My lightweight travel guide 2022-06-21 — https://remilia.org/blog/archive/my-lightweight-travel-guide Vitalik Buterin did a very funny thing today (https://vitalik.ca/general/2022/06/20/backpack.html), publishing a r/onebag (https://www.reddit.com/r/onebag/wiki/index) informed post on his optimized packing routine at the beginning of the great bear supercycle, breaking a 5 year long streak of Vitalik Buterin did a very funny thing today, publishing a r/onebag informed post on his optimized packing routine at the beginning of the great bear supercycle, breaking a 5 year long streak of on-topic blogposts in a Richard Stallman-esque display of autistic hobbyism. However, more surprising to me is the paucity of his recommendations or insight. Stallman goes down some funny diatribes but each one is illuminated by the light of his unique mind, a little manifesto expressing a lifelong commitment to discovering his personal truth. Yet Vitalik only regurgitated the subreddit sidebar, not even achieving great conclusions on his optimization, let alone offering any deeply novel insights in contribution to the One Bag discourse or the greater Vitalik pantheon of expressed autism. I can’t stand that.I thought it’d be an amusing exercise to provide my own take on the same subject as someone who has spent a non-significant time in the nomadic status of an expatriate and enjoy my own considerable share of idiosyncratic autistic opinionation; though I’ll immediately deviate from the One Bag stricture with the addition of a carry-on, which is perfectly reasonable for any lightweight travel that doesn’t entail trails or nightly migration, and as you will see, a quick compromise on the singular focus on space-saving in pursuit of aesthetics and health.ClothingI’m autistic about clothes and hate thinking about them, so I’ve refined my wardrobe down to a deep efficiency that happens to lend itself to travel; to the point that I keep copies of my closet in my bug-out bag. The only difference from this description to my IRL homebase is I own about 3X of everything listed as I have my laundry done every week rather than every 3 days.Basics 5 pairs socks 5 pairs underwear 5 undershirts 2 wool/silk thermals * Swimsuit An aside on syntheticsAll your clothes making contact with your skin (e.g. basics) should be 100% organic cotton, natural wool or silk; synthetic materials are toxic. Vitalik entirely misses this point with his preference for Uniqlo. Muji is reliable for organic cotton basics. L.L. Bean makes good silk thermals.Clothes 2 full suits (linen, if hot weather) 5 shirts 2 knits 1 overcoat 1 light down vest 1 wool scarf An aside on suitsSuits are the original “minimalist fashion”, they’re comfortable and versatile and once you find suits you like, you never need to think about them again. They’re also complete outfits, designed to easily transition between a wide range of both weather and social context; you can layer both under and over them. To compare, Vitalik’s breakdown of layering on the left, and the same layering options with suit on the right:virgin vs chadSuits are also surprisingly comfortable, both in fit and function (the pockets are perfectly evolved after nearly 2 centuries as the universal cultural standard of the west); and look good with little thought to outfit styling. This is where light traveling autists fail, besides rubbing synthetic plastic directly into their bloodstream, they look like nerds in every context, when you could instead be living like you’re in a takeshi kitano movie.takeshi is committed to yy pour hommeIt’s also a fact you receive better service in airports in a suit. Suits are the ultimate choice for autists, going for pajamas and hoodies is the negative-optimization autism equivalent to settling for microwave pizza rolls instead of bodybuilder-grade power diets. Optimization that singularly focuses on saving time or space without concern for long-term efficiency (in good health, social capital, etc.) is high time-preference.LaundryThe secret sauce of onebag “light travel” is just getting your laundry done; this is the magic that allows them to extend 3 days worth of clothes into infinity. You can just pay a hotel to this for you, but if you’re low budget, it’s easy:Clothesline (e.g. Paracord or Bungee clothesline) 2. Drybag, 5-10L (e.g. Sea to Summit Dry Sack) 3. Soap (you can use