Traveling Light – Stuff We Love

If you use something almost daily, buy it in the best quality possible.

– Phil

When we were travelling on Galapagos there was an awkward moment when I noticed a fellow backpacker traveling with jeans and asked here “oh, you’re travelling with jeans?.” I think she was a little offended and I tried to do my best to clarify that it was not meant in a bad way. That’s when I realized my obsession with travelling light. Everything I carry has been well thought through. It has either multiple functions, is the (imho) best of its kind to travel with, or is in a testing state to see if it could be a future companion on the traveling-light-adventure Mel and I are currently enjoying.

There have been a few things that prooved to be really, really good for our digital nomad lifestyle. So here is my guide to the best travel “things”:

Clothing

Having tried everything from synthetics to cotton, I can say that I’ve moved to almost everything merino. Benefits of it is that merino packs light, doesn’t start to smell for days, and dries quickly (not as fast as synthetics). The main d0wnside is that it is really pricy. But when you’re carrying only two T-shirts and two regular shirts the investment is worth it.

Icebreaker has excellent merino clothing: Their items are pricey but still look the same even after washing multiple times (and washing is something you do rather frequently if you travel light). Most trekking and travel looks clothes have a very casual look, which makes this shirt my number one “thing to pack.” I wear this one even when going out for a fancy dinner!

Icebreaker – Departure Short Sleeve Shirt Plaid

Staying on topic of “looking good while travelling with almost nothing,” I’ve found amazing pants in the meantime. They are so awesome, that I’m thinking about buying a second pair… the fabric they’re made of is out of this world, a Swiss-made textile called Schoeller®-Dryskin. This pant has every characteristic you’d ever want for travel: light, easily packable, water-resistant, high breathability, comfortable, stretch (think commuting to your office by bike), AND they look good – as in can pass when going to a 3-star Michelin restaurant! Basically it’s pants made out of a “soft-shell.” I am so pleased with these pants I cannot recommend them enough for anyone with an outdoors’y lifestyle:

The Division Chino, available at the Mission Workshop in San Francisco

One area where I’ve tested multiple fabrics is for underwear. IceBreaker produces merino underwear that’s both very comfortable and can be worn forever (well, almost) until they start to stink. I wore them on the Cuidad Perdida trek for 3 days straight (gross, I know 😉 ) but honestly the odor was reasonable for the amount of sweat I produced. As with all of these items, they are a very pricey, which is why I would gladly switch to a cheaper brand if I found it. After a test-phase, of course…

The  Nano Puff Jacket by Patagonia has proven itself as an excellent outer layer. It is very small, and packs into one of its pockets. Compared to regular down jackets it doesn’t lose it isolation when wet.

This is something I would not have bought probably… One of my friend from Red Hat remembered the quote at the start of this post, which I’ve repeated often enough. When I quit my job my colleagues gifted me with a voucher for custom made flip flops. Now I’ve been spoiled! These flip flops are so comfortable that I can walk for hours without any problems. I guess if you’re wearing flip flops every day they’re worth the price – Thank you Red Hat!

Electronics

As we work and travel, electronics are very important to us since they make up our office. In my (highly biased) opinion there is only really one notebook to travel with and this is of course the MacBook Air, or maybe the new MacBook. At the time of writing, I think the 1st gen is not really (yet) the best choice for nomads.

Another useful accessory is the PlugBug World (not to be confused with a butt plug, mind you), which combines the standard MacBook Air charger with a USB charger. This helps, since Amelia and I only need two outlets to charge most of our devices (two Macbook’s and two iPhones). It also comes with world adapters, which saves another separate adapter (or two!). If you remember to take the adapters you need with you, that is…

For our calls we use the Plantronics Voyager Legend UC. I can’t recommend this device enough. I use it now even when not traveling and just love its quality, durability and battery life. It’s case not only offers protection but also serves as a battery pack.

Connectivity

There is one thing I had to learn during our travels and it’s not common knowledge. 4G (as in real LTE 4G) is your friend. Although we mostly live in AirBnB apartments with dedicated Wifi/broadband, you can never be sure how good the connection really will be. Since we need a good connection for VOIP/Skype calls, it’s not even the bandwidth that concerns us most, but the latency. When you have 4G/LTE latency is always good, full stop. This might be because these networks are new or because the whole protocol is new, but so far this has always been the best option for calls. The only downside is that some of the carriers block VOIP, but you can easily avoid this by having Skype as a backup (with SkypeOut, of course).

OpenSignal is your friend for finding suitable places with good 4G coverage and the pre-paid data SIM wiki helps you for general questions on how and where to purchase prepaid data plans.

We use a Huawei hotspot to connect to 2G/3G/4G networks. It’s an excellent device that offers good battery life, speed, stability and comfort thanks to the App to configure it.

Toiletries

We both love the GoToob silicon travel bottles for shampoo, soap, lotion etc. They are light, easy to clean and suitable for carry-on luggage.

Ever since our first trip around the world in 2008/09 we’ve been using these travel toothbrush holder. Perfect to keep your brush clean you can simply attach them to a mirror to keep things organized. Added bonus… they smile at you every morning 🙂

And this is what my backpack looks like:

 I feel free! Having everything I need on my back is just such a great feeling. It makes life easy moving around with very little … THE perfect way to travel in my opinion!