Getting Started with One-Bag Travel (2024 Edition) - ULT Gear

Getting Started with One-Bag Travel (2024 Edition)

Welcome fellow traveler!

Have you been thinking about trying one-bag travel, but aren't sure where to start?  Then this guide is for you. After years of living out of a backpack, we have a few tips to help make your journey into this world easier.

Just remember, one-bag travel is its own journey, an evolution; your first attempt won't be perfect, but once you hit the road, you'll start to get a feel for what's necessary vs nice-to-have.

Our goal with this guide is to set you up for success, and maybe smooth out some of the unavoidable bumps along the way.

Step 1 - Research, Test, and Buy Travel-Specific Clothes

This is the biggest, and easily the most difficult to get right; clothes are hard, buying clothes is a pain, and finding the perfect travel shirt is like trying to find a good therapist, it will take lots of dates.

Our best overall advice, and the only advice we can give you, is to follow a few high-level principles, and test everything.

1) Look for lightweight, antibacterial shirts, socks, and underwear, basically anything that's in constant contact with your skin, these items need to be extremely comfortable for all the moving you'll be doing, and in a perfect world, you can wear them for two, three, or even four days in a row without washing. 

You've likely already heard of this if you've done any research, but Merino wool and Bamboo fabric are great for these items, naturally anti-bacterial, moisture-wicking, and soft to the touch. Merino wool is often used for cooler climates, while Bamboo fabric is often used for warmer climates, but the thickness and breathability of the fabric play a big roll, and you can find good options using either fabric, for any environment.

Check out ULT Gear's Best Fabrics for Travel Apparel for a deep dive.

2) Look for ultralight, quick-drying, stain-resistant outerwear for everything else. Your outerwear serves a different purpose, and it makes sense that it would require different properties and a different type of fabric. One pair of pants and one hoodie with stain-resistant properties can last you weeks without washing, assuming you're wearing (and changing) your undergarments on occasion.

3) Hit two or three birds with one stone by utilizing convertible pants and hybrid shorts; you won't always get points for style, but you will get points when your backpack fits under the airplane seat in front of you.

Now take these principles and go shopping! 

Seriously. You need to test your clothes before you leave, and it will take some trial and error. Don't be shy about buying 3-4 of your top choices, trying them on, and sending them back if they're not a good fit; your clothes need to be comfortable, like so comfortable, you love putting them on. Nothing ruins a trip faster than hating getting dressed in the morning.

Check out some of our buyer's guides on various travel apparel options:

Step 2 - Consolidate Your Shoes

Aside from clothes, this is the number one mistake I see people make when it comes to packing light, and your closet probably agrees; but I can tell you from experience, that one pair of high-quality, comfortable hiking/trail-running shoes can take you almost anywhere in the world; paired with sandals and a couple accessories, and you can go pretty much anywhere.

People get hung up on shoes because they want to look cute, but the truth is, no one cares what you look like when you travel! You're better off committing to the hiker look and saving yourself the hassle of packing 3-4 pairs, they take up way too much space.

If you HAVE to look cute, for work, or nice dinners, or whatever.. consider packing just two pairs, cute/casual and functional/outdoorsy.

Step 3 - Consolidate Your Electronics

There are so many ultraportable gadgets these days, that it's easy to forget that you don't really need any of them. Tablets, eReaders, Smart Watches, wearable glasses; they're all super cool, but not when you have to pack them, take care of them, and charge them.

Every extra device you bring comes with its own stack of problems, it's another charging cable, another carrying case, and another thing to worry about back at your hotel. Tablets and eReaders are great for planes, but could you just use your phone for a few hours? Apple Watches are convenient, but do you really need a heart-rate monitor and wrist-readable texts?

I'm not saying they're not useful, I'm just asking if they're worth it; or if your phone, or perhaps something less functional (but more portable), can do the job.

Finally, once you've narrowed down your tech list, consider packing one cable and one charging station to power everything. This may sound risky, but it's not, you can find charging cables and power stations everywhere.

