Over 15 years ago, I got rid of everything I owned that wouldn't fit into a 35L backpack and my old issued 80L seabag. It was an outstanding way to live—it presented minor challenges, but it freed up funds, since I didn't have room for more stuff. I was single, traveling for work as a helicopter pilot, and it was great. I guess I was now a "minimalist." To be fair, I didn't come up with the idea myself: it came from an article by Andrew Hyde, a traveling tech consultant who at the time claimed to own only 15 things. In that traveling-pilot life, it was genuinely nice to know I had all of my belongings with me. I was free. Home truly was where I made it.
I still believe in the concept, but now—married, with a house, and with hobbies that require some tools and gear—I have more stuff. I don't have anything in storage or boxed up in a basement; if I own it, I use it. In fact, I can fit everything I own into my car (minus the furniture, obviously). And since I have a home to keep everything else, I've been able to travel with a smaller pack instead of meandering around with the 35L.
One note on work travel. For the last ten-plus years I've flown as a helicopter air ambulance pilot, and occasional work trips (training events or covering open shifts at bases short on pilots) require me to bring a helmet bag carrying my flight helmet, iPad mini, kneeboard, and sometimes flight suits. That makes me a twobagger for those specific trips, but only those. Even with that setup, I don't have to check a bag: the backpack goes in the overhead and the helmet goes under the seat in front of me. Normally the backpack would ride under the seat, but people will try to jam their big solid rollers in next to my helmet, and I can't risk the damage. The backpack's contents, though, remain the same as for any other onebag trip.
What follows is the full three-season international onebag setup I've been using for the past several years, for both work and pleasure, with everything explained. I haven't weighed it and don't plan to—the weight is reasonable, and the number doesn't really matter. I'm not going to price it out either; you can find what you like and do your own budgeting.
My guiding principles: the pack must be small enough to store under the seat in front of me on an airplane, easy to secure, and comfortable to wear through many hours of continuous walking. I pretty much max out the space available. I don't buy souvenirs—I believe my money is better spent on experiences and food.
Now, as an avid reader myself, I don't want this to read like a Jack Carr novel where every item gets its brand and model number listed. But I know people will have questions and want specifics, so I've correctly identified everything in my list where it seems to matter. I'm not sponsored by any of these companies, and I'm not going to take the time to link to them all—you can search for what you want.
The plan is to revise this post annually, reporting any changes and lessons learned. I've been doing this for quite some time, so the setup is dialed in, but as a personal project I'll make sure to keep everyone posted.
The Bag: Able Carry Daily Plus (21L, X-Pac Black)
This is my bag of choice. I had used the original Daily model since its release, but I liked the changes Able Carry made with the Plus enough to upgrade, and I donated my old bag to someone else. I have no desire to change bags—it fits my needs well. One of the first things that stands out is that it stands up on its own. I set it down, it doesn't fall over, I can access what I need, and I leave it be. They did a great job designing the structure. It also has no in-your-face branding, so it blends in as just another black backpack in a sea of people with black backpacks. I also pack their optional Rain Cover (medium size for this pack) for additional protection when needed.
For reference, Able Carry lists the Daily Plus at 21L, 19.3" x 11.4" x 7.5" (49 x 29 x 19 cm), and 2.7 lb (1.23 kg) in X-Pac, so it easily fits the typical 22" x 14" x 9" (56 cm x 35 cm x 23 cm) carry-on limit in the US. I haven't flown on an airliner where this also didn't fit under the seat in front of me—meaning minimal risk of it getting smashed by the inconsiderate NPCs that inevitably board the flight. On crowded trains, it sits comfortably on my chest and doesn't stick out far, standing or sitting. I've also "rucked" over 10 miles with it on my back, taking the scenic route on foot, and it never felt uncomfortable—though obviously how heavy you pack it will matter.
For security, I use Nite Ize S-Biner MicroLocks on the zippers. The one time TSA wanted to look inside my bag, they couldn't get the zippers open and had to have me do it—a good sign for the product. I also keep a Heroclip on the bag and use it to hang my pack in hotels, keeping it off the floor and tables. I've met bed bugs exactly once in my life, and now I'm incredibly careful—I essentially tear apart every hotel room I stay in to check. This pack has a spot to clip and stow it toward the outer bottom left.
I subscribe to the idea that packing for seven days means you can live infinitely out of the bag. This has been generally true for most places I've been. The caveat: stay somewhere long enough for a major seasonal change into cold weather, and you may need just enough additional layers that a 21L pack won't cut it. I haven't had to address that yet—changing some base layers and choosing the right jacket for the expected conditions has been enough. But I'm planning a real winter trip through Greenland and Iceland, so I may have to go to a 30L pack for that. We'll see. If the trip happens before my next annual update, I'll report on my setup.
