Hey everyone…it’s Jen and Greg again with another update on our travels! Today we would like to share a bit about the backpacks we chose, why we chose them and with what we’re going to fill them. As we’ve talked with people about our trip, many have been shocked when we tell them we’re just traveling with two backpacks. Of course, these aren’t your normal backpacks that you carried in elementary school. A lot of research went into making sure we chose the right pack for our needs and we’d like to give you some insight into our decision.
After narrowing down our list to a few options, we were able to try them all on at REI before selecting one. Ultimately we opted for the Osprey Farpoint 40-liter backpack. It was, by far, the most comfortable of all the packs and had several features that we appreciated. One of its most important attributes is that it fits the dimensions for a carry-on bag, allowing the packs to stay with us at all times instead of checking it when we fly or travel by train. The packs also have waist and sternum straps which help disperse the weight instead of it resting solely on your shoulders. So, yes, it’s literally a weight off of your shoulders! Lastly, there is a stowaway harness on the back of the pack which is a “pocket” that holds the folded up shoulder and waist straps. When zipped up, the backside of the bag is flat and it makes going through security lines and stowing in overhead bins much easier!
When you hear the word “backpacking”, it may immediately bring to mind hostels. But we won’t be doing that! We did realize, though, that we would need to reevaluate how we pack for a trip like this. Think about when you pack for a normal vacation - what do you do? You probably plan an outfit for each day - making sure you have shoes, accessories, etc. to go with each one. This method wasn’t an option for our type of travel, so we knew we were going to need a little help! Our search led us to the “OneBag” online community. OneBagging is about traveling and packing efficiently. It also allows you to be mobile easily.
Greg was sold on the idea almost immediately while I took a little bit longer to get onboard. But as I thought about what I wore and used on a weekly basis, I quickly realized that I wear the same shirts, my favorite pair of jeans and the same 2 pairs of shoes over and over. Greg and I are very similar in that way, so maybe this “OneBag” concept would be even easier to accomplish than we originally thought.
We found several packing lists on various OneBag sites, but there was one in particular that spoke to us. It was very similar to the way we were already dressing and living our lives. Here’s what it consisted of:
3-5 shirts (combination of long- and short-sleeves)
2 pairs of pants
1-2 pairs of shorts
5 pairs of underwear
1-2 bras
5 pairs of socks
1-2 pairs of shoes (preferably a pair of comfortable walking shoes and a pair of sandals)
light jacket or hoodie
One thing that all of the articles stressed was to make sure that you have layers. In addition to the above list, we also bought down jackets from REI. They are very compressible and pack easily at the bottom of the backpack. Plus we got a great deal on them…since you don’t really need down jackets in Texas. Another recommendation is to not wear clothing with sports’ team logos, superhero emblems, and the like because this can mark you as a tourist making you a possible target for scams. This has been one of the hardest parts of packing because so much of what we wear are those things. I admittedly snuck one LSU shirt into my bag to use as a sleep shirt because it just felt wrong to leave without it!
As we were shopping for new clothes, we had to keep in mind that we would be handwashing and hanging our clothes to dry while traveling. Ideally, the items we chose would be lightweight and quick drying. To make sure what we planned to pack would be suitable, we did several test runs of handwashing our clothes at home. Maybe you’re picturing us washing clothes like in the olden days, scrubbing our clothes against a rock and wringing them out before throwing them over a clothesline? Well, that’s not exactly how it works. We decided to give the following combination a try: a 20-liter collapsible sink that’s typically used for camping, dissolving laundry sheets and a portable clothesline that folds up into a small pouch. The sink is large enough to fit several pieces of clothing at a time, which works perfectly for the drying space of the clothesline. Essentially, we just let the clothes soak in cold water and laundry solution for 5-10 minutes and rinse them until the water runs clear. We never wring the clothes out as that breaks down the fibers quickly. And goodness knows, I need my Target t-shirts to last as long as possible! Next, we squeeze the water out of the clothes and then lay them out on towels. The excess moisture is removed by rolling the clothes up in towels like a huge Swiss cake roll and then stepping on them like you’re crushing grapes. Finally, we hang them on the clothesline to dry. Most of our clothes have dried within a day and a half with jeans taking a little longer. But it’s still quick enough that, in most cases, we’ll be able to do laundry and repack before moving on to the next city.
