013: Why You Should Travel Light and How to Do It
Avoid arguing at the check-in counter
Inspiration ✨
This post is inspired by a blog post that I found from Jeremy Maluf, an experienced one bag traveler, detailing how/what he packs light for “indefinite” travel.
I am not as extreme as Jeremy when it comes to minimal travel, but I’d like to say I have already taken some of his packing advice, especially when it comes to lightweight items. After having my Aer Travel Pack 2 checked twice in the past year, it’s time to take the proper approach to staying within the personal item restrictions set by airlines.
This will now be my 8th trip since my first time one-bagging in 2022 and what I have learned during that time frame has heavily influenced my packing decisions for this trip.
At first weight wasn’t that much of a concern. My thought process was, “well, as long as I can fit everything that I am taking with me in my backpack, then I will be allowed to bring it on the plane.” That did work for a while and I had no issues bringing my 20ish pound backpack with me as a carry-on and even personal item sometimes on smaller trips within Europe. However, a couple things changed over the years that made me ditch the idea of “bring as much as can fit”.
Weight 🏋️
The first major inconvenience was just how heavy the bag was. I didn’t always weigh it before I traveled, but I did once, and my Aer Travel Pack 2 came out to an astonishing 21 pounds when it was fully loaded! When I put the bag on at home, the weight of the bag didn’t really bother me. It was only when I started lugging it around on my back in transit that it started to wear on me physically, especially on those long days when you can’t seem to escape the endless airports, train stations, and buses just to get to your accommodations.
Oftentimes, flights from the U.S. to anywhere of notable distance will have you departing in the evening and arriving in the morning, and with most accommodations only accepting check-in in the afternoon.
One of the benefits to one bag travel is the ability to start exploring as soon as you land, something that is best done with a lighter bag. Carrying a heavy bag can be draining and ultimately force you to reconsider the once full itinerary that you had planned before your 3pm check-in.
Airlines 🛫
Airlines have always had a 50/50 sentiment among the public. I have spoken to many people who pledge their allegiance to a specific airline and book their flights with them if possible. On the other hand, I know many people personally who have had such horrible experiences with airlines, I’m looking at you Lufthansa, that they have to take to social media to get their issue resolved. Nonetheless, I am pretty impartial when it comes to airlines. As long as they get me to my destination on time and don’t give me a hard time at the gate, I’m happy.
The former almost always gets fulfilled, but the latter has become more of an issue as of recent. During my last trip through Europe this past summer, I have noticed that some airlines are starting to take weight limits more seriously. Again, the issue is weight, but as someone who didn’t really pay attention to that, this became a problem for me. For my flight from Florence to Thessaloniki, I was not able to get my boarding pass via online check-in, so I was forced to go to the check-in counter at the airport to receive my boarding pass.
To my surprise, the airline representative asked me to weigh my bag. I must’ve turned pale because I knew that my bag was severely overweight, especially this time around because I was carrying camping equipment that I needed for the MotoGP weekend at Mugello. Check out the YouTube video below for the MotoGP vlog if you are interested in motorsports.
I always heard from other Redditors that they never had their bags weighed, so this for me at the time wasn’t a worry. Well, it finally happened and had my bag checked in. A one bagger’s worst nightmare… lol.
Looking back, it was my fault for overpacking. The airlines clearly state the weight restrictions they have for personal items, carry-ons, and checked bags. It is up to you, the traveler, whether you want to adhere to these limits. If not, you will most likely have a hard time with airline representatives at the gate and will more often than not have to pay extortionate fees for overweight bags.
New Beginnings 🤌
After coming back from my trip, I told myself that it was time to look for a different bag. As someone who loves Aer products and has supported them since 2016, this was a tough one for me. The benefits of having a nice high-quality robust bag did not outweigh the cons of the heavy nature of it. At around 3.7 pounds without the additional hip belt, the Aer Travel Pack 2 takes a big chunk of the allowed weight for a carry-on/personal item on many airlines. Heavy bags like the TP2 are nice, but there are so many alternatives out there that offer similar build quality that weight under 2 pounds. Gaining almost 2 pounds back in usable weight allows you to pack more of what you need, or leave you some space for if/when you buy souvenirs on your travels.
So, you may ask, what bag will I be getting now?
