One Backpack Is All You Need

I have become a major fan of traveling light, really light. No matter how long you're going, a week, a month, a year, a single medium sized backpack's worth of stuff is really all you need to be comfortable. This travel minimalism comes with lots of benefits, like the freedom to pick up and move quickly and easily, savings in time, effort and money, and really knowing what of your possessions are worth their weight in gold. They have to be if you want to bring them. No longer do you carry around things you might use one day, instead you only carry those things that you will use pretty much every day, and everything is of the absolute highest quality and smallest size possible, or that you can afford anyway.

And to be clear, minimalism does not equal asceticism. You're not foregoing all material pleasures, you're just getting 90% of the pleasures you want with 10% or less of the things you would need to satisfy the full 100%. It's all about maximizing value, getting the most out of what you have, and I think it's a great view to have at any time, traveling or no. It's about being able to recognize things things you don't use anymore or never used and being willing to part with them. It's about realizing that if you get rid of some (non sentimental) thing and it turns out you want it back, you can usually get it back or even a better version of it. All too often stuff is revered, and selling or getting rid of it really goes against our grain, but it shouldn't. Most of our stuff is just stuff, nothing more.

So what did I end up bringing with me to Costa Rica? Here's a short list of my current possessions:

• Clothes:
• 4 t-shirts
• 3 pairs of socks
• 3 pairs of underwear
• jacket w/hood
• sneakers
• swimming trunks
• convertable pants
• a belt 

• Electronics:
• laptop
• Wacom tablet
• iPhone
• travel phone
• wireless mouse
• Kindle
• headphones
• travel alarm clock
• small flashlight

• Misc:
• umbrella
• passport
• wallet
• earplugs
• eyecover
• water bottle
• a couple pens
• swimming goggles
• travel towel
• travel toiletries which fit into two small ziploc bags
• one normal sized everyday backpack to hold it all

This list (and indeed this whole minimalistic philosophy) was largely taken from Tynan's book Life Nomadic, and I'm pretty satisfied with it. There are ways that my list could be improved for the future, though, and most of it involves following Tynan's list even more than I already am.

For the clothing, I could stand to replace the cotton stuff. It's not great for travel, being relatively heavy and handles wet environments poorly, but Merino wool really fits the bill. I've been trying it out, purchased from Icebreaker, and it has not let me down so far. Also I am in no way prepared for freezing or really rainy weather, but I won't be running into that sort of thing for several more months so I'll worry about that when it happens.

The sneakers were not great for Costa Rica. I ruined my old ones, which were about ready to die anyway, and I don't think I'll keep the ones I bought here either. For hiking and rougher treatment, I might want to try Vibrams. They worked well for Nick despite their odd look, especially when climbing mountains or fording rivers; I wish I had had them for this trip.

Electronics could be improved too. My computer is a bit too big and heavy for travel and it overheats enough to make me worried about its long term stability, so I'm thinking of replacing it with something more powerful and lighter, ie something quite a bit more expensive. But the laptop is very key to being self-sufficient and central to most everything I do every day, so I will see if I can save the money up for that. The Kindle has been awesome, and the iPhone turned out to still be good to have around when it's relying on just wifi. All in all I'd rather use Google Voice or Skype on my laptop to make cheap or free calls home anyway. The iPhone is really just a handy handheld computer. Maybe an iTouch next time would be better to have, along with an unlocked Android phone for more flexibility while traveling.

Beyond that, I don't think I'm missing much. I could use a proper camera (see above iPhone photos); it was a real pleasure using the DSLR the three of us shared, but George got to keep that piece of equipment. I'll probably buy my own when I get back to the states. I've also found myself yearning for a proper set of 5.1 speakers, a piano to practice on, and a full set of cookware and spices, but those just would not be feasible with this kind of travel. Traveling in a car around the US, which I'm planning on doing next, will allow me to add some bigger things to my list of possessions, and will entail deciding what is worth bringing with me all over again. At least all my essentials fit in a backpack.

I hope I can bring my Celle though. That thing is awesome. Sorry Mom, as much as you like having it I am so taking it back.

I miss you so much. My back misses you especially.