How to Travel Light in the Digital Age

Issue No. 2 : The 21 essential things for a trip anywhere in the world

A few photos from a summer when I lived in Paris. Photo: Per Håkansson.

In the last issue of Fewer Better Things I mentioned my future plans to spend more time in France, especially along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, the countryside, and the Alps – all with easy access to Spain, Switzerland, and the UK.

Thus I’ve begun to study French by watching French films with English subtitles. That’s how I learned English back in the day, followed by spending time in California during a school year. One of the best experiences of my life.

But since we live in the digital age and can work from anywhere, making a move abroad is no longer such a big deal. Most of our essential personal infrastructures – banking, social networks, and communications – are already in place.

Preparing for your next trip

What we might need is a VISA from the country’s embassy, a light-weight travel pack, and the knowledge of the essentials for setting up life and living in a new place. In this newsletter, I thought I would address the two latter issues.

First, how do you pack for living anywhere in the world? Well, it’s lucky that I happened to spend five whole years traveling the world between the years 2013 and 2018, doing exactly that. What a fortunate coincidence. 😉

During most of that time, as much as I can recall today, I travelled with only a 30-liter Timbuk2 Messenger bag. As you can imagine, it only had space for a MacBook, cords, my camera, a puffer jacket, shorts, and a few tees.

The terrific 35-liter backpack

Today I’ve shifted to a 35-liter Patagonia roll top backpack with one inside pocket for passport and an external mesh pouch for any wet gear or easy to access books, sweater, snacks, and/or water. It’s way better: easier to pack and lighter to carry.

The first mistake people make when packing is to bring more stuff the longer they plan to stay away. In reality, you need the same gear for a three day trip as you do for a 30-day trip. How come?, you ask. Well, let me explain.

A 35-liter backpack is the optimal travel size that will both fit into the overhead and under the seat in front of you on a flight. It will also allow you to hit the ground running, carry it around for half a day until you can check into your place.

Never pack for more than three days

Also, once you pack for more than three days you’ll start to overthink and therefore overpack, bringing stuff that you’ll never use and quickly regret that you brought. It’s better to go with less than to have too many things.

So here is the list of the things I’d bring (including what I’d wear) on any trip anywhere in the world: