This is what I packed for my three-month journey across Asia last year: A handful of clothes, books, and toiletries that fit into a 35L Tortuga Setout pack. Sometimes, during multi-day jungle or motorcycle treks, I stowed the Setout in guesthouse storage and traveled with the smaller, ultralight Outbreaker daypack. Looking at these items now, I realize how many of them (the padlock, the first-aid kit, the yellow umbrella) I didn’t really use.
Years ago, when I took a fairly high-profile trip around the world using no luggage or bags of any kind, a PR person suggested I try to get this feat into the Guinness Book of World Records. This struck me as an odd notion, since – going back to the earliest human wanderings – undertaking a journey with next to no gear was the original condition of travel. We’ve just been coerced, somehow, into dragging a bunch of crap along with us for no good reason.
Part of the secret to my travel minimalism is what, in my 2019 travel journal, I deemed the “I-don’t-care-if-I-don’t-look-all-that-fashionable school of packing.” In my case, this meant an interchangeable rotation of black or navy t-shirts, a couple of hats, my trusty Blundstone boots and Clothing Arts travel pants (both of which have been around the world many times), a fancier pair of brownish pants, some socks, and some underwear.
That’s pretty much it. Not everyone will want to pack like this, but after a few days on the road my daily gear ritual is so intuitive I don’t even think about it. To my mind, each day of travel is a gift in itself; what you bring with you is the least interesting part of a journey.
Note: “Dispatches” are short vignettes, profiles, and mini-essays written and posted from the road, often in tandem with my Instagram account. For more full-formed writing, check out my book Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, or the Essays or Stories archives on this site. I don’t host a “comments” section, but I’m happy to hear your thoughts via my Contact page.
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