After many long hours of research, yes I suffer from serious decision paralysis, I landed on the ULA Equipment Dragonfly 30L. At the time of writing, it comes in at a hefty $289, which is very steep for a backpack. It was not easy pressing the “Review Offer” button on the PayPal checkout page, but don’t worry - you don’t need to spend this much money to have a good quality one bag. Another popular option for a lightweight one bag friendly backpack is the Osprey Daylite 26+6, which comes in at $100. I personally, liked the look, minimal branding, and features that the ULA Dragonfly had, which is what ultimately tempted me to pull the trigger on the purchase.
What peaked my initial interest with the Dragonfly was how light it was, coming in at just 1.7 pounds, which is very surprising for a 30L backpack! Plus the fact that it has a front-loading pocket, which is awesome for organization and ease of retrieving whatever you want without having to dig through the bag, and the use of UltraFly material, which is super durable. Hopefully this is the last bag that I will have to purchase for the next decade… I’m hoping.
How to Lighten Your Backpack 🎒
If you are planning to one bag your next trip and stay within the confines of personal item or carry-on weight limits here are some tips:
Ditch the heavy backpack and try to stay under 2 pounds (0.9 kilograms). This will lighten the load on your back and make your time in transit a lot more comfortable. Also, it gives the ability to bring more stuff if you truly need to.
Avoid bagging everything. There is a bag for everything now. A bag for you cables and tech accessories, a laptop sleeve, a bag for your action camera. The list goes on. Try to use the built-in organizational pockets that are in your backpack before putting everything in its own little bag. It may not seem like much, but when you are trying to stay under 16 pounds (7kg) every ounce matters. However, I will still bring a toiletry bag as I think it is essential to keep things that may get wet, like your toothbrush and other products.
Wear your heaviest clothes in transit. If you are wearing it, they can’t weigh it.
Don’t bring heavy clothes if you don’t need to. I understand that there are places in the world that if you visit, you may need some heavy-duty gear for that climate. It may be monsoon season in Thailand and you are planning on doing a lot of outdoor activities, which could call for a serious rain jacket. However, I find that is not the case more often that not. The common story I hear, and what I have experienced myself, is that you are heading to a fairly cold climate and you decide to bring a bunch of hoodies, pullovers, and puffer jackets to stay warm. As you can imagine, these take up a bunch of space in a backpack, leaving you with not that much space/weight to stay within airline baggage limits. Rather, I suggest that you try to bring clothes that can be layered, which is a strategy of wearing multiple thinner layers instead of one thick layer (think puffer jacket). If you want to learn more about layering, check out this in-depth article.
Something as simple as laying out everything that you are bringing with you on your bed or on the floor allows you to see everything from that bird’s eye view, which can expose some faults in your packing list. Maybe you’re pile of t-shirts is a little more than you initially intended to bring.
Pack your bag like you are ready to leave tomorrow and live out of it for a week. Did you pack anything that you didn’t wear? Leave it home. Did you ever need something on multiple occasions that you didn’t have? Pack it. You will see what you need or don’t need, which will hopefully help you avoid making unnecessary shopping trips when you arrive at your destination.
Remember, you can always do laundry there. To anyone that has never one-bagged, it’s hard to imagine that you can travel with just a backpack. A common question I get is, “how do you have enough clothes for a 2 month trip in just a single backpack?” Well, in my 30L backpack, I can comfortably fit about ~1.5 weeks of clothes, 2 if I really wanted to. If I need to do laundry at any point, I go an do laundry at the local laundromat or at your accommodation if they have it. If you need to go to the laundromat, it’s still a great option. It takes maximum 2 hours, and during that time I typically like to either go grab something to eat, or just use it as a time to cool down and relax. For my next trip, I will be trying to do my own laundry with a technique that I found on r/onebag - using a dry bag lined with soap from a soap bar, pouring some water into the bag, and shaking. I guess this simulates a washing machine? Sounds pretty weird as I type it out, but if it is a fail, the laundromat will have to see me.
Travel more! The more you travel, the better you will get at optimizing your load-out. My first couple of one bag trips, I brought so much stuff that I never wore (multiple sweaters) or didn’t need (action camera). I also found the items that I was seriously missing when I first stayed at a hostel. EARPLUGS! I am a seriously light sleeper, and it was hard to fall asleep when you are sharing a room with 4+ people.
Off you go! 🌄
I want to finish off this article by saying this, don’t feel the urge to focus too much on the gear. It can be fun to find the most ultralight, high-quality windbreaker, but is it really worth $200 or will the $40 one basically do the same job? The whole point of one-bagging is too optimize travel and focus on the experiences and not the logistics. By focusing on the gear, you ARE focusing on the logistics.
If you have read to this point, I hope that you took away something that you can use on your next adventure.
Bon voyage!
‘Till next time 🫡