This reminds me of the book, The Accidental Tourist by Ann Tyler, also a movie in which William Hurt plays a travel writer who specializes in travel guides for reluctant business travelers. It is to travel writing what Castaway is to survival, not particularly useful but still a lot of fun.
OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light
61–70 of 213 posts
Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light
#62I bought a Goruck GR2 (40L capacity) in 2013 and cumulatively lived out of it for ~4 years. It's been with me up every mountain I've climbed, on 3 continents, on my back as I rode a motorcycle through a snowstorm. I've slept on it, swam with it, skied with it. After nearly 9 years, it's in perfect condition, and one of my most cherished possessions. I'm not one to anthropomorphize... but this one bag is my best frien…
I've had the GR2 34L since it was released (maybe 6-7 years ago) and I've traveled the world with it. I have the same affection for it that you have for yours. I can live out of it indefinitely as long as I'm not in extremely cold climates. Worn in and in perfect shape.
Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light
#63I've been a one bag traveller since approximately forever. One hitch I encountered after getting married: the spouse's family has a tradition of bringing back gifts for everyone from any major trip. I understand that back in the olden days, rare and exotic items (an orange? for me? really?) could only be shared via travel. But those days are gone. There are nearly no other remaining friction points left our otherwise awesome marriage.
Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light
#64Ultralight travel is the best. I was first inspired by this post from 2007: https://tim.blog/2007/07/11/how-to-travel-the-world-with-10-... ... In the 15 years since then I've gone all over the world with just an 25-liter backpack. The biggest benefit I enjoy was the freedom to move from place to place without being tied down to a hostel/hotel/town just because "my stuff is there." Oh and it's a lot easier to sprint…
More airport-related benefits:
- Be able to sprint through an airport to be front of line for border patrol.
- Not have to wait along with 100+ people at the baggage claim and just walk out to grab the first taxi.
- Not have to wait at long and slow lines to check in luggage
- Not having to worry about being first to board a plane and search for an overhead compartment
- Not having to worry about lost luggage from the airline
- Not having to worry about checked luggage if a flight gets delayed or cancelled
- Save money on checked + carry-on baggage fees
- Not tripping people when dragging your luggage behind you
Also once went straight to an NYC airport to the Museum of Natural History and got in with my backpack. Useful to just have a backpack when it's too early to check in to your hotel, or for the time between your check-out and your flight to wander around.
Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
The absurd restrictions on knives really needs to go. A blade is a necessary tool for a lot of people in everyday life. It's time to get over the unfounded fear and face reality like adults. It's especially ridiculous because of how ineffective it is, https://onemileatatime.com/tsa-fails-tests-95-percent/ . This is a worthless waste of resources that only serves to inconvenience regular people and give the masses som…
And it affects more than travel. I'll never put even the smallest knife in a bag I use for airline carryon because I will forget it's there and probably end up losing it.
I've lost two multitools that happen to have small knives on them this way. Very frustrating and embarrassing.
Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
And it affects more than travel. I'll never put even the smallest knife in a bag I use for airline carryon because I will forget it's there and probably end up losing it.
I once lost a very nice wine corkscrew to the TSA that I forgot was in a backpack due the little foil cutter blade. The guy in charge acted all jubilant, like they successfully thwarted a hijacking.
I've _only_ had success with regularly carrying "prong-style" wine openers (especially internationally).
https://www.amazon.com/Belwares-Wine-Opener-Two-Prong-Stainl...
I'd even gone through the trouble of dremel'ing off the foil-cutter blade on a "double-knuckle" corkscrew in order to comply with the "no blades" rule.
I was able to exit the U.S. with it fine, but Mexico security refused it for simply the corkscrew part (and I wasn't willing to argue about it).
I'd just like to reaffirm pretty much every aspect of his experience and recommendations. It's great to see so many overlaps between my favorite travel-gear and his.
Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
> - Equally absurd restrictions on carrying my Swiss Army Knife. You're not wrong, but for possible future reference, multitools are fine as long as they don't have a knife ( * https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/...
The TSA can and does confiscate anything they want. If you happen to get the wrong agent on the wrong day, they may still choose to confiscate a technically compliant multitool.
...additionally, international security screenings can be arbitrary in different ways. A strange one to run in to is high-capacity rechargeable batteries.
Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light
#68I bought a Goruck GR2 (40L capacity) in 2013 and cumulatively lived out of it for ~4 years. It's been with me up every mountain I've climbed, on 3 continents, on my back as I rode a motorcycle through a snowstorm. I've slept on it, swam with it, skied with it. After nearly 9 years, it's in perfect condition, and one of my most cherished possessions. I'm not one to anthropomorphize... but this one bag is my best frien…
I have the 25L I use for everything for almost 5 years now. Still see no signs of wear and I do not treat that thing nicely.
I am wondering for the 40L, can you bring it as carry on item on flights? For the 25L I can and it is usually large enough for me. A bit larger would be nice, but I usually just cut something I will not need anyway.
Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light
#69Ultralight travel is the best. I was first inspired by this post from 2007: https://tim.blog/2007/07/11/how-to-travel-the-world-with-10-... ... In the 15 years since then I've gone all over the world with just an 25-liter backpack. The biggest benefit I enjoy was the freedom to move from place to place without being tied down to a hostel/hotel/town just because "my stuff is there." Oh and it's a lot easier to sprint…
More airport-related benefits: - Be able to sprint through an airport to be front of line for border patrol. - Not have to wait along with 100+ people at the baggage claim and just walk out to grab the first taxi. - Not have to wait at long and slow lines to check in luggage - Not having to worry about being first to board a plane and search for an overhead compartment - Not having to worry about lost luggage from th…
Also you can walk out of the airport to the main road, avoiding the ripoff prices the airport taxis charge.
Also you can hop on the back of a motorbike taxi if you're in a country that has those. Can be a huge time saver since motorbikes don't get caught by traffic as easily.
Re: OneBag: The Art and Science of Travelling Light
#70I fly with my Osprey 40L pack, and it works ~when it fits in the overhead~ if it doesn't I'm Shit out of luck because checking a backpack SUCKS and completely defeats the purpose.