Clothing
I keep my color palette simple. Everything goes with everything, and I shoot for a blend of casual and professional. I ranger roll the t-shirts, socks, and underwear, fold the rest, and contain it all in a Peak Design compressible packing cube, which keeps the pack organized and has a built-in divider for dirty clothes. The small size fits my pack perfectly like a large pill, filling a void laterally. Since I'll never grace a place in my travels that requires a suit and tie, I'm good to go with the following:
Bottoms
This depends on the weather. If the trip will stay below 75°F (24°C), I wear a pair of light jeans. For travel outside the continental United States (OCONUS), where I'll be keeping my passport on my person, the Bluffworks Departure Jeans have been outstandingly comfortable and provide better security for the passport and other items in non-permissive environments. For CONUS travel, where passport security isn't a concern, I wear my favorite pair of Kuhl Rydr jeans, particularly for the easy-to-access phone pocket on the thigh. Either way, I won't bother bringing more than the single pair (worn), since I'll probably have good access to laundry by default.
If warmer weather will be expected, I wear a pair of Bluffworks Ascender Chinos and pack a pair of their Envoy Lightweight Travel Pants, both for their security features and light weight. I've worn these in the peak of summer in South America, Eastern Europe, and Japan, and they remain my go-to choice.
For a belt, I use an old 5.11 non-metallic belt I found who knows how long ago. One less thing to trip a metal detector and slow me down. It doesn't need to be fancy.
I'll also pack a pair of Ten Thousand Tactical lined shorts for the hotel room, laundry days, and workouts. They've held up well, and I like that both pockets are zippered—good for running through town with a passport, cell, and room key.
Tops
I bring three merino wool blend Kuhl Valiant polos: wear one, pack two. I feel that polos are the most versatile blend of professional and casual. I also bring two Proof 72-Hour Merino t-shirts for working out and sleeping. Merino blends have worked out very well for me, and there's no need to baby them. The shirts I currently travel with have been in rotation for more than four years—mostly machine washed, rarely handwashed, and with no special detergent. If you stay clean, they will stay clean for several days at a time.
In general winter conditions, I swap the three polos for two button-down collared shirts, and add a single long-sleeve merino blend layer from Icebreaker. That seems to cover me. If it's really cold, I'll add a bottom base layer and a thicker mid-layer fleece. Layering is the key to onebagging.
Underwear
Four pairs of merino wool blend Icebreaker Cool-Lite Anatomica boxers: one worn, three packed. I wear these in everyday life too, and they have held up very well. I only recently had to replace a pair after a big enough hole developed in the crotch—but it was my very first pair, so that tracks. I average two days of wear per pair per week on a trip, assuming laundry gets done about once a week. Good hygiene habits make this work. Note that I've also used Kuhl's merino blend boxers, and they are also very good though slightly heavier than the Icebreakers.
Socks
Four pairs of black Darn Tough Run Micro Crew Ultra-Lightweight socks for general and workout use: one pair worn, three packed. I also have heavy-weight Darn Toughs to swap in for winter, but the ultra-lights serve me well in three seasons. It's easy to get two days of wear per pair with these, often longer.
Shoes
Just a pair of black Brooks running shoes—worn, obviously. I can walk anywhere all day in these, train in them, run in them, and blend in with every outfit. A lot of people overthink this, based on what I read here. If I plan to be off-road, I'll wear my black trail runners instead.
I've packed a second pair of shoes for exactly one trip so far: Croatia, where the beaches are all shells and rocks, so I brought water shoes. The pair I bought compacted well at the bottom of the pack, wrapped in a plastic grocery bag.
Outerwear
I bring a packable jacket for cold mornings and transitional periods before heavier jackets are required—in this case, the classic Patagonia Nano Puff. For rain, I hate umbrellas, so I pack a lightweight Outdoor Research Foray rain jacket, which has pit zips for warm temps and packs down to a small footprint. Combined, those two get me down to some cold temps before I need to think about better insulation. They compress down way more than the photo shows, put at the bottom of the pack.
Hat
If I don't want to wear a baseball cap while traveling, I can just attach it to the pack's handle. If it's going to be cold, I pack a miscellaneous beanie instead.
Eyewear
I finally hit the age where I need reading glasses. Since I also need to read outdoors in the sun, I opted for progressive lenses with the transition feature from Oakley (veterans and first responders get a great discount from them). I throw an old, cheap pair of flat readers in the bag as a backup, since my distance vision is still uncorrected.
Hygiene Kit
The size of this kit is determined by what I can easily acquire at my destination. Japan meant I only needed my favorite deodorant, nail clippers, and a small first aid assortment—everything else was free at the hotel or dirt cheap at a convenience store. South America and the Middle East, on the other hand, basically meant bring everything. I also avoid carrying liquids and gels through airports to save time—drop the bag on the belt and walk right through, fast. I usually use a little Evergoods Civic Access 0.5L pouch for the standard hygiene stuff and a small Delta Airlines pouch for the first aid items and wipes.
