Favorite Minimalist Travel Hacks/Products?

[kathryn]

I can't claim to be uber-fashionable in daily life, but I wear the same things to travel that I wear everyday.

I agree with the comments above about dressing stylishly while still packing light. It takes extra thought and planning--but frankly, I LOVE doing that. I refine my capsule wardrobe skills every time I travel. And, I very rarely buy a piece that is travel-specific and not something I'd wear at home. In fact, at the moment I can't think of even one item like that in my wardrobe.

[GrussGott]

That's outright indulgent right there. Real minimalists have no bags

back when i used to work for an international airline, the fun thing to do was show up at the airport with the clothes on you back, your passport and credit cards, find the best seats on the longest flight, show up where ever, and then "urban camp" your way through the rest of the trip, finding hotels, restaurants, clothes, etc.

Probably not what you mean, but was a fun reminder

[pvn]

Travel-size deodorant sticks are a huge space hog (they're 90% empty). Also, its very hard to find actual deodorant in travel sizes anyway (most that you find in the travel sizes are antiperspirant).

I bought a bunch of empty lip balm tubes on ebay, then you can just take a full-size speedstick or similar, chop up the stick, and squish it into the tubes.

Now I get my dopp into a Q-kit, which wasn't possible before this.

[Katsage]

Travel-size deodorant sticks are a huge space hog (they're 90% empty). Also, its very hard to find actual deodorant in travel sizes anyway (most that you find in the travel sizes are antiperspirant).

I bought a bunch of empty lip balm tubes on ebay, then you can just take a full-size speedstick or similar, chop up the stick, and squish it into the tubes.

Now I get my dopp fits into a Q-kit, which wasn't possible before this.

Great idea! I may have to steel that one. I am trying to downsize my toiletries and couldn’t think of how to only carry a small container for deodorant.

[kathryn]

Travel-size deodorant sticks are a huge space hog (they're 90% empty).

I’ve been thinking of getting a cream deodorant (very old fashioned—makes me think of the 1920s) and decanting from the jar into a small tube for travel. Bioderma makes one that looks promising, if expensive.

[Lia]

I empty my deodorant container into a tiny pot. I apply it with my finger and save a bunch of space in my bag!

[flitcraft]

I decant gel deodorant into a little flip-top jar. It's round, about the size of a fifty cent piece, and about a half inch in height. Filled it'll hold enough for a week. I used to get these at Storables (RIP). Now you can get this kind of thing or other super-tiny jars online--businesses catering to little cosmetics companies that send out a lot of little free samples. Also, Asian markets often sell bags of tiny little plastic bottles designed to hold soy sauce in bento boxes. Perfect for decanting that little bit of serum or eye cream you need for traveling and takes up next to no space in the liquids-n-gels bag.

One other hack that I use is sample packets of makeup, toiletries, and skincare products. (Kiehl's is very generous with them, and assuming you can find a department store with a make up counter, you can score some there, too. Don't rip open the packet, though, or it'll make a mess later on in your travels or dry up and get gunky. Instead, use a pin or needle to poke a hole in one corner of the packet. Squeeze out what you want, and use your fingers to move most of the contents down and away from the hole. I spent a month on the road with a single packet of Kiehl's avocado eye cream once--and it was still fresh and creamy to the end.

[aedifica]

I’ve been thinking of getting a cream deodorant (very old fashioned—makes me think of the 1920s) and decanting from the jar into a small tube for travel. Bioderma makes one that looks promising, if expensive.

I bought a jar of Arrid cream antiperspirant a couple of years ago and put some in the smallest size of GoTubb for travel. I'm still on that first jar, though I've refilled the GoTubb a few times*. It's been working out well for me, and applying it reminds me of the only other cream deodorant I remember using (I bought that other one in Denmark as a teen, so that's a special memory).

*Clarification: I only use the cream antiperspirant when I'm traveling--I'm sure I would have run out by now if I used it daily.

[bltkmt]

Travel-size deodorant sticks are a huge space hog (they're 90% empty). Also, its very hard to find actual deodorant in travel sizes anyway (most that you find in the travel sizes are antiperspirant).

I bought a bunch of empty lip balm tubes on ebay, then you can just take a full-size speedstick or similar, chop up the stick, and squish it into the tubes.

Now I get my dopp into a Q-kit, which wasn't possible before this.

The travel size deodorant from Native are pretty small and wonderful.

[aedifica]

The travel size deodorant from Native are pretty small and wonderful.

And so cute! I have one of those too, I've been using Native deodorant the last few months when I'm not traveling. I ordered a sample pack from them and they included a travel-sized one. (I'm not totally sold on deodorant-not-antiperspirant for hot days yet, but that's a very personal choice.)

