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.
And that's why on our last trip we had 9 pounds of dog food for our service dog, in cold packs, in our carry-on. "But what if there's a problem with the flight, and we lose our luggage, and we can't get to a pet food store for the whole two weeks?"
Spoiler: The cold packs didn't last, the food spoiled, and we had to go to a pet store.
Yep. That's why I tend to overpack, though I've been mostly traveling with a single backpack these days if I'm traveling solo.
I'm trying to convince myself that I can afford to buy many things when I arrive somewhere, including paying for laundry. The biggest annoyance is time - if I have to do laundry on a trip, that means either sitting next to a washer and dryer for a few hours, or findind a wash-and-fold laundromat - which comes with its own set of anxieties.
I took a checked bag on my last < 1 week work trip and didn't use 2/3 of what I brought but I'd bring the exact same bag if I had to because you never know what might come up.
(Said as a parent)
I find the benefits of lightweight backpacking type optimization overblown for my travel style. Maybe it’s important if you’re speed running 20 destinations in a single trip or are incredibly unlucky with checked bags getting lost, but especially with kids now I just don’t really see much benefit.
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.
Only takes 15 minutes now and not a single braincell or any willpower need to be involved. And who doesn't love checking items off a list.
Simply having two pairs because say, gym + anything else disproportionately adds large overhead.
I usually get away with one pair. But its not always possible.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What I mean is that even for 0C, I'd take a heavy padded jacket which would fill 1/2 to 2/3 of the backpack by itself.
I wouldn't be letting it "a bit chilly" with mere layers in -20oC.
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.
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.
Also small rolling luggage is fine if you’ve got status with the airline. If you board in group 2 you will never be forced to gate check your bag. Just make sure it fits in the smaller RJ overheads and you’re good to go.
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.
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.
I was hiking through the Malaysian jungle (Tanah Rata, jungle trail maybe 9/9A) in flip-flops (pretty standard in SEA also for hiking in mountains) and one of my flipflop broke, guess how helpful would be knowing I have spare shoes in my accommodation? Tried to fix it will some local plants - didn't work, so had to finish hike slowly until reaching at least unpaved road (ofc it broke in the most overgrown part, maybe made wrong turn), later paved road where I could walk barefoot and hitchhike back to town where I stayed to buy new flipflops (btw. my long-term advice, don't ever buy flipflops for outdoors, they always break (at the worst moment), slides (slippers, whatever you call them) are much more reliable).
Me I wouldn't, I have a small and lightweight rain cover that fits allmost everywhere.
"I was hiking through the Malaysian jungle (Tanah Rata, jungle trail maybe 9/9A) in flip-flops"
And I love to travle light and being barefeet, but I really would not recommend hiking in Flip Flops. I like protecting my feet from leeches and more importantly snakes, scorpions, spiders, thorny bushes and small holes where you can hurt your angles.
depends where you are and where you go, no such thing in cameron highlands trails, it is quite high and cold, I've met with leeches only in Thai jungle (while on trail), same with scorpions only on some small Thai island unpaved road, most of the time I try to follow some trails if I won't get lost, there are various kinds of jungle, the most dangerous thing I've met on some trail was probably some pretty big monitor lizard
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.
Depends on climate, but if they dry in 2 days, you barely need anything
A seminal film for me was Up in the Air with George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick. George Clooney plays a nomadic executive who doesn't ever stay home. He visually demonstrates how he packs and how he never uses carry-ons. I took that advice, and I was flying Southwest Airlines.
I routinely went back-and-forth on 90-minute flights; having no checked baggage was a good strategy for streamlining, and cost-saving. Visiting my parents, I could keep clothes and stuff at their place, and there it was waiting for me when I arrived. Don't forget to bring an empty bag for souvenirs! Don't forget the shoes you'll need!
I've built a collection of luggage, and recently used it all, when I went on "Staycation". It was weird, because I only planned for a one-night stay, and I could literally go across town and pick up anything I wanted from home, and I only brought 1.5 changes of clothes. But I filled up about four bags. I packed under time pressure, but I hadn't forgotten anything; in the end, I did not go home to pick anything up, yet I stayed for three days and two nights.
It was revealing to see how much our agonizing "should I take this or not" decisions just did not matter, because we didn't have them anyway. Receiving our bags after the week was somewhat overwhelming - look at all this stuff!
In the future, we will bring less (but maybe not quite "travel with a passport and a credit card"), but we will make sure that our bags-that-stay-with-us contain at least needed medications and next-day necessities.
And if given a choice, we'd all much rather we make it to the destination without our bags than the other way around!
The basic simple rule usually is - the packing for 3 months or even whole year is no different from packing for 1 week, if there is stable climate. How often do you need things you won't use within 1-2 weeks? Pretty much never, if it's not something you use all the time within one week then it's most likely not needed.
The lighter your baggage is the more mobile you are, you can go easier further to have more accommodation options, more transportation options, good luck carring your suitcase on unpaved road, mountain, forest or just broken sidewalks or high curbs every 10 meters.
Now I travel with my family each summer for beach vacation in Europe, we still pack each person only one small backpack - after all what you need for hot weather in Europe for ~10 days? Bunch of t-shirts (let's say 1 per 2-3 days of vacation, you can rotate them), shorts/dress (if girl), underwear, swimsuit, sandals, flipflops (wear sneakers into plane, they take the most space) and just in case of bad weather light jacket and one long pants, kids are even able to put there plush toy, book, some drawing tools. This summer we just bought sun umbrella for like 8EUR which paid itself in one day compared to renting sun umbrella/berth, though we were unsucessful in selling it, so it was not for free, but we didn't need to lug it with large suitcase as some people. When the kids were small (unable to carry their own backpacks) I could pack all 3 of us into one 50L backpack with wife having her own 24L backpack.
I don't really understand travelling for summer vacation with large suitcase, what are people packing there, are the moving or what? I am always astounded when kids are going to school trip for FOUR nights, they leave Monday morning and Friday noon they are back, yet parents pack these kids large more than 50cm tall suitcases full of things, my kids with one 24L rolltop backpack (rolled down) and smaller (half empty) 15-20L daypack are always kids with smallest baggage, yet they are not missing anything, now I started to pack even towel and 50ml shampoo/shower gel since they have some crappy accommodations not providing it.
There are record 35-40C temperatures in Europe this summer, yet now when they went to camp for one week I saw again all the kids with large suitcases for hot weather, what the heck are ALL these parents packing. Out of 60 kids there was literally ONE other kid which had like 50-60L large backpack, everyone else medium/big suitcases and their accommodation provides shelves to store your things, so they don't need to live out of suitcase which is the only benefit of suitcase over backpack (though there are duffel bags you can wear as backpack).