How to travel with just one bag (& zero sacrifices)

In a few weeks, I'm going to be headed on a multi-month trip, and today I'll share exactly how I am able to pack everything comfortably into one single bag without feeling like I'm sacrificing anything. Everything of course starts with the bag itself, and the one that currently fits my needs is the travel backpack by a company called Pact. Next, for ease of access, this backpack behaves much like a luggage, enabling tremendously easy packing and unpacking because of its Bain compartment featuring a complete clamshell opening. Like a wheeled luggage, each half of the clamshell has its own full wraparound zip compartment to keep things organized. There are of course many other pockets and compartments, which of course begs the question, what do I actually pack? There are four key categories, clothes, tech, hygiene, and support. First however is clothing, and this is the category that causes most people to way overpack. The answer to clothing overpacking challenges lies in two words, merino wool. It's a miracle fabric that when it's of high quality, can be worn every single day for literally a month and it will never smell bad. And because it's naturally antimicrobial, it's not just masking odors, but actually stays quite clean. The two brands I trust are Unbound Merino and Western Rise, neither of whom are sponsoring this video, I have just worn both extensively in previous multi-week trips. A side note for the women, Unbound Merino has a complete women's line as well. In total, I have 10 pieces of clothing, including everything that I actually wear. On my body is an Unbound Merino superfine tensile jogger in an olive green, and an Unbound Merino t-shirt in navy. Up top is the Versa hat by Western Rise, and although it's not merino wool, it is 100% waterproof, has 4-way stretch, and I don't know what the brim is made of, but it can be folded and creased to absolute hell, and just a few firm pulls gets it back to crispy new condition. On my feet are white sneakers, and for me personally, the industries that I serve, these are perfectly acceptable for my business meetings abroad, and of course, great for casual everyday wear as well. Meaning these white sneakers, the ones that are already on my feet, are the only shoes that I need to bring. If it's cold on the plane or in transit, I'll of course also wear the Unbound Merino hoodie, also in navy. But if it's not cold, I have two large compression packing cubes by Sipway, and in the first one goes my tops, which would go that Unbound Merino hoodie, a matte red Unbound t-shirt, and this concrete merino wool button up called the Limitless Merino shirt by Western Rise. A side note here, the reason I choose this Western Rise button up is because I like that this one has these collar buttons to keep the collars down. I bring this button up since this one shirt is so versatile, and versatile enough for business meetings and date nights. Finally, in terms of tops, I also pack a white Airism athletic t-shirt by Uniqlo for sleep and as a backup. In my second large Sipway compression packing cube are my bottoms. Again, I'm typically wearing the Unbound Merino Tencel Blend joggers in olive green. So my only other long pant is the Spectrum jogger by Western Rise. This is not merino wool, but what I love about them is that despite being a jogger, their cut and flat tight weave polyester actually lets these pass as khakis, which means pairing them with their button up really works as a business casual look, while swapping out to a t-shirt makes them great as their intended purpose as a casual jogger. The only other bottoms that go in here are these Nike running shorts, which serve for exercise, sleep, or if it's really unbearably hot. And depending on where I'm going, I might also bring a pair of swim trunks. It's my socks and underwear that dictate my laundry...schedule, if you can even call it that. But what I've found works best is bringing my small container of laundry detergent with me into the shower, and hand washing the socks and boxer briefs I wore that day while at the end of my shower. Then laying them out to dry overnight while I sleep. This small Sipway packing cube houses my boxer briefs as well as my compact ankle socks. And as you can see, every item of clothing I need to pack comfortably rests inside of this half of the packed travel backpack, with room to spare. With this extra room, it means that if I'm going somewhere where I know for sure it's going to be downpouring non-stop, packing an extra rain jacket is going to be no issues whatsoever. So with clothing out of the way, we can close up the front clamshell compartment and now move on to the other three categories of tech, hygiene, and support. All of which fit into the rest of this packed travel backpack. Starting with tech, I of course need my laptop since half of my upcoming time abroad is for business. To save on weight, I bring my 13-inch MacBook Air, which slides into this dedicated laptop sleeve on the top of the rear clamshell compartment. And for those curious, as you can see, the much larger and bulkier 16-inch MacBook Pro also fits in here no problem. Continuing on with tech, we gotta open the rear clamshell, and I think the best way to demonstrate the rest of the tech and other categories of hygiene and support is by showing the sub-packing pouches setup that complete this rear clamshell loadout. As you can see, I have four sub-containers. To round out the tech side of things, I need my MacBook Air charging brick and cable, as well as my iPhone charging brick and cable. The next thing is less of an actual tech thing, but I always travel with a tactical flashlight. In my case for this upcoming trip will be the Nitecore P20ix. This will be in one of the bag's exterior zippered pockets for quick access, but I bring it up now because I need a USB Type-C charging cable for it. I also need a travel plug adapter since I'm going to 5 or 6 countries. And finally, I need a power bank which, in the spirit of keeping things as compact and light as possible, I will be using the Nitecore NB10K that's super slim, light because of its carbon fiber shell, yet still stores 10,000 mAh of juice. All of this stuff goes into this awesome organization pouch named The Power Packer by a company called Side by Side. What I love about this pouch is