Travel

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A description of how I go about traveling. Basically, moving from country-to-country every few months while only owning a backpack.

Pre-Travel #

Some things that are useful to have / get done before leaving the country. Mostly, these are centered around having a physical address:

• Passport (renew it!) For U.S. citizens, I also recommend getting a “Passport card”, which is useful as a National ID.
• Driver’s license + International Driver’s Permit (a translation of your driver’s license into many languages; it’s not a license in itself, but is required in many countries)
• Online laptop backup (frankly, it just makes carrying a laptop 1000x less stress). I use Backblaze. Keep in mind that backing up important documents online is definitely a risk. For sensitive documents, you’ll have to balance information swiped from your person vs being swiped online.
• Dual-Sim Unlocked phone is 🧑‍🍳😘
  • SIM 1 would be your current number, which is imperative for 2-factor. Some I’ve used:
    • I’m currently using U.S. Mobile. Just now taking it abroad for the first time, though, so wish me luck! 🤞
    • Google Fi Flexible Plan is very convenient, but they don’t like you using it out of the country, and will shut-off data after a few months if you don’t return to the United States.
    • T-mobile Magenta works, but it’s expensive, and they seem incompetent at keeping your data safe.
  • SIM 2 is usually a sim card for wherever you are, since data will probably be cheaper there. Also, having a local phone number can often be useful for super random things (for example, using rent-a-bicycle services in Taiwan).
• Travel credit-card Since my rent is often paid on card, and services like airbnb count as travel, I get a LOT of points. Typically, all of my flights are paid in points.
• I hear that pre-check/global entry is nice, but I only fly every 3-6 months or so, so I’m not really optimizing for frequent airport flight (aka too lazy to schedule the interview).
• Start language learning

Belongings #

My general philosophy is:

1. Carry as few things as possible
2. Select items that are replacable

In the past, I’ve bought specific “travel items” that make the optimal travel fit. It ends up being kinda stressful, because you really don’t want to lose your special lightweight travel doodad while abroad without a real permanent address.

The Actual Backpack

My current philosophy is that travel backpacks are too technical and heavy; if I just carry less stuff, then a backpack with less features is just lighter and more comfortable. I do prefer rolltop backbacks, though. Easier to pack-out, and can expand for groceries. My current backpack is a Fjallraven. It’s nice, but I wouldn’t buy it again, just because of price. Also, the yellow one picks up stains super quick, so definitely go dark if you buy this bag. But Fjallraven has been super nice about repairs in the past, so that is some piece of mind.

The Packing List

Clothing

I generally have one raincoat, one midlayer, 3-5 shirts, 5-ish underwears/socks, 1-2 trousers, 1 pair of black tights, 1-2 pair of shorts. I also carry 1 baseball cap, because it can keep rain from getting on my glasses when it rains. I lose baseball caps almost as much as I lose wireless earbuds.

Other tips:

• Dark trousers and backpack. Even if you wash your clothes often, traveling tends to be dirty enough that they will inevitably just stain.
• Prefer the raincoat to be brightly colored, for rain/snow visibility. I wear a bright-red Patagonia Torrentshell, I found at a used-gear store.
• Prefer midlayer to be semi-nice looking, so you don’t get turned away at London’s experimental cocktail bar when it’s cold outside and only have a bright green lookin’-like-a-mountaineer Patagonia midlayer.
• For the same reason, unoffensive and passable-looking shoes are helpful.
• Avoid white where possible for ease of wash
• Avoid clothes with weird wash requirements. It’ll feel bad if you find a place with bedbugs, and you get to melt your $300 techical jacket in a super hot dry cycle for your own sanity. Although I’ve generally found wash requirements on clothing to be super conservative anyways.

Some brands I use right now. None of these are cheap, but that’s mostly because I have zero brand-loyalty when it comes to cheaper products. These ones are the reliable brands I turn to for specific things:

• Oliver’s Apparel – sturdiest merino wool shirts I’ve found. Also have 1 pair of each of their all-over shorts and passage pants. This is the only brand I go out of my way to buy between traveling (hard to get while traveling).
• Uniqlo - If I can’t replace Oliver’s stuff, Uniqlo is a brand that’s much easier to find worldwide, so the consistency is nice. Some of their fits are slightly weird on me, though. For men, their AIRism underwear is compact and easy to handwash/dry. Most other mens briefs are weirdly and unnecessarily bulky.
• Lululemon - Still has great tights. And their t-shirts are nice. Their trousers are too bulky for me.

Consumables

I can avoid putting quite a few things on my “packing list”, because I buy things on arrival. Sometimes I’ll carry them with me, but I DEFINITELY don’t try buy any “travel” versions of these things:

• Soap, Shampoo
• Toothpaste, toothbrush
• Razors
• Isopropyl Alcohol (I have a little sprayer. Spray alcohol is useful)
• Lotion / Sun Lotion
• Nail Polish Remover

Language #

I ALWAYS try to get to at least some super super basic idea of a language before I get there. There have been a couple times where I went in mostly blind, and it’s just stressful.

Mostly, I’m entirely focused on some simple situations, sounding out words, and word recognition. The simple situations are obviously useful. The other two I like working on because it helps me recognize things when I get there, and helps me feel much more confident. Not sure if that’s the “correct” way to learn a language quickly, but when you arrive somewhere, hearing a word you know or being able to read a sign can be really nice, mentally. And when you’re interacting in that language for the first time, confidence is EVERYTHING.

I’m not going to lie, though, the “simple situations” I metioned are basically just food things haha.

• Buying things at a convenience or grocery store
  • “Do you need a bag?”
  • “Cash or card?”
  • “Do you want a receipt?”
• Getting food at a restaurant (starting at a coffeeshop, because it’s a more restricted vocabulary)
  • “For here or takeaway?”
  • “Do you have a restroom?”
  • “I would like this, please” (point until you know words haha)

I usually try to always order in the local language, then take pictures of restaurant menus, so I can practice food words and order something different later.