[b1gsky]

I use cream deodorant in everyday life and of course it’s also nice to travel with. I buy mine, but it’s fairly simple to make it at home if the only alternative is buying an expensive version. There are quite a few recipes on the internet.

[NWhikergal]

I love the Seattle brand of natural deodorant, Sodawax, and it looks like they now also are making travel sized ones. I am guessing these could likely be "topped off" from a normal size one once you have the travel sized dispenser too.

https://sodawax.com/product/minis-2pack/

Not as efficient as a little tub, but easy for application.

[sturbridge]

Coconut oil, with some essential oils that are anti bacterial works well as a deodorant. Coconut oil is anti microbial on its own, the essential oils are additional anti bacterial as well as for scent. I use tea tree, thyme and lavender (less of the thyme than the other two, as its stronger). I scoop some of this into a small container intended for holding a few aspirin. The only downside is that this will become liquid when it gets really hot (over 80 degrees or so in my experience). For travel antiperspirant, I just melt down some of the regular stuff in the microwave for 30-45 seconds and pour it into a sample/small push up container that I buy from soapmaker websites.

[jessmakes]

I think I've mentioned this in a thread once before. I have a small seat-side entertainment kit I don't leave home without. I've used everything in there at least once, so I keep them all in there. They have been able to surviving traveling comfortably with these items.

The bag is the smallest of the Sea to Summit Mini Stuff Sack Set. I keep an audio cable curled up at the bottom and then arrange a iPhone wall charger, a 12 volt USB car charger, USB phone charger,, iPod Shuffle with charging cable, iPhone earbuds with mic, and a dual lightening/micro USB charging cable.

Thank you for this suggestion! I took my solar #1 SS with me to Japan with charging cables, extra battery pack, headphones, etc in it for my seatback bag and it was so nice to have it all in one place!

[dgentile]

Travel Minimalism ...

it's right in my ball park

GEAR:
Favourite minimalistic gear:


Toiletries/First Aid:

I've never been huge on toiletries and frankly never understood why some people need tons of sprays, soaps, shampoos, this and that.
so for me one of the big things:
Quality, "healthy" bar soap and wrapping it in a Matador bar soap pouch (yup the thing is fantastic). it keeps the wet soap separated from the rest, and allows it to dry. it's (almost) magical.
Bar soap has a lot of advantages and the one I'm using is fine for body, hair and even sink-washing plus it does last quite a long while. But it's not liquid.. so it's perfectly carry on friendly and last a good deal longer than 100ml of liquid soap. also it can't leak.
I use a dry deodorant thingy... doesn't leak, lasts forever, and is airplane friendly.

I don't travel with an electric tooth brush and have a travel-foldable tooth brush that takes up no space.

in terms of medical items (first aid) A few alcohol antiseptic wipes, a pack or two of steri-strip wound closures, a bit of cut-to-size Band-Aid, some basic pills, such as pain killers (ibuprofene), something against diarrhoea, some stuff against feeling really nauseated / sea sick (luckily it does take a lot... but ), some water-cleaners (micropur forte tablets) to kill germs and stuff in water, just for emergency uses)
a VERY small (under 6cm blade, thus travel friendly) swiss army pocket knife has mini scissors, tweezers and a toothpick.

A travel towel, who doesn't love them.

I think reducing the first aid and personal toiletries kit is a great way to save a lot of space and weight in one's pack.



Clothes:
Well of course this varies a tad on climate...
but generally: sink wash.

Jacket: I love my "semi-affordable" mountain hardwear stretch ozonic jacket and matching rain pants.
VERY waterproof, very breathable and amazingly compact... but also extremely comfortable. Super lightweight, takes very little space.

Trousers: I usually take either one pair of lightweight shorts and one zip-off "lightweight" travel trouser along (plus the one I'm actually wearing) or if it's cold season only, two still "lightweight" trousers.

T-Shirts: well, fast drying, sports t-shirts, something lightweight... two in the pack, one I'm wearing.

One merino middle weight long sleeve for when it gets colder.
One pair of thermal underwear for the cold season + gloves slim insulated arc'tery gloves and a burglar beanie for COLD SEASON travel.
black original "The Buff".. it's rarely "cool" but it does work for so many things.

modern, fast drying low socks,... two pairs + one I'm wearing

Underwear... I'm a huge fan of Odlo's ultra lightweight, fast drying sports stuff... it's expensive - but frankly it's hard to get them to smell ... they wash quickly and dry really fast. so two pairs of boxerbriefs in the pack and one, well, where it belongs

I have a sports oriented pair of mid-length board shorts made from a very modern fabric that is “thin”, stretchable, dries in no time… these can be used when I go swimming, visit the steam bath, go for a run/workouts… they roll up to next to nothing. And weigh even less.

