5 ms·

I do a considerable amount of long term travel carrying about half of this, but it all depends on what you're trying to optimize for. My personal design goal is

by splonk 4y ago

I do a considerable amount of long term travel carrying about half of this, but it all depends on what you're trying to optimize for. My personal design goal is that my bag fits under airline seats, so I never have to worry about gate checking a bag and risking lost luggage. The main tradeoff is that I do a lot of laundry in sinks - you really learn the effectiveness of detergent when you see the color of the water coming off some clothes you thought were pretty clean. These days I'm a bit lazier and try to end up somewhere with a washing machine every week or two to break up the hand washing chore. I've done the towel wringing trick but it's not all that necessary with my clothes unless I'm in a damp environment and am short on time. The two things that I mostly agree with - eSIM is a massive improvement (I also use Airalo), and I've also tried to standardize on USB-C (except for my headphones, where I haven't found a good replacement). /r/onebag does have some good product recommendations but is somewhat skewed to young backpackers. I would encourage everyone to ignore anyone telling them they're "doing it wrong" when traveling. You know yourself, make your own decisions. Personally, making an effort to meet digital nomads all around the world sounds like hell on earth to me. Also, it's wasted effort. Trust me, they'll find you and tell you all about themselves.

hyperhopper 4y ago
> except for my headphones, where I haven't found a good replacement What issue have you found here? On a weekly basis I use IEMs (Sennheiser IE80) which don't need external power, and Jabra elite active series earbuds which are usb-c. Most options I'm aware of are one of these two categories.
- splonk 4y ago
  My headphone quality requirements are slim to nonexistent since I mostly only use them on planes and trains to listen to music and block out noise, but my form factor requirements are pretty strict. I currently use Anker Soundbud Slims. I like the wired necklace and the magnets on the earpieces that allow the necklace to be sort of completed, although they're very weak. I pull out one earbud pretty often when I need to hear something, so the necklace lets me just drop it instead of having to faff about with storage. I guarantee I would lose individual detached earbuds pretty quickly. I don't use them for videoconferences, so I don't need a microphone. When I did my USB-C unification the closest equivalents tended to have solid plastic necklaces for more structure and mic mounts (looks like one of your recs has this?), but I store my headphones crumpled up in a tiny pocket. This was a year or two ago so maybe there are better options now, but at the moment my headphones just have a permanent adapter attached to them.
  - evil-olive 4y ago
    my current go-to headphones [0] are also from Anker, have USB-C charging, and I think they meet your form factor requirements 0: https://amazon.com/gp/product/B08HRN4M3H/ https://amazon.com/gp/product/B08HRN4M3H/
EwanG 4y ago
Curious what kind of detergent you have found to be most effective for doing laundry in sinks? I'm aware of Woolite, but presume that's not what you're talking about?
- itbeho 4y ago
  I once had a waiter drop a dish of spaghetti and meatballs in my lap. I was on the road without an appropriate change of clothes. A fellow minimalist traveler gave me his Dawn dish soap and it worked so well that that's all I use now when traveling.
  - _alex_ 4y ago
    do you pack a little bottle of dawn in your bag? Do you use it as a general detergent, or do you use it to spot-clean stains? I love this idea, just curious about the logistics.
    - itbeho 4y ago
      I keep it in a 4oz generic plastic bottle and I use it as a general detergent. A little goes a long way, it's really effective for general cleaning. If used for a stain, I just pour directly on as needed.
      - dylan604 4y ago
        4oz? You must go through the lax TSA lines
        itbeho 4y ago
        I just checked and it's actually marked "3.4oz" :)
        samarthr1 4y ago
        Shrinkflation ftw?
closewith 4y ago
> /r/onebag does have some good product recommendations but is somewhat skewed to young backpackers. /r/onebag is skewed towards solving all your problems by buying something, and seems astroturfed to within an inch of its life.
- jms703 4y ago
  Can someone explain this expression to me? "astroturfed to within an inch of its life"
  - kens 4y ago
    The expression "astroturfed to within an inch of its life" means that most of the reviews are fake recommendations for marketing reasons. Specifically, it's a mixed metaphor, which makes it harder to understand. "Astroturfed" describes a marketing campaign that is disguised as genuine opinions, in the way that AstroTurf is an artificial lawn that is supposed to look real. "Within an inch of his life" is an old expression typically used to describe a thrashing or beating and means "almost to the point of death", but is used metaphorically here to mean "extremely".
    - stinkytaco 4y ago
      For readers not at all familiar with American idioms, "astroturfed" is a response to "grassroots". A "grassroots" movement in American slang is one that is bottom up and not driven by advertising, corporations or political parties. Astroturfing gives the appearance of being grassroots when it is not.
      - kevinmgranger 4y ago
        Lived all my life in America and never made that connection. Whaddya know!
      - kens 4y ago
        I should have known that :-) I was curious, so I looked into this a bit more. Monsanto advertised Astroturf in 1971 with the slogan "The new grass-roots movement. It's away from grass, to Astroturf." In the 1980s, grass-roots vs Astroturf started to be used as a political metaphor by people such as Bob Dole and Lloyd Bentsen, and then became a popular media expression in the 1990s. So ironically, the metaphorical use of "astroturf" was originally driven by advertising.
jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
Yeah, I came to the same conclusion as far as optimizing for two carry on bags. My setup is really simple but works for me for months at a time. I have a tri fold clothing bag (an old Patagonia burrito, which they sadly don't make anymore) that's for clothes, grooming/hygine, etc, and then a messenger bag that's for laptop, kindle, headphones, emergency rain gear, medications, other similar things. It may not work for everyone, but I found paring down to essentials was very worth it. I never have to worry about checked bags going wrong. I can wear both bags comfortably while walking for a couple hours, so if I'm moving locations or can't check into my accommodations yet it's no big deal. One thing I like about this setup is I don't look like I'm hostel hiking. I just look like someone in business casual with an extra overnight bag. It's not fair or just, but sometimes this makes the difference about getting hassled hanging out somewhere with wifi for a couple hours. The tri fold is roomy enough to pack a suit and plenty of casual clothing. I just hang it up when I get to my room. Unless I'm wearing or using it, items go back to their place in the bag. I never have to unpack, pack, or worry about leaving something behind. A few simple tricks can make a big difference, but they're probably pretty personal. I pack a lot of extra socks, undershirts, and underwear, all made of thin wool. This helps me stay fresh if I'm a bit long between laundry services. In my electronics bag I carry a short extension cord, some USB plugs and charging cables, etc. That'll make you the hero in every cafe you go to. In any case, my big takeaway was that I just don't actually need much stuff to be content for months at a time.
- stinkytaco 4y ago
  > In my electronics bag I carry a short extension cord, some USB plugs and charging cables, etc. That'll make you the hero in every cafe you go to. A small power strip might have been my best travel investment. Good way to meet people if nothing else.
  - brewdad 4y ago
    I added one of these to my kit. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Grounded-Triple-Cube-Outlet-Adapter-White-R54-00692-00W/100356925 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Grounded-Triple-Cube-Out... It takes up almost no space, is light, and saves the day at airports.

