I’ve been doing a bit of one bag travel this week. I spent six days in lovely, sunny Milan for a conference. And I challenged myself to take as little as I possibly could.

What does one bag travel have to do with language learning and linguistics, you might ask? Well, at its heart it shares the same ‘open world’ philosophy that prompts many of us to go the way of the words. To those who wonder what’s out there, and want to head out and experience it for themselves, the thought of chucking a few essentials in a bag and jetting off is irresistible.

It’s always fascinated me. In fact, one of my earliest blog projects was a Geocities (remember that?) self-host called One Bag Traveller. Goodness knows what happened to that. But it doesn’t matter – social media has since filled the void, and there are some very cosy corners for fellow one-baggers to gather and optimise together.

r/onebag is the place to start. One of my favourite trends here is “contents of my bag” pics – users lay out their packing and invite optimisation feedback and tweak suggestions. If you like what you see there, then check out r/zerobags too, which is “boss level” light travel. Can’t say I’m quite there yet, but I still learn plenty of “get by with less” tips from it!

What’s in my one bag?

So what did I take in my Milan conference bag? Well, as any one bag veteran knows, it starts with the bag itself. For this trip I was trying out a new one, one of those increasingly ubiquitous “cabin max” types that are perfectly sized for under-the-seat stowing, even with the most draconian airlines. This was probably bigger than I needed, to be fair, but it was light, and there was room for the inevitable conference goodies.

In there, I had:

• iPad + Apple Pencil (had a laptop-less week, which helped)
• Charger, cable, adapter
• Passport

 

• 2 smart shirts
  
• Smart(ish) shorts
• 2 white cotton tees
• 1 merino tee
• 3 x socks and undies

 

• Tote bag (easier than using big bag for daily to-and-fro)
• Toiletries
• Travel laundry detergent

That last bit is the clincher. I did a couple of small laundry washes during the week, making the most of the few clothes I’d taken. I got three wears out of one shirt (and I promise, it was fresh as a daisy every time!). Soak, pummel, rinse, ring, dry. In a warm place like an Italian hotel room, items were ready to wear again in a matter of hours. Choosing quick-dry garments is a good tried-and-tested tip, too (Uniqlo’s AIRism range is great).

What also helps is planning what you wear there – cargo chinos have pockets you can pop extra items into, for example. A good light shacket can help, too.

One bag, lots of freedom

Taking less on the road gives you such a sense of freedom and even resilience – your bag is so light that you can cope with any bump in the road without a dead weight bogging you down. It really is liberating. I’ll continue the tweaking and geeking – and who knows, I might even give zero bagging a shot one day!

Are you a fellow one bag traveller? What’s your number one tip for lightening the load? Or, if you’re sceptical, what’s holding you back from leaving the suitcase at home? Let us know in the comments!