Jackie and I travelled to Japan for 2 weeks in 2018. This is what we looked like fully packed.

Our bags were large, cumbersome, and heavy. I don’t know how much those bags weighed, but I do know that we both had headaches whenever we carried them for too long.

We were excited when we made the decision to take a 5-month honeymoon but we were not looking forward to carrying our large, heavy bags. I thought there had to be a better way. Enter /r/onebag. I found an active community of travelling enthusiasts who travel with a single bag, some of them travelling indefinitely with under 10 pounds of stuff.

Jackie and I set our goal: we both get 1 carry-on bag weighing less than 15 pounds. That lets you fly most airlines without checking a bag or paying overweight fees. 15 pounds is also light enough that you can walk around the city without dropping off your bags at your accommodations. You can arrive before check-in and start touring immediately.

We spent hours researching and optimizing our packing lists in the months leading up to the trip. It feels strange to buy a product you already own just because it’s 4oz lighter. Do that 10 times, however, and you save over 2 pounds in your bag.

The result of all our research is shown in the featured image of this post. I have one bag, weighing in at 16lbs. Jackie did even better, she has one bag weighing in at a mere 13lbs.

Most people give me incredulous looks when I tell them we are travelling for months, each with a single bag. It’s easier than most people think. My packing list is below. I hope it will inspire you to experience the freedom that is one bag travel.

Bag

My bag (featured image) is the Toppo Designs Core Pack. I picked it because it is:

1. Under 2 pounds.
2. Has a hip belt.
3. Has the right amount of organization.
4. Has a laptop compartment.
5. Seems like a high-quality bag.
6. Load lifters, good shoulder straps.
7. Doesn’t look too technical.

Clothing

You can save a lot of space and weight by being efficient with the clothes you bring. First, a few tips.

Washing

Many people I know take 3 days of clothes for a 3 day trip, 7 days of clothes for a 7 day trip, and 14 days for a 14 day trip. Project that out to 5 months and you need an army of suitcases.

I take the same clothes on trips of any length and wash them throughout. I bought a small Dry Sack for washing clothes in hostels without taking up a sink. We wash underwear, socks, and tops nightly. Our bottoms and sweaters are washed as needed.

Style

I try to match all of my bottoms to all of my tops. I can bring fewer clothes because I have a larger permutation of outfits. My strategy is black shoes, black/grey bottoms, a grey sweater, colored shirts. This combination makes it easy to combine items without looking ridiculous.

Features

I look for a few things in all of the clothes I buy for travel. The ideal piece is:

• Lightweight
• Quick Drying
• Anti-microbial
• Stylish
• Durable
• Comfortable

Unfortunately, it’s hard to find all of these features in a single piece of clothing. When you do, the item is often expensive. If you follow these three tips you can get by with 3 bottoms, 5 tops, 4 socks, 4 underwear, a sweater, and a light jacket.

From left to right, top to bottom:

• Qorkit 265 Merino Full Zip Hoodie (Website is gone, likely unavailable)
• Keen Aruba II Sandals
• Altama OTB Maritime Assault Shoes
• Grip6 Lupine Belt
• Original Buff
• Houdini Windbreaker
• New Way Long Shorts
• One-Bag Henley
• A Tank Top from Tahoe Nevada Love
• Saxx Quest 2.0 Underwear x 4
• Ponto Performance Sweatpants
• Minimalist Short Sleeve Henley
• Tank Top
• SmartWool Socks x 2
• Darn Tough Socks x 2
• Compression Socks
• M’s Quandary Convertible Pants
• Slim Dungarees Pants
• Henley Tank Top
• Waffle Weave 100% Linen Towel (16″x33″)

This all packs down into packing cubes:

I love some of this stuff while I think other items could be dropped or better versions found.

1. Merino Socks are amazing. They are the best socks I’ve owned. I tried Merino tops and underwear but didn’t like any of them. They were itchy, wore down quickly, and did not prevent smell as well as people online reviews indicated.
2. Aruba II Sandals: I want some form of sandals for hostel bathrooms. These are a bit heavier than flip flops but are comfortable enough to walk around in so I started the trip with them. These could be sacrificed for flip flops or just not having sandals at all.
3. Houdini Windbreaker: This is super light, packs small, and has already saved us during a rainy day in Versailles.
4. Outlier New Way Long Shorts and Slim Dungarees: These are really expensive but are worth it. They dry quickly, are reasonably stylish, are light, and are comfortable.
5. Waffle Weave Towel: If you get one of these, make sure it’s 100% linen. Mine is the size of a dishtowel but I can dry my entire body with it and it dries in only a few hours. It delivers on the broken promise of microfiber towels.
6. Ponto Performance Sweatpants: These are the most comfortable sweatpants I’ve ever owned.

Electronics

I found narrowing down electronics difficult. I wanted good headphones for music/podcasts, a laptop for blogging/trip planning, a kindle for reading, a battery for long days without power, and needed chargers for everything.

The optimizations I made are:

1. Bring only Galaxy Buds for headphones, leave Bose QC 35’s at home. The QC 35’s weigh 0.5 lbs and take up a lot of space so it wasn’t worth it, even though they have great noise cancelling.
2. Bring a Surface Go instead of getting a Surface Laptop or similar. The Go isn’t very powerful but it’s very light for a laptop running full Windows. I decided it was worth saving nearly a pound.
3. Bring one 10k mAh portable battery instead of a 20k and 5k. That saves nearly a pound when carrying the full pack but makes my daypack heavier as I don’t have the 5k.
4. I bought an Anker charger with one Power Delivery port and one Quick Charging port. It can charge the Surface Go and my other electronics(at the same time) which means I don’t need a separate laptop charger.

Miscellaneous Items

From left to right, top to bottom:

• Tote bags
• Travel Pillow
• Packable Daypack
• Dry Sack
• Selfie Stick
• Tennis Ball
• Clothesline
• Lock
• Earplugs
• Wallet
• Glasses
• Pills
• Sleep mask
• Documents
• Small Collapsible Water Bottle
• Large Collapsible Water Bottle
• Pen
• Plastic Bags

The main optimizations in this category are:

1. The travel pillow is the smallest, lightest travel pillow I could find but I think it is essential for sleeping on planes/trains.
2. The packable daypack takes up minimal space when we’re travelling between destinations but lets us tour a city without carrying our full-size bags.
3. The dry sack can be used for washing clothes OR to keep things dry when travelling in the rain OR to hold dirty/damp clothes when travelling between destinations.
4. Collapsible water bottles take up almost no space/weight when empty but can be filled for long days of touring or hiking.

Toiletries

• Comb
• Plastic Bag
• Tide packets
• Travel Sunscreen
• Contacts + Solution
• Hair Cream
• Packing Cube
• Soap
• Nail Clippers
• Deodorant
• Toothpaste
• Toothbrush
• Portable Razor

The main optimizations here are:

1. The portable razor is very lightweight and powered by AAA batteries. It’s not as good as my razor at home but it’s sufficient, takes up minimal room, and AAA batteries are sold pretty much everywhere.
2. I use bar soap to wash my hair and didn’t bring conditioner. My hair is short and handles the bar soap well enough that I’m not concerned about it.
3. I brought 1-month contacts instead of dailies.

That’s everything. We’re already loving the freedom and hope you do too.