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2020-04-10 19:41:05 +00:00
---
title: "Getting Started with Traveling Ultralight"
date: 2020-03-18T12:13:35+05:30
description: "Start by getting a small backpack (less than 20 liters) and then just travel with what fits in that."
---
Im on a trip at the moment, and a friend who generously let me sleep on his couch looked at my small travel backpack and commented on how little I travel with: “Thats impressive,” he said.
I was a little surprised, because though Ive gotten that comment before, its become normal for me to travel with just a small bag (10 lbs. or less, usually), and I have friends who travel with even less. But then I remembered that Im far from normal in this way.
I gave him a tip for getting started, and I recommend it for all of you, who want to travel light — or ultralight, as I call it, because for many people traveling light is taking a carry-on roller luggage. For me, having those roller bags is lugging too much, because you can run up stairs with it with ease, or carry it all over a city without worrying about stowing away your luggage somewhere first. Its so much easier to travel ultralight.
Heres the tip I gave him to get started: start by getting a small backpack (less than 20 liters) and then just travel with what fits in that.
Thats how to start. But youll probably want some guidance on what to put into the bag, and how to travel with so little. Heres some guidance to get started:
* I travel with a lightweight laptop (Macbook Air), a few clothes, my phone, earbuds and some charging cords, toiletries, and almost nothing else. A lightweight windbreaker for wind and light rain (Patagonia Houdini). An eye mask and ear plugs. A collapsible water bottle. My passport. Thats about it. No extra shoes. No books. No suit. No travel pillow. No extra camera other than my phone. Im not sure what else everyone else brings, but none of that.
* I bring clothes that I can wash in the sink or shower and that will dry overnight. Lightweight stuff that I can layer. Often theyre workout-style clothes or things from companies like Outlier or Patagonia that travel well. I dont bring enough underwear or socks for every day of the trip, because I wash them every couple of days. I only bring one or two extra T-shirts, generally wearing the same two shirts the whole trip, even if its a month long. No one has ever once cared what I wear when Im traveling.
* I bring minimal toiletries: a small shaver for my head, razor, toothbrush, floss small tubes of toothpaste and shaving cream, deodorant, nail clippers, ibuprofen.
* For cold places, I have thermal underwear and a couple long-sleeve layers (generally all Patagonia capilene stuff), and a beanie. I dont usually go to places where its snowing (I dont know why, maybe snow isnt my thing), so I dont have clothes to deal with that weather.
* For warm places, I will bring flip flops and swim trunks, and leave most of the colder layers behind.
Thats enough for a monthlong trip, which Ive done multiple times with this kind of setup. For a shorter trip of a few days, I might bring even less.
I really love traveling this way, and am more than willing to sacrifice bringing extra things for the luxury of traveling lightweight.
By the way, you dont need much more than this kind of setup even in everyday life.
For more info on this, check out my Ultralight ebook, and my friend Tynan has a great book called Forever Nomad.