How to pack just a backpack for travel
How to travel with just one bag (& zero sacrifices)
Timecodes:
in a few weeks I'm going to be headed on
a multi-month trip and today I'll share
exactly how I am able to pack everything
comfortably into one single bag without
feeling like I'm sacrificing anything
everything of course starts with the bag
itself and the one that currently fits
my needs is the travel backpack by a
company called pact next for ease of
access this backpack behaves much like a
luggage enabling tremendously easy
packing and unpacking because of its
main compartment featuring a complete
clamshell opening like a wheeled luggage
each half of the clamshell has its own
full wraparound zip compartment to keep
things organized there are of course
many other pockets and compartments
which of course begs the question what
do I actually pack there are four key
categories clothes Tech hygiene and
support first however is clothing and
this is a category that causes most
people to weigh over pack the answer to
the clothing over packing challenges
lies in two words Merino whoa it's a
miracle fabric that when it's of high
quality can be worn every single day for
literally a month and it will never
smell bad and because it's naturally
antimicrobial it's not just masking
odors but actually stays quite clean the
two Brands I trust are Unbound Merino
and Western rise neither of whom are
sponsoring this video I have just worn
both extensively in previous multi-week
trips a side note for the women Unbound
Merino has a complete women's line as
well in total I have 10 pieces of
clothing including everything that I
actually wear on my body is an Unbound
Merino super fine tensile jogger in an
olive green and an Unbound Merino
t-shirt in Navy up top is the Versa Hat
by Western rise and although it's not
Merino wool it is 100 waterproof has
four-way stretch and I don't know what
the brim is made of but it can be folded
and creased to Absolute hell and just a
few firm pulls gets it back to crispy
new condition on my feet are white
sneakers and for me personally the
industries that I serve these are
perfectly acceptable for my business
meetings I'm Broad and of course great
for casual everyday wear as well meaning
these white sneakers the one that are
already on my feet are the only shoes
that I need to bring if it's cold on the
plane or in transit I'll of course also
wear the Unbound Merino hoodie also in
Navy but if it's not cold I have two
large compression packing cubes by sip
way and in the first one goes my tops
which would go that Unbound Marino
hoodie a matte red Unbound t-shirt and
this concrete Merino wool button up
called the Limitless Merino shirt by
Western rise a side note here the reason
I choose this Western rise button up is
because I like that this one has these
collar buttons to keep the collars down
I bring this button up since this one
shirt is so versatile and versatile
enough for business meetings and date
nights finally in terms of tops I also
pack a white aerism athletic t-shirt by
Uniqlo for sleep and as a backup in my
second large sipway compression packing
Cube are my bottoms again I'm typically
wearing the Unbound Merino tinsel blend
joggers in olive green so my only other
long pant is the spec from jogger by
Western rise this is not Marina wool but
what I love about them is that despite
being a jogger their cut and flat tight
weave polyester actually lets these pass
as khakis which means pairing them with
their button up really works as a
business casual look while swapping out
to a t-shirt makes them great as their
intended purpose as a casual jogger the
only other bottoms that go in here are
these Nike running shorts which serve
for exercise sleep or if it's really
unbearably hot and depending on where
I'm going I might also bring a pair of
swim trunks it's my socks and underwear
that dictate my laundry schedule if you
can even call it that but what I've
found works best is bringing my small
container of laundry detergent with me
into the shower and hand washing the
socks and boxer briefs I wore that day
while at the end of my shower then
laying them out to dry overnight while I
sleep this small sipway packing Cube
houses my boxer briefs as well as my
compact ankle socks and as you can see
every item of clothing I need to pack
comfortably rests inside of this half of
the packed travel backpack with room to
spare with this extra room it means that
if I'm going somewhere where I know for
sure it's going to be downpouring
non-stop packing an extra rain jacket is
going to be no issues whatsoever so with
clothing out of the way we can close up
the front clamshell compartment and now
move on to the other three categories of
tech hygiene and support all of which
fit into the rest of this pack to travel
backpack starting with tech I of course
need my laptop since half of my upcoming
time abroad is for business
to save on weight I bring my 13-inch
MacBook Air which slides into this
dedicated laptop sleeve on the top of
the rear clamshell compartment and for
those curious as you can see the much
larger and bulkier 16 inch MacBook Pro
also fits in here no problem continuing
on with tech we got to open the rear
clam shell and I think the best way to
demonstrate the rest of the tech and
other categories of hygiene and support
is by showing the sub packing pouches
set up that complete this rear clamshell
Loadout as you can see I have four
subcontainers to round out the tech side
of things I need my MacBook Air charging
brick and cable as well as my iPhone
charging brick and cable the next thing
is less of an actual Tech thing but I
always travel with a tactical flashlight
in my case for this upcoming trip will
be the nitecore P20 IX this will be in
one of the bag's exterior zippered
pockets for quick access but I bring it
up now because I need a USB type-c
charging cable for it I also need to
travel plug adapter since I'm going to
five or six countries and finally I need
a power bank which in the spirit of
keeping things as Compact and light as
possible I will be using the nitecore
and be 10K that's super slim light
because of its carbon fiber shell it
still stores 10 000 milliamp hours of
