Reflections on 10 years of packing light.

Note: I wrote this a a couple of days ago on Pack Light. Go Fast, but I think it’s also relevant here.

For as long as I can remember I’ve always been trying to go light.
It has always annoyed me to have to carry stuff on my arms and drag them whenever my family would go on a trip when I was a kid. I remember getting angry and feeling sweat begin to pour as I was shlepping all those bags, chairs, and stuff.

Then, when I was 10, I had my first experience camping in the wild, my rugby team spent 10 days camping and hiking in the woods with the coach and his assistant. It was a great experience that ultimately ended in me liking to go outdoors, going out whenever I could and finding the mountains. That became my playground by age 15. The big mountains.

Yet one thing continued to annoy me. All the stuff I needed to carry with me.

Then I met my first alpine climbing mentor and he showed me the difference between alpine climbing and expedition climbing. He told me: if you go light you can move fast and you’ll be able to enjoy it more.
He tough me how to pack for the mountains, but more importantly he told me how to rely on my head more than on the gear.
Through him I managed to get a sweet deal with Lowe Alpine and be one of their backpack testers. They would give me a new model and off I would go to the mountains, to test it. I was getting very good at going light and fast.

Still, traveling wasn’t as light as I wanted. I still was carrying too much. I still was checking-in luggage.

Then came the military and Recon. I learned to live out of my pack there. I learned to carry the essentials (which sometimes was 100lb or 45kg) to survive deep in places where everything was trying to kill you. The rucks (backpacks) there were nothing like those streamlined alpine packs I used in the mountains but they were tough and durable and I came to trust them and live out of what was in them.

Once I was done with that I became a computer geek and eventually a computer security researcher. I began traveling a lot, all over the world. Yet one thing remain constant: the annoyance over having to carry too much, checking luggage in and having to deal with lost bags (on one occasion the airline lost my luggage on the way in and also coming back home! On the same trip…).

Then it hit me. I knew how to pack light for the mountains. I knew how to get the essentials needed for the missions on the military. I knew I can use my head and rely more on it than my gear. Why not apply all this to my traveling habits as well?

That was 10 years ago and I never checked another bag.

In the beginning it was hard. I was still in the “what if…” mindset. I would pack extra shirts or bring every toiletry I owned; and while experience plays a huge role in learning to pack light, the mindset is also very important: you have to tell yourself that you’ll be fine if you don’t bring that extra pair of shoes or that extra hat just in case it is cold.
I started experimenting with washing things at hotels, with bringing clothes that can be worn during business meetings and that would also be comfortable enough to wear after that. I began making lists of things that worked and things that didn’t. However the most important thing I began doing was to learn from the previous trip, just like I did in the military.
I applied the same focused effort I applied so many times when I was preparing my gear to climb or to go on a patrol, only this time I was focusing on how light I could go the next trip while still being able to perform properly.

It took a lot of trying, correcting, trying again and yes, sometimes I had to run in the middle of the trip to get that item that I needed and I didn’t bring. It was all part of the fun. That’s how I saw it, a fun thing to try and in doing so it made my trips better, simpler and I began enjoying the business trips as well, since I wasn’t being weighted down by a carry on, a main suitcase, the suit bag, the computer bag… I was traveling now with one bag, big enough for all the things I needed, but small enough that could be used as a carry-on.

I developed a method to pack where I would just lay everything I thought I would need in front of me and then ask myself if I would wear/use the item more than once or if something else I was carrying would give me the same results or be used in the same manner. This method included also a small amount of money for the “need to buy at the destination” things. I realized that bringing all the toiletries didn’t make any sense. It will not only prevent you from bringing your pack with you (security will not let you go through with a shaving razor or a big bottle of aftershave for example), but it will also mean that some of the precious space you have on the small pack you are carrying is being taken from you by stuff you can buy for really cheap at the destination.
I also learned how to fold things small in a way that would prevent wrinkles (I roll most of the clothing and I don’t pack it to tight).

I do the following before packing:

• I check the weather and chose some of my clothing accordingly
• I try to choose clothing that can serve different purposes, like a pair of black pants that can double as a light hiking or to go to a restaurant
• I try to choose also “care-free” clothing that don’t need to be ironed or dry-cleaned

However the main idea on the system I developed for myself can be summarize as:

Take half of what you think you need and put it away.

Looking back at these past 10 years and how I travel now, it is hard for me to imagine any other way of traveling. Even after my daughter was born and the associated being a Sherpa that comes with it (tons of stuff having to be shlepped just for the baby), I can’t think of any other way of traveling.
Having the freedom of just grabbing my small backpack, put it on my back and go anywhere I want without being stuck waiting for a pack to arrive, dealing with carrying all that extra weight on cabs, dealing with missing luggage, or just not being spontaneous (if you have a huge suitcase you can’t just all the sudden decide you’ll go to that really nice part of town to walk and have a great beer and not the hotel when you first arrive).

Packing light and going fast is not only a way to travel better but it’s a great way to go through life, enjoying it without being weighted down by stuff.

Have fun on your next trip!