Packing light and organising stuff

Last week in Singapore, I shared how I travel with just half a bag. At most, I carry two changes of clothes (in addition to what I’m wearing). My clothes are all light cotton. I use separate pouches for clothes, charging cables, swimwear, etc. This makes it easy to decide what to leave at the guesthouse and what to take with me for adventures around town. Everything, including the bag, weighs around 3.5 kg—the heaviest item is my iPad.

I organize my belongings by function using small pouches.

My clothes are made of quick drying materials.

Useful webs/apps

1. Wikivoyage.org Travel guide created by travel community.
2. Trip.com One of the better UX amongst travel booking sites.
3. maps.google.com Useful for public transport routes, reviews. Do pay attention to gamed reviews. Download offline maps.
4. Reddit.com Search the subreddit for the city/country you are going to. Travel info and some insights like what are popular issues currently.
5. translate.google.com app or ChatGPT.com  app for translation.
6. meetup.com couchsurfing, Couchers.org, bewelcome for finding local meetups
7. Use a VPN or Apple Private Relay while using public wifi

Safety

Get travel insurance. Note down the serial number, make, model, date of purchase of your camera, laptop, iPad, phones. You will need these while making a police report, and later for an insurance claim.

Buy an inner hidden money pouch for passports, cards and money. Keep minimal currency and limited value cards in your outer pockets.

Get AirTag or SmartTag for your bag and inner pouch.

Local insights

Instead of a traditional travel guide (online stuff and Google Maps are enough), I like to carry a novel set in the city or country I’m visiting (and movies, TV and music). This gives me good insights into people’s lives and makes for great conversation starters with locals. For example, this book helps you understand the current state of mind of people in Hong Kong.

Minimalist packing is an ongoing project

From a book I read a while back (Enough by Patrick Rhone)

Enough comes from trying things out. It comes from challenging your preconceptions. It comes from having less, trying more, then reducing to find out what is just right. It comes from letting go of your fear of less. It comes from letting go of the false security of more. It also comes from having more, losing it all, and finding out what need really is.

There was a time when I used to pack half the house—see that last photo of me crossing into China in 2001. When you first start traveling, there’s a lot of insecurity, and you want to pack everything you think you might need. But over time, you learn to trust the world. You realise you need much less to live—and travel—comfortably.

My bag from 2016 to now

From 2010s

Heading to China in 2001