by splonk 4y ago

hyperhopper 4y ago

> except for my headphones, where I haven't found a good replacement What issue have you found here? On a weekly basis I use IEMs (Sennheiser IE80) which don't need external power, and Jabra elite active series earbuds which are usb-c. Most options I'm aware of are one of these two categories.

splonk 4y ago
My headphone quality requirements are slim to nonexistent since I mostly only use them on planes and trains to listen to music and block out noise, but my form factor requirements are pretty strict. I currently use Anker Soundbud Slims. I like the wired necklace and the magnets on the earpieces that allow the necklace to be sort of completed, although they're very weak. I pull out one earbud pretty often when I need to hear something, so the necklace lets me just drop it instead of having to faff about with storage. I guarantee I would lose individual detached earbuds pretty quickly. I don't use them for videoconferences, so I don't need a microphone. When I did my USB-C unification the closest equivalents tended to have solid plastic necklaces for more structure and mic mounts (looks like one of your recs has this?), but I store my headphones crumpled up in a tiny pocket. This was a year or two ago so maybe there are better options now, but at the moment my headphones just have a permanent adapter attached to them.
- evil-olive 4y ago
  my current go-to headphones [0] are also from Anker, have USB-C charging, and I think they meet your form factor requirements 0: https://amazon.com/gp/product/B08HRN4M3H/ https://amazon.com/gp/product/B08HRN4M3H/

EwanG 4y ago

Curious what kind of detergent you have found to be most effective for doing laundry in sinks? I'm aware of Woolite, but presume that's not what you're talking about?

