his eyes wide open.

That's a lot of words to say that I believe this author could focus on the spirit of minimalism and drop some of its decorations. Minimalism is not black clothing and small backpacks, but rather a clarity of mind and simplicity in approach. I don't mean to be a total drag – I support and encourage this author.

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