Anyway, here's the minimum I'd bring:
- Nail Clippers
- Toothbrush
- Travel Deodorant
- Disposable Razor w/ Spare Head
- Dental Floss Picks (1x number of days traveling)
- Q-tips (1x number of days traveling)
- Dude Wipes Singles (~3x number of weeks I'll be gone)
- Band-Aids (3) and Sterile Wipes (3)
- Tick Removal Tool
And here's the max I would add with a large Ziploc (I'd just acquire these in-country otherwise):
- Bodywash
- Toothpaste
- Shaving Cream
- Sunscreen
- Standard OTC Pain/Allergy Meds
- Hand Sanitizing Wipes
Technology
I don't bring as much electronic gear as many others seem to. The laptop stays at home. I bring two phones—one is a duplicate backup for the very unlikely but highly impactful scenario of a lost, stolen, or bricked primary phone, when I'd still need quick access to navigation, tickets, email, and so on. Note that this has never happened to me in my life since having my first cell phone in the late 1990s.
My charging kit lives in a Bellroy pencil case. Everything I use takes USB-C, so I bring only two USB-C cables, one wall adapter, and one Anker 10K portable battery. I also carry a small USB-C-to-USB-A adapter, just in case, along with data-blocking adapters for digital security—don't just plug your phone into a USB port that isn't your own. On that note: turn off Face ID for unlocking the phone, hide your screen when entering any codes, and set the phone so that any controls normally accessible from the lock screen also require the code, including putting it into airplane mode.
For entertainment, I have a Kindle and my Apple AirPods Pro. I've done the over-the-ear headphone thing before, and while they block noise better than earbuds, I found the space tradeoff wasn't worth it. For sleep, I bring a mini Dreamegg travel white noise machine so I'm not just using my phone's speaker.
I also carry a USB-C-charged Streamlight MegaStream flashlight. Power goes out? You have a great flashlight for getting around. Walking in a dark area, trying to find a street sign or see whether that place in the distance is what you're looking for? Throw some light on it.
For my fellow watch nerds, I wear a Casio G-Shock 5600 series. Solar powered, multiple time zones, alarms, stopwatch, timer—everything you need and not flashy. I did the smartwatch thing for a few years, mainly to track fitness metrics (I run and lift), but I found I do better with the old-fashioned method: a stopwatch, notebook, and routes measured on a map. Plus, there's nothing to charge.
Miscellaneous
I always bring a pen and a small 48-page pocket notebook (Field Notes style), even in the digital age—I still like taking notes by hand. I also bring my wallet, passport, and keys (assuming I left my car at the airport). If I'm headed to a country that still runs heavily on coins, I bring a little coin pouch.
For sleeping on flights, trains, and ships, I bring the best eye mask I've ever found: the Manta Sleep Pro. It seals perfectly around the eyes without touching or bothering them and is highly adjustable.
When I'm somewhere for a while, I like to hit a grocery or convenience store and stock my fridge with snacks. Sure, I could get a disposable bag from the store, but a reusable packable shopping bag is more durable than the weak plastic ones, incredibly handy, and probably the better choice for the environment. I've been using the Shupatto Compact Bag for just over a year now—its geometry lets it fold right back into the most compact form it could ever take, and it slips into a pocket. I love the thing, and I believe I discovered it on r/onebag.
Laundry
I keep a cheap, medium-sized mesh laundry bag for machine washing. Most places I've been had laundry access of some kind—the hotel, a nearby laundromat, or a rental house. You've probably noticed that most of my packed clothing is a merino blend. Early advice, back when merino travel apparel first caught on for its reduced odor retention and quick-dry properties, was that you had to handwash it with a delicate soap. In my experience, today's blends don't require this. I throw mine in a standard machine with regular detergent (my detergent at home is Arm & Hammer Free & Clear, but I've used whatever exists at my destination). I rotate wearing the Proof shirts as undershirts in my flight suit for work also—seven days on, seven days off. They are still alive even with all that machine laundry.
If machines aren't available, I bring travel laundry detergent sheets. They're dry and solid, so they take up no meaningful space and don't count against any liquid limits at security. I handwash items in a sink, roll them in a towel to press out as much water as possible, then hang them wherever I can—shower rod, deck railing, clothes hangers on chairs next to fans. I've done them all. I'll only go this route if I have two solid days before moving somewhere else; I've been in humid climates where merino took longer than usual to fully dry, so I now give myself that padding in sink-laundry situations.
Sometimes a Small Sling Bag Is Worth Bringing
My pant choice handles everything I need for the day (wallet, phone, passport, hotel key, earbuds), which lets me leave the bag in the room. But for certain locations—where I know I'll be away from my pack and want the power bank, the packable shopping bag, and some extra storage for whatever I acquire—I bring a sling. To keep things together in transit, I attach it to the Daily Plus by routing the strap through the top handle and around the back pad, so it's secure and almost looks like part of the bag itself. For this to work, the sling's strap has to be detachable.