juice all of this stuff goes into this
awesome organization pouch named the
power Packer by a company called side by
side
what I love about this pouch is the
sheer organization options while
offering this ridiculously soft stretchy
expandable strip on both sides all the
bricks can stretch and go into the
compartment including the international
plug adapter the MacBook Air charging
brick and my Anker fast charging brick
for my iPhone rotating over to the front
clamshell compartment you can see the
gratuitous elastic loops and Pockets
where all the individual cables like my
MacBook cable iPhone cable and power
bank cable are secured while the super
slim power bank itself goes into this
sleeve That Just About Does it for the
side-by-side power Packer and for the
rest of my tech and administrative stuff
I continue on with the orbit key nest if
you've been with me for a bit you know
this is a Lifeline for me in my
day-to-day work life right here in
Toronto but for travel it's just as
crucial a spare pen the kaweco AL sport
a combo flashlight and green laser
pointer with the Olight Arc fill and
external hard drives round out the work
related items I need to bring with me
but probably most importantly is my
extra pair of prescription glasses with
Magnetic clip-on sunglasses why well for
Mission critical functions two is one
and one is none and I mean Vision in
general is one of the most Mission
critical things we all do so I always
carry a spare when traveling since
prescription lenses can be pretty
difficult to replace when abroad I keep
them in the orbiki nest lenses down
since it's a hard shell with a very soft
interior lining so I have no concerns of
them getting squashed or scratched in
transit aside from that just a USB cable
that came with the nest since when
plugged in the lid doubles as a wireless
charger and That Just About Does it for
this subcontainer to round out the tech
that I bring moving on to hygiene my
Dopp kit of choice is a travel kit by
air I love this thing because it's
flatter packing than most dop kits but
also offers a ton of storage and great
features like this hook so I can
literally hang it onto a shower curtain
rail at the hotel and have access to
everything and pack it back up just as
easily I carry what you'd expect face
wash shampoo body wash hair product
toothbrush toothpaste nail clippers a
razor and laundry detergent all of which
are quite standard for most folks last
packing pouch here is the utility pouch
by alpaca this is where all the support
stuff I carry goes and by support I mean
things that I don't really need all too
often but I still definitely use on
every single trip I like this pouch
because of its size and storage options
that work for my personal needs
perfectly inside the large pocket here
are sneaker wipes these ones are by a
company called rejuvenator but since I
travel with just one pair of white
sneakers for their versatility these
come in handy for really bad stands I
also carry a super basic minor injuries
kit in here including multiple sizes of
bandages polysporin tweezers alcohol
wipes and cotton swabs something that's
critical for me is the SIM card tool for
my iPhone since I always get a local SIM
card every country I go to instead of
roaming and these small sub compartments
in the utility pouch sealed in by the
zipper means that I will never lose it
as far as the exterior Pockets go on the
back I store some US dollars as my
backup emergency cash and in the front
zippered compartment I store a hard copy
of my travel health insurance policy as
you can see with all of these Essentials
that do not sacrifice on anything there
is still plenty of space in this rear
clamshell portion of this packed travel
backpack which means it's just nice
knowing I have a lot of extra space in
the event I actually find something that
I really want to buy and bring back home
with me as I close up the main
compartment it's really easy to forget
that this backpack has so many more
features that thankfully don't take much
time at all to touch on
it's got three generous extra zippered
pockets on the front with the top one
being completely waterproof sealed off
from the rest of the bag which means if
you have a poncho or even a bathing suit
that you just changed out of this pocket
is the perfect spot for anything left
truth be told for me personally while
I'm traveling all three of these
zippered compartments actually generally
stay empty which means even more space
whether it's for shopping or if it's a
specific type of trip where I need to
pack just a few extra things from the
top there's quick access to both the
rear compartment as well as quick access
to the laptop sleeve which is super
handy for removing and repacking the
laptop during airport security checks
turning the bag around there is this
zippered compartment right up against
the back as a very good option for
storing your cash and passport when
you're out and about exploring with a
bag on your back for optimal security
that rear pocket also includes a mesh
sub pocket which is designed for TSA
checks where you flip it out empty your
pockets into it and once you clear
security you can fill your pockets back
up with the confidence that you didn't
miss anything there's a generous
elasticized pocket against the spine of
the clamshell perfect for a water bottle
umbrella or even compact tripod that has
top and bottom cinching to really secure
whatever you may choose to store and
lastly there are two hidden extras a
very inconspicuous secret passport size
zipper pocket where even if someone was
rifling through your bag if you
accidentally leave it unattended they
really wouldn't see this pocket and
remember that stowable stability hip
belt actually the whole thing can be
removed and converted into a compact
backup sling or Fanny Pack that said as
you may know I'm very particular about
my sling bags and this doesn't quite cut
it for me and if you're interested in
the absolute three best travel slings to
protect your wallet phone passport and
other travel everyday carry Essentials
you are definitely going to want to
watch this video right over here
I'll leave it on screen just for a few
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