I pack a single 3-in-1 split cable for all my devices. One cable, for every trip. If it breaks or I lose it, I go to a convenience store and buy another one. It's simple.

Some of our favorite portable charging items are the Anker Powerline II 3-in-1 Cable and the Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger (fast charger) and the Anker Prime 6-in-1 Charging Station 140W (wall charger).

A safe bet for any long-term travelers is that you will only ever have one working outlet, and it's probably in an inconvenient place; so try to get a setup that allows you to charge all your devices using one universal adapter and one wall charger; this keeps it simple, while keeping your pack to a minimum.

Step 4 - Consider Packable Everything

In addition to your clothes and electronics, efficiency should extend to other daily essentials. There are hundreds of ultralight, packable tools, and products, and because I like making lists, I'm going to list them all here: packable backpacks, packable fanny packs, packable tote bags, packable puffer jackets, packable rain jackets, packable beach blankets, packable towels, packable pillows, packable hats (they have packable hats?!), packable water bottles. Phew! 

It turns out, nearly everything is packable, who would have thought?

The point is, take a look at your packing list and figure out if there's a way to make it smaller, you might be amazed at what you find.

Step 5 - Go Ultralight

If packable everything wasn't enough, then it's time to look at ultralight multitools; these are small, useful items that are handy in a pinch and don't take up much space; things like titanium chopsticks and sporks, minimalist wallets, titanium bottle openers, aluminum clothes hangers, keychain accessories, etc.

Does the name ULT Gear make sense yet?  UltraLight Travel Gear.

What can we say, we like light things.

Step 6 - Compress Your Sh*t

Once you've narrowed down your clothes, shoes, and travel gear to a respectable level, it's time to make it even smaller. Use compression bags or vacuum-seal packs to compress everything into the smallest footprint possible.

There are a few options here: 1) Packing cubes, 2) Vacuum-sealed storage bags (with a pump), 3) Vacuum-sealed compression bags (no pump), 4) Dry bags that double as packing bags, or 5) A Scrubba Wash bag.

Standard packing cubes are not airtight, but they do compress your clothes and provide organization; vacuum-sealed bags will make your pack as small as possible, but may require hand-rolling, a pump, or a tiny vacuum; and lastly, airtight waterproof bags (or a Scrubba wash bag) can be used as compression bags when traveling, they're thick and may add more bulk than you're looking for, but either option pulls double-duty, which always saves space.

Check out the options and decide what's best for your pack.

Our vote?  We use hand-rolled vacuum-sealed bags, they're super lightweight and don't require any extra tools, which can get lost, stolen, or broken on the road. We also pack a single waterproof dry bag, which can double as a compression bag as needed, but rarely do you need both at the same time.

Step 7 - Choosing a Backpack

Finally, it's time to choose a backpack.

This doesn't have to be complicated, though people tend to go crazy trying to find the perfect backpack (myself included). But the one thing backpack makers and travel companies won't tell you is this: a $30 backpack will do almost the same job as a $300 backpack, with varying degrees of functionality; and if you're new to one-bag travel (which, I'm assuming you are, if you're reading this), then I highly encourage you to go with the simplest, lightest weight backpack that fits your stuff, and that's it, to start.

You can get more technical as you get into this world, but a big mistake I see people make is trying to find the perfect backpack before they have a lock on their final packing list, or before they even know how they'll be using the backpack.

Don't start by dropping hundreds of dollars on a backpack; that money would be better spent on nice, comfortable travel clothes.

When you are ready to make an investment, the Reddit /onebag community has some great recommendations, but we've also written a few very detailed posts on how to choose a backpack and top-rated backpacks, check them out below:

Summary

Embarking on ultralight travel doesn’t mean forgoing comfort, in fact, it encourages the opposite, very comfortable clothing that can be worn multiple days in a row.

By making strategic choices about your gear, you can enjoy the freedom to move around and delight in your discoveries, rather than being weighed down by your baggage.

Thank you for sticking with us, and good luck on your one-bag journey!

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