Unlike liquid laundry detergent, the sheets are not meant for stain removal, so we had to find an alternative. Dawn sponges were the answer. These got a few laughs because they looked so crazy, but they really work! You just cut up regular sponges - not the ones with the scrubbing side - into small cubes and then let them soak in Dawn liquid detergent. After the detergent is absorbed, lay them out to dry. They fit easily into a quart-size Ziploc bag and are able to be packed in carry-on luggage because they’re technically not a liquid. Surprisingly enough, one small cube (about 1/16 of a sponge) fills about 2 kitchen sinks worth of suds! So these will be extremely handy for getting out food and dirt stains or even washing out glasses or water bottles.
Speaking of water bottles, we spent more time trying to find a water bottle than I ever thought would be necessary but we did wind up with a pretty cool one! The LifeStraw water bottle comes with a built-in filter that catches 99% of bacteria and viruses. You can technically put the straw into a stream or river and drink directly from of it without fear of getting sick, so we definitely feel confident we’ll be safe drinking the water wherever we go. The bottle itself is stainless steel and the filter lasts for over 1,000 gallons so it’s not only durable but we’ll be able to go several months without having to replace the filter. It’s easy to carry which will allow us to bring it along on our sightseeing to keep us hydrated. I also like to joke that it’s dual-purpose because when it’s filled, it can also be used as a weapon!
Some of the other items you’ll see in the picture are our toiletries - toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, medicines, a first-aid kit. We also have the laptop, power adapters and cords, rubber door stops to put on the inside of the door when we sleep in case we’re in a place that may not have reliable locks and our PacSafe security mesh. This wire mesh fits around the backpacks and is able to be tethered to an immovable piece of furniture or fixture. The holes in the mesh are not large enough to slide most items through, so when we leave for the day we’ll be able to secure our packs and not worry about them being taken or anything being removed from them.
In addition to our security mesh, we also purchased another PacSafe item - an urban slingbag. The slingbag is a crossbody bag that will hold our wallets, phones, and anything else we want to carry with us on our daily outings. It’s also designed to be anti-theft with slash-proof straps, locking zippers and RFID protection. As a side note, if you’ve never looked into the PacSafe brand, you should! They have lots of great items that provide a higher level of security than your normal backpacks and purses.
I’m sure by now you’re wondering how all of this stuff is going to fit neatly into two backpacks. It’s a simple answer - packing cubes and Ziploc bags! Both of these help provide much needed organization. Other than our jackets, all of our clothing items fit into the packing cubes. Everything else is in Ziploc bags which not only protect our tech items from weather but if any of the toiletries spill, the mess will be contained to the Ziploc bag. The cubes and Ziploc bags also make removing things easier without leaving everything else in a jumbled mess.
We know this may seem like a lot to lug around, but the packs actually aren’t that heavy when they’re filled! Mine weighs about 25 pounds and Greg’s weighs a bit more at 27 pounds because he has the majority of the tech items. Before leaving, we walked around the neighborhood wearing our packs to make sure that we could carry them longer distances. We were pleasantly surprised at the comfort of them and feel confident that we’ll be able to get from train stations to hotels without much of an issue.
Hopefully, this post helps you guys understand a little bit more about how we’re going to manage this kind of trip on a single bag without thinking we’re completely nuts. To be honest, packing in this manner has actually been a bit liberating! We’ll definitely be sharing later on about things that have worked well and the things that we would do differently along the way.
If you have any questions for us, feel free to email us at connect@jenandgreg.travel and we’ll answer as soon as we can. Thanks again for checking in and we’ll see you at the next stop!
- J