hotel hand soap, but I pack Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap in travel size for various uses) Steps: Dump the clothes in the drybag with the soap and water, shake it, let it sit, rinse twice, hang to dry.PerfumeNo one talks about travel perfumes. You can get 0.7ml sample testers for basically any perfume possible at luckyscent.com; and a lot of options for larger travel size sprays that you won’t find in stores. You can also hit any duty-free for the Hermes or Margiela sample packs in a pinch, they’re decent.Packing MethodologyThe other big secret of light travel is packing cubes and folding methods. Packing cubes are simple, Muji’s are the best (they also make reliable suitcases and toiletry bags), but anything on Amazon works. You just need separate small cubes for organizing your separate basics and large ones for your tops and bottoms; I also use a folder for my shirts and suits.Then simply do Marie Kondo style rolling, it saves space, prevents wrinkling and makes it easy to pull out what you need.SustenanceTravel bloggers seem to have a complete blind spot for eating well when traveling. No one talks about hotel cooking. Big Travel doesn’t want you to know can employ camping cooking techniques in any hotel room. Really.Supplies Butane stove lighter (Snow Peak LiteMax Titanium Stove) Camp pan / pot (Snow Peak Trek 900) Mini blender (e.g. nutribullet GO) Coffee implement (e.g. Aeropress or a collapsable pour-over) This is the SecretThis is the Secret: Part 2Snow Peak is a high quality standard, the titanium is very durable and lightweight, and everything folds to a compact size. The lid on the pot doubles as a frying pan. You can’t fly with the butane canisters, but you can get them at any hardware store or camping store and most gas stations once you land; and it fits in the Snow Peak pot.This is everything you need to cook complete meals in a pot or pan, and with a little blender, you can prepare your power smoothies.GroceriesYour mileage may vary, but shopping list consists of the following,For snacking raw: Yogurt Ice cream Carrots Hard cheeses Olives Fresh squeezed orange juice For blending into a power smoothie (along with pine pollen and cocao powder): Whole milk Frozen wild berries Banana Eggs For pan frying: Grass-fed butter Salt, pepper & cayenne Steak, fish or lambchops Mushrooms * Tomatoes If I’m not on keto, I’ll also usually have tamago gohan (4 raw eggs in a bowl of fresh rice + soy sauce, furikake & cayenne) for breakfast carbs.An aside on eating outIt’s difficult to not get fed poison eating out in most places anymore, except with raw foods, which anyway are the most nutritious, so I try to stick the oyster bars and sushi places, and also steakhouses. I usually find one good place and go there repeatedly, this is the way of the old world. Hopefully they can make a good martini too. Or also, I don’t really care, the point of being healthy at home is so your body can take it when you go out. I’m more concerned about receiving good service than good food, tbh.MiscellaneousVitalik spends his time recommending various travel adapters, charging banks, data plans, electric toothbrushes, etc. You can google all that.My recommendations: Get Clear, TSA Pre-check and Global Entry. It’s 100% worth the effort, you can cut through the lines entirely. American Express is awesome. The concierge service is actually very useful for getting restaurants and the customer service when things go wrong is great. Hired drivers are much more convenient than calling cabs, especially rideshare cabs. Taxis will often give you their business card and strike a deal with you for repeat business; or consider Uber hourly. It’s often better just paying the guy to wait for you then dealing with calling new Ubers. A bladeless multitool (e.g. Gerber Dime) * Use Flightfox or Flystein as a travel agent for double-checking complex itineraries; if they don’t beat the price on your ticket within your conditions, there’s no charge. On Actual One Bag autismThe answer is nothing bigger than 30L bag: 3 of each basic (1 to wear, 1 to wash, 1 for backup) 1 wool thermal sets Hiking pants Hiking boots Foldable down jacket 10L drybag Clothesline Toiletries: Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap, toothbrush, portable electric razor * Multiport travel adapter There, saved you 8 hours of gear rabbithole.