the sheer organization options while offering this ridiculously soft, stretchy, expandable strip on both sides. All the bricks can stretch and go into the compartment, including the international plug adapter, the MacBook Air charging brick, and my Anker fast charging brick for my iPhone. Rotating over to the front clamshell compartment, you can see the gratuitous elastic loops and pockets where all the individual cables, like my MacBook cable, iPhone cable, and power bank cable are secured, while the super slim power bank itself goes into this sleeve. That just about does it for the Side by Side Power Packer, and for the rest of my tech and administrative stuff, I continue on with the Orbit Key Nest. If you've been with me for a bit, you know this is a lifeline for me and my day-to-day work life right here in Toronto. But for travel, it's just as crucial. A spare pen, the Kaweco AL Sport, a combo flashlight and green laser pointer with the Olight Arkfeld, and external hard drives round out the work-related items I need to bring with me. But probably most importantly is my extra pair of prescription glasses with magnetic clip-on sunglasses. Why? Well, for mission critical functions, two is one and one is none, and I mean, vision in general is one of the most mission critical things we all do. So I always carry a spare when travelling, since prescription lenses can be pretty difficult to replace when abroad. I keep them in the Orbit Key Nest lenses down, since it's a hard shell with a very soft interior lining, so I have no concerns of them getting squashed or scratched in transit. Aside from that, just the USB cable that came with the Nest, since when plugged in, the lid doubles as a wireless charger. And that just about does it for this subcontainer to round out the tech that I bring. Moving on to hygiene, my Dopp kit of choice is the Travel Kit by A.I.R. I love this thing because it's flatter packing than most Dopp kits, but also offers a ton of storage and great features, like this hook so I can literally hang it onto a shower curtain rail at the hotel and have access to everything and pack it back up just as easily. I carry what you'd expect, face wash, shampoo, body wash, hair product, toothbrush, toothpaste, nail clippers, a razor, and laundry detergent. All of which are quite standard for most folks. Last packing pouch here is the Utility Pouch by Alpaca. This is where all the support stuff I carry goes. And by support, I mean things that I don't really need all too often, but I still definitely use on every single trip. I like this pouch because of its size and storage options that work for my personal needs perfectly. Inside the large pocket here are sneaker wipes. These ones are by a company called Rejuvenator, but since I travel with just one pair of white sneakers for their versatility, these come in handy for really bad stains. I also carry a super basic minor injuries kit in here, including multiple sizes of bandages, polysporin, tweezers, alcohol wipes, and cotton swabs. Something that's critical for me is the SIM card tool for my iPhone since I always get a local SIM card every country I go to instead of roaming. And these small sub-compartments in the utility pouch, sealed in by the zipper, means that I will never lose it. As far as the exterior pockets go, on the back, I store some US dollars as my backup emergency cash, and in the front zippered compartment, I store a hard copy of my travel health insurance policy. As you can see, with all of these essentials that do not sacrifice on anything, there is still plenty of space in this rear clamshell portion of this packed travel backpack. Which means, it's just nice knowing I have a lot of extra space in the event I actually find something that I really want to buy and bring back home with me. As I close up the main compartment, it's really easy to forget that this backpack has so many more features that thankfully, don't take much time at all to touch on. It's got three generous extra zippered pockets on the front, with the top one being completely waterproof, sealed off from the rest of the bag. Which means if you have a poncho or even a bathing suit that you just changed out of, this pocket is the perfect spot for anything wet. Truth be told, for me personally, while I'm traveling, all three of these zippered compartments actually generally stay empty. Which means even more space, whether it's for shopping or if it's a specific type of trip where I need to pack just a few extra things. From the top, there's quick access to both the rear compartment, as well as quick access to the laptop sleeve, which is super handy for removing and repacking the laptop during airport security checks. Turning the bag around, there is this zippered compartment right up against the back, as a very good option for storing your cash and passport. When you're out and about exploring with a bag on your back for optimal security. That rear pocket also includes a mesh sub-pocket, which is designed for TSA checks, where you flip it out, empty your pockets into it, and once you clear security, you can fill your pockets back up with the confidence that you didn't miss anything. There's a generous elasticized pocket against the spine of the clamshell, perfect for a water bottle, umbrella, or even compact tripod that has top and bottom cinching to really secure whatever you may choose to store. And lastly, there are two hidden extras. A very inconspicuous secret passport-sized zipper pocket, where even if someone was rifling through your bag, if you accidentally leave it unattended, they really wouldn't see this pocket. And remember that stowable stability hip belt? Actually, the whole thing can be removed and converted into a compact backup sling or fanny pack. That said, as you may know, I'm very particular about my sling bags, and this doesn't quite cut it for me. And if you're interested in the absolute three best travel slings to protect your wallet, phone, passport, and other travel everyday carry essentials, you are definitely going to want to watch this video right over here. I'll leave it on screen just for a few seconds so that you have time to click or tap it. But while you're doing that, if you enjoy this video, I would love your help with the YouTube algorithm by hitting that like button. 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