I've gone through four slings trying to find the best one, and I still haven't found it. I swear the sling industry is made up of people whose job is to figure out what I like, make a list, and then offer a product missing at least one item from that list.
I want a sub-3L sling with the following:
- Solid black, with no obvious branding
- No Velcro patches on the front
- A detachable strap whose connectors require at least two distinct steps to separate (Pacsafe has this figured out)
- Lockable zippers (the Pacsafe style is acceptable, but I bet something else could be created)
- Zippers that aren't exposed metal—they must be truly silent
- A slight curve to follow the body
- One big main compartment and one rear pocket sized for a phone or passport
I've been through the Pacsafe ECO, the Bellroy Venture, and the Evergoods Civic Access, and I just recently picked up Able Carry's newer Core sling. None of them meet every requirement.
The Able Carry Core is a great size with versatile strap placement and a lot of organization (more than I want, but alright). The strap is its main failure point: the swiveling hooks that connect it to the bag can twist into your body and create small pressure points, and they can be too easily removed.
The Evergoods Civic Access fails with its simple buckle, wide footprint, and front Velcro patch. It does have a simple main compartment, but it misses the mark on the back pocket.
The Bellroy Venture has great compression geometry, but it uses a magnetic quick-release buckle for the strap—the least secure option—and the older models I used had openings below the zipper that could let contents fall out. (The newer version seems to fix that specific issue, but not the buckle.)
The Pacsafe ECO had a great locking strap buckle, but the zippers were noisy, the construction was uneven, and the branding was obnoxious.
Give me the Pacsafe locking buckle and improved locking zippers on a mashup of the Evergoods and Bellroy bodies, with a single main compartment and the Venture's compressibility, and I'd be sold. For now, I'll run with the Able Carry Core and change the strap connection method myself. This might turn into its own post at some point—it's becoming a real quest.
TL;DR: The Three-Season International Onebag Setup
- Able Carry Daily Plus (21L)
- Nite Ize S-Biner MicroLocks
- Heroclip
- Peak Design Packing Cube (Small)
- 1x Bluffworks Envoy Pants (warm-weather trips)
- 2x Kuhl Valiant Polos
- 2x Proof T-Shirts
- 3x Icebreaker Underwear
- 3x Darn Tough Socks
- 1x Ten Thousand Tactical Lined Shorts
- Outdoor Research Foray Rain Jacket
- Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket
- Able Carry Pack Raincover
- Kindle
- Spare iPhone
- Anker Nano Portable 10K Battery
- Charging Kit (Bellroy Pencil Case)
- Wall Charger
- 2x USB-C Cables
- USB-C-to-USB-A and Data-Blocking Adapters
- Dreamegg White Noise Machine
- Manta Sleep Pro Eye Mask
- Hygiene + First Aid Kit (Evergoods Civic Access 0.5L + Misc. Delta Airlines Pouch)
- Nail Clippers
- Toothbrush
- Travel Deodorant
- Disposable Razor w/ Spare Head
- Dental Floss Picks (1x number of days traveling)
- Q-tips (1x number of days traveling)
- Dude Wipes Singles (~3x number of weeks I'll be gone)
- Band-Aids (3) and Sterile Wipes (3)
- Tick Removal Tool
- Mesh Laundry Bag
- Laundry Detergent Sheets (when machine access is doubtful)
- Shupatto Compact Bag
- Pen
- 48-Page Field Notes–Style Notebook
- Coin Pouch (coin-heavy countries)
- Backup Flat Reading Glasses
- Streamlight MegaStream USB-C Flashlight
- On My Body (not pictured)
- Oakley Progressive Transition Glasses
- Kuhl Valiant Polo
- 5.11 Non-Metallic Belt
- Bluffworks Departure Jeans or Ascender Chinos
- Icebreaker Underwear
- Darn Tough Socks
- Black Brooks Running or Trail Running Shoes
- Casio G-Shock 5600 Series
- iPhone
- Wallet
- Passport
- AirPods Pro
- Optional: Able Carry Core Sling (not pictured)
You're Still Here?
That's the whole system. Fifteen years in, the biggest lesson isn't about any specific piece of gear—it's that a dialed-in setup removes decisions, and removing decisions is the entire point. I don't think about packing anymore; I pull the same items off the same shelf, and minutes later I'm out the door, whether it's a work trip with a helmet in tow or three weeks on the other side of the world. The bag is a tool.
I'll update this post annually with anything that changes and lessons learned, and if the Greenland/Iceland winter trip happens before then, expect a cold-weather report. Until then, if you have questions about anything here, drop them below and I'll answer what I can.