itbeho 4y ago
I once had a waiter drop a dish of spaghetti and meatballs in my lap. I was on the road without an appropriate change of clothes. A fellow minimalist traveler gave me his Dawn dish soap and it worked so well that that's all I use now when traveling.
- _alex_ 4y ago
  do you pack a little bottle of dawn in your bag? Do you use it as a general detergent, or do you use it to spot-clean stains? I love this idea, just curious about the logistics.
  - itbeho 4y ago
    I keep it in a 4oz generic plastic bottle and I use it as a general detergent. A little goes a long way, it's really effective for general cleaning. If used for a stain, I just pour directly on as needed.
    - dylan604 4y ago
      4oz? You must go through the lax TSA lines
      - itbeho 4y ago
        I just checked and it's actually marked "3.4oz" :)
        samarthr1 4y ago
        Shrinkflation ftw?

closewith 4y ago

> /r/onebag does have some good product recommendations but is somewhat skewed to young backpackers. /r/onebag is skewed towards solving all your problems by buying something, and seems astroturfed to within an inch of its life.

jms703 4y ago
Can someone explain this expression to me? "astroturfed to within an inch of its life"
- kens 4y ago
  The expression "astroturfed to within an inch of its life" means that most of the reviews are fake recommendations for marketing reasons. Specifically, it's a mixed metaphor, which makes it harder to understand. "Astroturfed" describes a marketing campaign that is disguised as genuine opinions, in the way that AstroTurf is an artificial lawn that is supposed to look real. "Within an inch of his life" is an old expression typically used to describe a thrashing or beating and means "almost to the point of death", but is used metaphorically here to mean "extremely".
  - stinkytaco 4y ago
    For readers not at all familiar with American idioms, "astroturfed" is a response to "grassroots". A "grassroots" movement in American slang is one that is bottom up and not driven by advertising, corporations or political parties. Astroturfing gives the appearance of being grassroots when it is not.
    - kevinmgranger 4y ago
      Lived all my life in America and never made that connection. Whaddya know!
    - kens 4y ago
      I should have known that :-) I was curious, so I looked into this a bit more. Monsanto advertised Astroturf in 1971 with the slogan "The new grass-roots movement. It's away from grass, to Astroturf." In the 1980s, grass-roots vs Astroturf started to be used as a political metaphor by people such as Bob Dole and Lloyd Bentsen, and then became a popular media expression in the 1990s. So ironically, the metaphorical use of "astroturf" was originally driven by advertising.

jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago

Yeah, I came to the same conclusion as far as optimizing for two carry on bags. My setup is really simple but works for me for months at a time. I have a tri fold clothing bag (an old Patagonia burrito, which they sadly don't make anymore) that's for clothes, grooming/hygine, etc, and then a messenger bag that's for laptop, kindle, headphones, emergency rain gear, medications, other similar things. It may not work for everyone, but I found paring down to essentials was very worth it. I never have to worry about checked bags going wrong. I can wear both bags comfortably while walking for a couple hours, so if I'm moving locations or can't check into my accommodations yet it's no big deal. One thing I like about this setup is I don't look like I'm hostel hiking. I just look like someone in business casual with an extra overnight bag. It's not fair or just, but sometimes this makes the difference about getting hassled hanging out somewhere with wifi for a couple hours. The tri fold is roomy enough to pack a suit and plenty of casual clothing. I just hang it up when I get to my room. Unless I'm wearing or using it, items go back to their place in the bag. I never have to unpack, pack, or worry about leaving something behind. A few simple tricks can make a big difference, but they're probably pretty personal. I pack a lot of extra socks, undershirts, and underwear, all made of thin wool. This helps me stay fresh if I'm a bit long between laundry services. In my electronics bag I carry a short extension cord, some USB plugs and charging cables, etc. That'll make you the hero in every cafe you go to. In any case, my big takeaway was that I just don't actually need much stuff to be content for months at a time.

stinkytaco 4y ago
> In my electronics bag I carry a short extension cord, some USB plugs and charging cables, etc. That'll make you the hero in every cafe you go to. A small power strip might have been my best travel investment. Good way to meet people if nothing else.
- brewdad 4y ago
  I added one of these to my kit. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Grounded-Triple-Cube-Outlet-Adapter-White-R54-00692-00W/100356925 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Grounded-Triple-Cube-Out... It takes up almost no space, is light, and saves the day at airports.