I feel bad for most people I see in airports. Not only are they carrying larger, heavier bags than I am (or, gasp, checking luggage), but they鈥檙e lugging all that extra weight just to bring along clothing and other stuff that鈥檚 making them聽less comfortable. These lessons from the outdoors world will change your life the next time you fly somewhere.
#1. All Merino Everything
I haven鈥檛 taken more than one pair of socks anywhere but the backcountry in years. That鈥檚 because a single pair of thin merino wool items work to keep my feet warm when it鈥檚 cold, cool when it鈥檚 hot, dry all the time, and they remain stink-free for up to a week.
The same attributes are true of other items of clothing made from the material. A merino t-shirt on its own will help keep you cool on hot days, or can be layered under other clothing to make an ideal base layer on cool nights.
The are affordable, and as good an option for merino socks as anything out there. For shirts, I like NuYarn, which is made from a stronger merino weave that holds up better to regular washing. Trew makes from that material. Want to dress things up a bit? Civic, a new brand from Taylor Stitch, offers a variety of stylish dress shirts, henleys, and chinos made from merino. I鈥檝e been wearing stuff for a few months, and can report that it鈥檚 a major wardrobe upgrade.
The last great thing about merino is that it鈥檚 easy to clean and can be dried quickly, even in a hotel room. Just hand wash it with a little in the sink, rinse it clean, then wring it out and hang it up overnight. If for some reason it鈥檚 not dry by the next morning, just hit it with a hair dryer for a few minutes. That鈥檚 how I make the one pair of socks thing work.
#2. Adopt the Multi-Use Principle
When you go on a challenging, multi-day backcountry trip, one of the best ways to reduce weight is to make sure that any item you bring is good for multiple things. So, you eat your oatmeal out of the same titanium cup you make coffee in.
The same principal can achieve the same benefits for the traveler. can wash your clothes, shampoo your hair, clean your skin, do dishes, and even brush your teeth. The only caveat is that if you plan to put it in your mouth, make sure you get the tea tree oil variety, that鈥檚 the only one that tastes acceptable. Continuing the theme, tea tree oil is naturally anti-fungal, so it can help prevent athlete鈥檚 foot, and other gross infections you鈥檙e exposed to when you stay in interesting places.
#3. Take an Ultralight Puffy Everywhere
I apply that same multi-use idea to my puffy down jacket. is tailored to fit like a shirt, but benefits from top-shelf technical materials like an ultra-thin face fabric that looks swanky, but is also durable, breathable, and highly wind and water resistant. Combined with the 900-fill power Polish goose down, that means this single item of clothing works as well while having dinner on a chilly patio, as it does keeping me warm and dry on a misty hike. Paired with that merino t-shirt, and a shell jacket, it helps form a total outdoor layering system too.
The best part? The whole thing weighs just 11.5 ounces and packs down to the size of an apple. That鈥檚 a substantial level of performance and comfort and performance I鈥檓 able to bring along for the smallest possible penalty. And that makes this jacket a better cool weather travel staple than a heavier, less warm, less capable wool sweater, flannel shirt, or casual travel jacket, all of which it replaces in my bag.
#4. Bring Your Own Sleep System
Going on the kind of trip that might see you crashing on a couch, traveling on a boat, staying in a hostel, or enduring long layovers in a big airport? Packing an ultralight sleeping pad and quilt will give you the flexibility to sleep anywhere comfortably.
I carry the , and a . Quilts take a little practice to get the most performance out of when the nights are cold, but these two items are designed to work together, eliminating both drafts and extra weight. All up weight for the system is just 2.5 pounds (I need the tall sizes), and gives me total nighttime comfort down to 35 degrees.
On a trip to Cuba last summer, taking my own sleep system along meant that I didn鈥檛 have to share motel room beds with Chris Brinlee Jr. (who鈥檚 the smelliest human alive), didn鈥檛 have to use the gross bedding at the cheap guest house in Havana, and that I had a place to sleep when Chris got seasick, and stole my berth on the sailboat. All that from a system that delivers an amazing night鈥檚 sleep.
#5. ….And a UV Water Purifier
Don鈥檛 drag a UV water purifier into the backcountry. Not only will you find yourself up the proverbial creek if the batteries fail, but . Any sediment gives tiny protozoa, bacteria, and viruses a place to hide from the UV rays.
Where work great though is for traveling to foreign cities. There, the tap water is likely clear, but may contain anything up to and including viruses, which most lightweight filters are unable to remove.
#6. Prepare to聽Poop
Speaking of bowel movements, strange food, and foreign customs can combine to create鈥awkward situations. Set yourself up for success by bringing along baby wipes, a little bottle of hand sanitizer, and before and throughout your trip. Honestly, this has been the most life changing lesson I鈥檝e learned in recent years.
#7. Stay in聽Shape
Traveling a lot聽has always made it hard to maintain a fitness routine. Larger hotels have bad gyms, that often don鈥檛 even have even basic equipment like a squat rack, or pull up bars. And AirBnBs and borrowed couches typically have nothing.
Recently, I鈥檝e been toting around a , and its . It鈥檚 not the smallest, or most convenient package, but it is a packable solution I can use virtually anywhere. Water isn鈥檛 as dense as iron, so it only fills up to about 22 pounds, but that鈥檚 still enough to put in a solid session of single-arm swings and presses. And a few hundred of those a day can make all the difference to feeling good, and not getting fat while on the road.
#8. Carry All this Comfortably
After graduating from UCLA law-school last year, one of my best friends took off on a six-month, round-the-world trip that saw him go sailing in Greece, backpacking in Colombia, and beer drinking in Budapest, among many other adventures. He asked me to help him figure out how to do all of that from a single carry-on bag.
That was easy. I just threw nine-tenths of his crap back into his closet, then handed him the , and told him he could only take what would fit inside it.
Traveling out of a legit technical pack gives you the ability to move seamlessly from the escalators of airports, to standing-room-only busses, to exploring a new city on foot, or even taking off through the jungle to find a secret beach to camp on. The problem is, most technical packs make you look like an Australian on a gap year. Made from a nice-looking brushed material, the Tahquitz will fit in at a nice hotel as well as it will on the trail, and is full of clever features that make traveling with it a breeze. Six months later, the pack still looked like new. Sam tried to give it back to me, but I told him he鈥檇 earned it.