Ultralight Travel in a Personal Item

While this is a little delayed due to a laundry traffic jam (3 other housemates, 1 washer it's like the 100 meter sprint everytime it stops). Anyway I have finally managed to get my act together to write up this post to show what I took to Bath with me in October. 

This trip was only two days (one night), where I stayed in a private room in a hostel. To be honest this is roughly what and how I would pack for any overnight stay or my dopp kit for a looooong travel day so I can have a quick change to feel a bit more human. 

The absolute most important thing when travelling light is to pack versatile clothes. For me that means 2/3 items I have from Encircled, a Canadian brand that designs clothes meant for female travellers who want to avoid the "I have artistically tied a blanket around me in 6 different ways"-look. I love most of their designs but I hesitate to recommend them because:

1) I am based in the UK, shipping and import fees are very high on top of the costs of the ethically made clothes which are made in Canada to Canadian labor standards. I'm happy to pay for the labor and material costs of the items (they are well made) but I paid nearly the same again in import fees.

2) Encircled almost exclusively uses bamboo jersey, which is a gorgeous soft drapey comfortable fabric. You know what else it is.....highly absorbent. Seriously it takes forever and a day to dry. If you are travelling light and planning on doing laundry to swap out outfits IGNORE everything about the antimicrobial properties of bamboo. It will start to smell eventually, you will feel gross, and it will take three days to dry. It's even worse in Asia or anywhere with high humidity, ask me how I know this -_-

I own several pieces of clothing made of bamboo and they are always the last thing to dry. 0/10 do not recommend bamboo for travel. 

Also please note that I forgot to include my toothbrush when taking pictures, never fear! Toothbrushes (and toothpaste for that matter) were bought and used.

Ok let's actually get on with the post. 

When travelling  you must dress for the weather you are going to. Because I was going to Bath in late October when it was forecast to rain and the temperature was 5-10c that I was in a raincoat and boots. (If rain wasn't forcaste  l probably would have worn my wool winter coat I probably would have just risked it). I have an awesome raincoat where I can unzip a fleece liner, look for a 3-in-1 coat if you want to get one for yourself. These types of coats are awesome because you just need the one for 5-20C weather, below that you'll need additional thermal layers; above that range.....why are you travelling in the monsoon season? Seriously, that was a dumb idea.

Kit list:

1x Osprey handbag

1x Furokshi bag with strap

1x reversible dress (Encircled sleeveless revolve dress)

1x Multiway Cardigan (Encircled everyday twist top)

1x Icebreaker Siren Cami 

1x Icebreaker 175 Everyday leggings

1x Knee high socks

1x High denier tights

1x Scarf

1x Swimmers

1x USB-UK plug adaptor (mine folds flat)

1x Phone cable

1x Headphones

1x Lush tin containing soap, shampoo, lotion bars

1x Lily cup compact 

1x Tube of aspirin

1x Day’s supply of migraine meds

1x Pair of motion sickness bands

1x Aromatherapy necklace

2x Essential oils

1x Mascara

3x Makeup pencils (In the mascara bag)

1x Sample size CC cream

1x Lipstick

1x Nail file

1x Hand sanitizer

2x Face mask (not pictured)

The trick when travelling ultralight, whether just overnight or for longer, is to not pack lots of spare clothes. By packing (and wearing) a reversible dress and a multiway sweater meant that I could put together 6 outfits which I would be comfortable in. Personally I like to dress pretty modestly but if you’re comfortable in just leggings you can bump that outfit number up to 12. By swapping out the scarf I took, or just adding a stretchy infinity scarf would also increase your options. Obviously since I was only there for two days it wasn't an issue but it's nice to have options.

What I had in my bag on day 1 are the foundations that you should always build on when packing (tweaked to fit your purposes). Essentially you should always have:

1. Tech, chargers and headphones

2. Toiletries kit (inc. toothbrush)

3. Sun protection

4. Meds (in my case preventative and “feel better” ones)

5. For those who period, some kind of backup

This is what I always, always, always have in my bag. It’s what I use to keep me comfortable and human feeling on long travel days, for me that includes a little bit of makeup but that might be different for you.

By wearing most of the clothes I took on day 1 I only needed to carry my toiletries and wires in my bag (I also had a furoshiki bag tucked in as I planned to buy souvenirs). 

I love travelling light because it means that I’m not worried about finding my hostel or a bag drop the moment I arrive at my destination. What I have pictured above is more or less my day to day essentials that go in every bag I travel in. For a longer trip I would upgrade to a bigger size of CC cream and obviously the correct number of meds and toothpaste tablets for the number of days I’m travelling for. (I have chronic migraines so I need to take them daily). I will also sometimes pick up some mints or gum if I’m feeling nauseous from auras (migraines, such fun!), but you can get those basically everywhere in the world and, anyway, I usually have some tucked into a pocket. 

Day two was a little warmer so I just wore the multiway cardigan with my base layers. A few strategic safety pins later and I had a very fetching mini dress. I was able to wear my base layers back to back because they’re made out of merino wool. 

Wool is fabulous for clothes as it helps to wick the moisture away from your skin and keeps its warmth even when wet. Personally I’m comfortable wearing the everyday range by Icebreaker (175-200gsm) upto about 30c, but as my housemates like to point out that I’m quite heat resistant so your mileage may vary.

Cotton is “fine” if you’re on a budget and don’t travel often or light. I am a big believer in there being no such thing as bad weather only bad gear, cotton base layers are bad gear. You won’t freeze in cotton, but you will be more comfortable in wool. 

While I had brought souvenirs I still used the leather bag to keep all of the stuff above organized while I tucked it into the furokshi that I used as a tote.

I was able to fit everything into that little bag by rolling the dress and swimmers tightly and stacking them vertically in the bag. The internal organization of the bag made it easy to keep track of everything. The mobile slot is quite large so I was able to keep the electricals in so they were easy to find and by happy coincidence my mascara is the right height to tuck vertically into a corner of the bag.  Please see terrible picture 1 below to see the bottom layer of the bag.

By tighty rolling and stacking vertically I was able to fit all the little odds and ends in on top and still have it zip up comfortably (see terrible photo 2 below). Because I bought a couple of books while I was there I used the furoshiki bag as a tote, I packed it with the intention to use it that way and did actually fit the other things I bought while in Bath in my bag comfortably. Even when packed up the furoshiki would still comply with strict personal item restrictions those of you who fly, however as it has no real closure so I do not feel comfortable using it as my main travel bag which is why I packed everything into the leather bag.

I did also bring a foldable travel mug and some snacks that I had stuffed in my jacket pockets, these weren’t really necessary and I wouldn’t have brought them if I had worn my winter coat which doesn’t have as many pockets.

Ok that just about wraps it up, hope this inspires you to travel a bit lighter on your next trip!