I am always interested in reading about packing and bags. e.g. Packing List of a Digital Nomad¹². Digital nomad is cool and things are going to be minimal, since it is obvious a limit by people’s carriage ability.

As I am not a digital nomad or a frequent traveller, I do not usually carry a bag filled with stuffs for living weeks. Instead, I have a simple Adidas bag for daily use with basic wallets, Kindle, and sometimes books. Thus, fast trip (less than 3 days or maybe a week) is the only chance to pack up within one major bag for all things together, IDs, clothes, and electronics.

Rather than living that lifestyle, I just experience it once in months. The weekends trips, three-day holidays, and occasionally paid annual leave.

The Bag

I am a backpack guy. Backpack makes me feel more comfortable and relaxed than others. This is one of the biggest pros to choose a backpack for a trip.

GORUCK GR1³ is what I carry for a trip. It builds for intense environment, which means it is robust and a little bit heavier than normal. The size is 21L. MOLLE strapping allows for additional pockets both inside and outside.

Organization

Being on the go, an organizational system isn’t just nice to have, it’s a necessity.

As the Van Man said², it’s necessary to get organized inside the bag. Putting things together unorganized like a black hole is horrible. It is easy to get things lost and just hard to find anything. And also, this applies recursively to its sub storages. My idea is to make sub storages based on the types of items.

Topo Designs Accessory Bag Medium⁴: A simple bag hangs up to the inside MOLLE system, which keeps my passport, tickets, and stationery.

Elecom Accessory Bag: A cheap bag made from Cordura, which holds small-size eletronics. Everything can be stored in their own slots, great for wires.

MUJI Wash Supplies Bag: Facial cleanser, shaver, toothpaste, toothpicks, and toothbrush. Made from waterproof fabric.

Clothes Bag with Label: Bigger one for tees and smaller one for underwears.

Electronics

I am a software developer and a geek. Electronics are huge part of my life.

Sennhaiser Momentum⁵: It is not noise cancelling but can isolate much noise. I won’t say it has the best sound but it is in a high level. The ivory color looks great.

Mac Book Air 13”⁶: The most important productivity and entertaining tool. What I have is actually a “late 2013” without retina. Every mac book launched later may replace it, because each one of them is more powerful and portable.

iPhone X⁷: The immersive experience of iPhone X is incredible, bought is as soon as I tried one. I think it no need to talk more about an iPhone, it depends on what you like and what Apple sells or maybe an Android phone. Choose a waterproof one can be better. And it is not carried in GR1 actually.

Kindle Oasis⁸: Fast system and dedicated paging buttons. Portable library for everyone. I enjoy reading calmly.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2: Best rangefinder mirrorless camera. I usually take it with XF35 F2 WR in non-photography trip, which equals to 50MM full frame. For a photography trip, a camera bag is needed then.

Anker PowerCore⁹: Handy and stable.

Writing

While most time we use electronics for everything, a pen and paper is still indispensable for ideas and quick notes. For me, handscripting helps me think better a lot.

MUJI Ballpoint Pen: Travel with a fountain pen is not a good choice for me, the ink sometimes can be huge trouble. Instead, I always bring a ballpoint pen from MUJI. It is minimalistic.

MUJI Note A6: Another MUJI stationery, a nice hand note book. It may not be used for design from architecture to details. But it is big enough for ideas and quick notes.

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