Trailspotting's Minimal Onebag
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Traveling as light as possible helps us travel around the US and the world with the least amount of friction.
Our minimalst travel bag, swamped by an airline bag sizer.
Most airlines regard our small bags as personal items, which not only means we can pay the cheapest airfares, but also confers several other benefits. Our bags are never out of sight, and we never have to check a bag or wait at a baggage carousel. We don't have to worry about overhead bin space or gate checks.
Personal item bags must be stowed under the seat in front for takeoff, but once in the air, we can put them behind our legs and stretch out. For red-eye flights, we've also figured out how to use the bag as a pillow. With the bag on the tray-table, a cheap inflated water-wing in the top of the bag, and a folded sweater on top, we can get a few hours of medium-quality sleep.
Below is a list of the our minimalist travel bag and contents, weighing less than 10lbs (4.5kgs), and based on a travel itinerary that utilizes both hotel accommodation and car rental reservation. This approach to travel might not work for you, but we're documenting it here for those who may benefit.
Bag
• Eddie Bauer Stowaway 20 liter
• Cipway 14x10" compression cube (stores all items in the 'Clothes' seciton)
Clothes
• Prana Stretch Zion Pants x2 (not Zion II)
• Shirts x2, Tshirt, Socks x3, Underwear x3
• OR Radar Pocket Cap
General
• Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Floss
• Deodorant
• Benadryl (infrequent-use sleep aid)
• Backup Credit Card (kept at car/accommodation)
• Small bills (hotel housekeeping tips)
• Account recovery codes x2 [1] (encrypted, on paper. Carry one, keep one in car/hotel)
• Gatorade 20z bottle
• Granola bars (for airplane flight)
• Inflatable water-wing (airplane cushion)
Electronics
• Apple Airpods Pro [USB-C]
• Car socket charger [USB-C]
• Goplum car MagSafe charger [USB-C]
• Battery bank [USB-C]
• Battery bank magsafe [USB-C]
• USB-C wall charger
• USB-C cables x2
Hiking
• Pill tube (ibruprofen, acetaminophen x4, imodiumx2)
• Leukotape P (blister tape, coiled around the pill tube)
• Lanyard and clip (saves my phone from drops)
• Saltstick Fastchews (when heat exaustion a risk)
• Xero HFS minimal shoes (backup footwear, or water shoes)
• Toneof Tripod [2] (collapsing phone tripod)
• Nitecore NU20 headlamp [USB-C]
• Garmin watch adapter [USB-C]
• UV Chapstick
In addition to this list, when we're traveling for an extended period of time we may also add a small Windows laptop (a 10" Lenovo Ideapad Duet) with a tiny Anker GaN USB-C 45W charger.
We occasionally wash clothes in a hotel sink, which helps us minimize our bag size. Since we wear almost no cotton, clothing can be hand-washed in a sink with some soap, shower gel or (TSA-proof) detergent sheets. After rinsing and hand-wringing clothes, we then hand-wring again inside a dry cotton towel. This last trick will transfer most remaining moisture into the towel, and in almost all cases your clean clothes will dry overnight or sooner - especially with a fan present. We also turn our collapsing phone tripod upside down and use the splayed legs as a clothes drying stand.
Everyone has different needs, and no one-bag looks the same. Some folks like to buy specialized backpacks and fill them with long-lasting merino wool clothing and advanced electronics, but one-bagging needn't be expensive if you work with items you already own and trust. If you'd like to go down a rabbit-hole of one-bagging resources, then we recommend the r/onebag subreddit.
Further notes:
[1] Account recovery codes are in case a smartphone is lost and we need to re-activate important accounts and password keepers (that are two-factor-authorization protected) on a replacement device. We carry one on our person, and keep another at the car/accommodation.
[2] For photos on solo hikes, our Toneof 67" cellphone selfie-stick tripod takes 5 seconds to erect or strip down. We use a Spider hammer holster to clip it to a belt.
Tangents:
• About: Trailspotting
• Equipment: Hiking & Photography Gear
• Facebook Group: Comment, Follow Us
Waiting for a taxi to Athens airport | Onebag hiking to Cuyamaca Peak
Traveling as light as possible helps us travel around the US and the world with the least amount of friction.