I've also got a very compressible synthetic down insulated jacket from patagonia (micropuff) ...packs down to nothing... but really only bother with it if my trip involves cold climates.

and for summer time: often a pair of "barefoot" travel sandals, comfortable and very packable.



Tech stuff:
here's where I see a vast opportunity to save space – minimalism way – without really sacrificing anything.
Get a good smartphone. as in great. Like flagship models of say Samsung, Huawei, apple etc…
Many of us travel with tech these days, we take photos, browse the web, book airbnb’s, buy plane tickets, etc… all on the go. And frankly nothing beats the convenience of a good smartphone in that regard.
I go as far as to say, that when you don’t really need to do work related stuff, you can easily get by with just the smartphone..
One of the areas where the little things have gotten vastly better over the past two years: Camera.
to me the thing does everything - photography (ever since getting the Huawei P30 pro for example, I've literally haven't touched the compact camera or the DSLR)....
If you can't live without a "proper" camera- consider something like the LX100 from Panasonic.. a compact m4/3 sensor, and an excellent, bright 24-70mm lens. Or a Sony RX100Mk4 or later.
But again, the smartphone does the trick for me, especially since the one I've got covers 21-135mm with optics and a sort of hybrid usable 270mm mode.... and frankly the better low light capabilities than my other cameras

I have over the past two phone progressively moved more and more to the smartphone for my travel (and often business related) photography – and it has proven to be extremely good.
Adding good software (I use lightroom cc on the phone) to sort, rate, edit the photos is making it really fun and easy.
The one are where I so far was reluctant going with the smartphone was the lack of any sort of optical zoom… being stuck with usually a rather “extreme” wide angle …
To me, the main reason for buying the Huawei P30Pro was it’s telescope tele-lens (135mm) and it’s ability to zoom between the ultra-wide angle and the 135 with nearly a lossless result. Adding a quite good, but certainly not lossless “teleconverter” to it, (a hybrid digital zoom) it can go to 270mm, still producing “OK” output. Frankly the rest (it goes up to 50x digital zooming) is a funny gimmick, but not useful to me. But the nightmode (excellent low light shooting), superb filming with steady-cam like software/hardware stabilisation makes it a really decent photographic tool.
It’s macro capabilities are also really amazing.
And nope, it doesn’t beat the Nikon D800 Full Frame sensor with a good fast prime or a 24-70 f/2.8..
But the thing is this, I refuse to travel with the D800 + lenses… I bought an Olympus OM-D EM-1 for travelling, but frankly it still felt too large – so I sold that and bought the Panasonic LX100.
Great little travel cam – but you need the camera, a few batteries, a charger – you know if you’re into minimalistic packing, this sort of quickly ruins the purpose.

I’d say any of the latest (2018/19) generation flagship model smartphones will be a good photographic tool. Unless you plan to print wall paper sized stuff… but for anything else? Truly ask your self, what you need photographically. And to myself I have to say, I couldn’t be happier with the smartphone these days.

Emailing, some office stuff etc.
When I know I will NOT be doing any significant amount of work on the road (I’m self employed), I the only the smartphone but with a foldable ext. keyboard (Bluetooth, really small but with a trackpad, great for android phones that have mouse support).
I can easily type long emails this way – the keyboard makes all the difference.
The other thing you can add – and I’ve done that a few times – if your smarphone has USB-C, geta small USB-C to HDMI CABLE… yup. Connect it to a TV, a Computer screen or such … and enjoy videos or work on a larger screen. The Huawei P30pro, same as some Samsung model will actually switch into a computer-like desktop environment, with windows, multi-tasking etc… this can sort of turn your smartphone into a sort-of work-station.

however when I need or want a laptop I choose my small 10" surface go (microsoft, windows)... this is a fully fledged little computer with enough power to do most basic things aside from video editing.
Keeps my business running though when I'm travelling longer.
The cool part about the Surface GO (unlike it’s bigger bother – the surface pro) is USB-C (and yes, it does charge through USB-C)
I've got a compact charger that will charge BOTH the surface and the smartphone (both have USB-C)... and thus I only need one cable, one charger.
Again, a great way to save weight and space.

I do often take a battery pack, but only when I know I'll need it.
I carry a small pair of in-ear headphones (good quality) with a microphone and a standard Jack (works with the surface) + USB-C converter (works with the phone) when travelling.
no need for bluetooth, another cable for charging, no bulky things either... and I have an airplane-converter to... so it covers all uses
I like music – but I’m not listening 24/7 �� – I don’t use over-ear phones, they’re bulky and I don’t like the looks.

The one Item I refuse to leave behind: the kindle ebook reader... but the thing isn't huge.
The one thing I do always add: USB-C to USB converter and a USB 256GB memory stick... I can use it to backup data from the phone, share files if needed, etc...



But I guess that's really everything to keep me happily on the road from 1 week to months worth of travel through all sorts of climates.