Our minimalst travel bag, swamped by an airline bag sizer.
Most airlines regard our small bags as personal items, which not only means we can pay the cheapest airfares, but also confers several other benefits. Our bags are never out of sight, and we never have to check a bag or wait at a baggage carousel. We don't have to worry about overhead bin space or gate checks.
Personal item bags must be stowed under the seat in front for takeoff, but once in the air, we can put them behind our legs and stretch out. For red-eye flights, we've also figured out how to use the bag as a pillow. With the bag on the tray-table, a cheap inflated water-wing in the top of the bag, and a folded sweater on top, we can get a few hours of medium-quality sleep.
Below is a list of the our minimalist travel bag and contents, weighing less than 10lbs (4.5kgs), and based on a travel itinerary that utilizes both hotel accommodation and car rental reservation. This approach to travel might not work for you, but we're documenting it here for those who may benefit.
Bag
• Eddie Bauer Stowaway 20 liter
• Cipway 14x10" compression cube (stores all items in the 'Clothes' seciton)
Clothes
• Prana Stretch Zion Pants x2 (not Zion II)
• Shirts x2, Tshirt, Socks x3, Underwear x3
• OR Radar Pocket Cap
General
• Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Floss
• Deodorant
• Benadryl (infrequent-use sleep aid)
• Backup Credit Card (kept at car/accommodation)
• Small bills (hotel housekeeping tips)
• Account recovery codes x2 [1] (encrypted, on paper. Carry one, keep one in car/hotel)
• Gatorade 20z bottle
• Granola bars (for airplane flight)
• Inflatable water-wing (airplane cushion)
Electronics
• Apple Airpods Pro [USB-C]
• Car socket charger [USB-C]
• Goplum car MagSafe charger [USB-C]
• Battery bank [USB-C]
• Battery bank magsafe [USB-C]
• USB-C wall charger
• USB-C cables x2
Hiking
• Pill tube (ibruprofen, acetaminophen x4, imodiumx2)
• Leukotape P (blister tape, coiled around the pill tube)
• Lanyard and clip (saves my phone from drops)
• Saltstick Fastchews (when heat exaustion a risk)
• Xero HFS minimal shoes (backup footwear, or water shoes)
• Toneof Tripod [2] (collapsing phone tripod)
• Nitecore NU20 headlamp [USB-C]
• Garmin watch adapter [USB-C]
• UV Chapstick
In addition to this list, when we're traveling for an extended period of time we may also add a small Windows laptop (a 10" Lenovo Ideapad Duet) with a tiny Anker GaN USB-C 45W charger.
We occasionally wash clothes in a hotel sink, which helps us minimize our bag size. Since we wear almost no cotton, clothing can be hand-washed in a sink with some soap, shower gel or (TSA-proof) detergent sheets. After rinsing and hand-wringing clothes, we then hand-wring again inside a dry cotton towel. This last trick will transfer most remaining moisture into the towel, and in almost all cases your clean clothes will dry overnight or sooner - especially with a fan present. We also turn our collapsing phone tripod upside down and use the splayed legs as a clothes drying stand.
Everyone has different needs, and no one-bag looks the same. Some folks like to buy specialized backpacks and fill them with long-lasting merino wool clothing and advanced electronics, but one-bagging needn't be expensive if you work with items you already own and trust. If you'd like to go down a rabbit-hole of one-bagging resources, then we recommend the r/onebag subreddit.
Further notes:
[1] Account recovery codes are in case a smartphone is lost and we need to re-activate important accounts and password keepers (that are two-factor-authorization protected) on a replacement device. We carry one on our person, and keep another at the car/accommodation.
[2] For photos on solo hikes, our Toneof 67" cellphone selfie-stick tripod takes 5 seconds to erect or strip down. We use a Spider hammer holster to clip it to a belt.
Tangents:
• About: Trailspotting
• Equipment: Hiking & Photography Gear
• Facebook Group: Comment, Follow Us
Waiting for a taxi to Athens airport | Onebag hiking to Cuyamaca Peak