------


Backstory for those who care:
Ever since I remember I liked the outdoors... loved to hike, mountains and stuff.
Sort of naturally I did embark on good few hiking/trekking trips... but by the time I was 17, my experience was naturally quite limited and I decided to walk from Wick down to aberdeen, scottland.
Long story short, it was fantastic - all but for the fact that I carried far too much stuff with me, like all the time...
it was literally the singular part about that solo trip, I didn't like - I remember that I felt all the stuff I had along hampered my experience.

Money was never there in abundance, and young me was picking up a trade, working and stuff... mostly with the notion of travelling some more.
So a year later - Many moons ago from today - at the tender age of 18, I had saved up all I could with working more despite doing a full time apprenticeship, to afford what would be a month in vietnam...
It was going to be my first - but really not last - time in SE-Asia - but it maybe was the one trip that got me seriously into backpacking and travelling and also started my venture into travel minimalism.

needless to say, I guess at least in hindsight, my younger self, wasn't going to purchase a new backpack at the time.... and I sort of reluctantly stuffed everything I thought I'd need over the course of that month into my 70ltr trekking backpack.
A gazillion of straps dangling, a huge pack, containing stuff that by the end of the month hadn't seen any use
it was literally the moment when I stepped out of the plane, with the monsoon season humidity punching me in the face after having picked up the large and heavy backpack where I sort of had this flashback: "too much stuff"... I kept carrying it (luckily I've been sporty), with some misery, every time I hopped on a bus, had to leave too much stuff at the cheap hostels, when it got haphazerdly strapped on the roof of a bus.
Well after about a week I had enough and decided to lay out the contents on my bed and do a yay and nay pile. I was sort of suprised by the time I was done, that I did enjoy the process but even more though, that a significant amount of stuff had ended up on the "nay pile"... it got boxed and shipped back home.
I kept the backpack... around half it's original fill, I'd say about 40 litres. The pack still was the most cumbersome pack I travelled with and it was bothering me - a lot.

Fast forward three years later when I ventured on my next - this time quite a bit longer (9 month) trip that would eventually cover 18'000km over land, cross china, pakistan, india and nepal.
This time around I thought a bit harder about my choice of backpack. But frankly at the time, there wasn't much to be found that would define as a small travel pack.
The available travel backpacks - at least where I lived - were mostly these oversized 50-60 litre clamshell opening packs with a daypack thingy turtle-zipped onto it.
I'd often would see the traveller type that I'd sort of jokingly would refer to as a turtle traveller, you know - the one who straps a big backpack to his back and a sort of large "daypack" to his front, looking like a slightly inflated turtle. I knew this definitely wasn't what I was looking for.
In the end, a friend of mine gave me his 40ltr. army "jump-pack" from his day doing that sort of thing. not the best choice I would find out in due time, but it was doing the trick to some degree.

When I arrived in hong kong, I was quick to discover during my first few ventures into mainland china, that the military pack was attracting a fair amount of unwanted attention.
also it had a broad/slightly bulky design that was cumbersome in trains and small busses.
And I felt it was too heavy overall.

Then came a bit of a moment of an "epiphany" of sorts - en route back towards hong kong, I met fellow traveller that had a sort of tiny looking 24-ish litre backpack. I thought Ok, he's got the rest of the stuff somewhere else, overhead luggage rack? nope... under the seat? nope... maybe just doing a day trip and left his main stuff at the hostel? well, when curiousity got the better of me and I engaged in a conversation I was sort of "wow".... it was literally everything he had... and he had been on the road for a few month, now on his way back home.
I have to say it impressed me - more than I cared to admit at the time But frankly I quickly realised that "this" is how I'd want to travel. and the journey began (and my backpack addiction as well).


Back in hong kong I found a well stocked outdoor gear shop and bought the smallest comfortable looking, lightweight pack they had: A 30litr. "berghaus" mountaineering pack made from some type of sail-cloth (it looked like X-Pack fabric in white), not sure if it was a "geniuine" brand item or a darn well made "knock off" - but I reduced the content of my "army" backpack so far that it comfortably fit in the 30ltr pack with a healthy bit of room to spare.
The pack wasn't perfect - being a top-loader and having no organisation made it cumbersome at times... and I had only two small-ish "packing cube"-like things to do some basic organisation.
But travelling that way, with a lightweight, rather compact load was a revelation to myself. I loved (and still do) the sort of freedom that came from being easily able to carry everything, for days if needed... to sit down the pack next to a chair in a coffee shop, taking it inside of every bus.

When I arrived back home months later - I knew I could strip down the load even further... and my quest for the "ONE" pack began.
Luckily the travel gear market at the time also started to focus more and more on lightweigh compact gear. Ultra lightweight stuff etc.
And packs began to change too.