How to Travel Light | The Art of What NOT To Take | Traveling Tips For Men

Do you have everything?

• Chargers
• Toothpaste
• Swimsuits
• Camera accessories
• Emergency Sewing Kit
• Comb
• Snacks
• Lightweight Sweater
• Laundry essentials

These items may sound like an exotic shopping list.

What they really are is the top ten things people forget when traveling.

Some of them may not apply to a short trip but it gives you a good idea of the essentials we tend to forget when traveling.
My Lightweight Trip

Recently I was ready to head out on a a business trip and while I was packing my bags I though: “Why not shoot a video on how I travel light?”

Like many things in life experience is an expert teacher and I’ve traveled a lot and many of you reading this may not have traveled as much.

Planning: Doing Your Homework Before Traveling

The first thing you want to do is a bit of homework on where you’re going. I was going on a 5 to 7 day business trip to Arizona traveling from Wisconsin. This means I’m going from a temperature of around 35 to one of around 85 and I probably wouldn’t be needing a heavy jacket.

Make sure you think about security considerations when you’re flying or traveling between states or countries and make sure you don’t have anything in your luggage that can get you detained or arrested.

When traveling abroad you also want to make sure you know about any health concerns at your destination and find out and get any shots you may need to protect your health or take necessary medication along if necessary. Think things like Malaria medication and Hepatitis shots.

If you have existing medical conditions that require medication make sure you have enough to cover your trip and allow some time to renew any prescriptions you may have when you get back.

Click here to watch the video How to Travel Light on Youtube.

Watch the video Tips on Traveling Light on Youtube.

Picking Your Bag

I have a respectable collection of different types of luggage so that I have something appropriate for whatever trip I’m undertaking.

I like to travel light and that means I prefer to take the smallest bag I can get a way with.

Once you travel often you will realize that you tend to always fill the bag you pick so in terms of traveling light bigger is not better.

The first factor in picking a bag is your method of travel. If you’re traveling with your own vehicle you can probably get away with a bigger bag.

If you’re flying or traveling by any type of public transport (plane, taxi, bus or ship) you should look at traveling lighter. You may end up having to carry your bags during a part of your trip and you may have limited space to store your luggage.

Looking at the trip I have planned I’m going to go with either an overnight bag or a small suitcase.

For light travel I have two excellent choices:

Garment Bag

My most popular traveling item is a garment bag by Blue Claw Co.  This little gem is not only practical to transport your clothes with but its often saved my clothing from getting messed up by things like maple syrup and some stranger items its been exposed to.

Click here to read more on The Garment Hanger Bag.

Weekender Bag / Duffel Bag

My next option is my weekend bag also from Blue Claw Co. I love it because it’s not heavy and you can pack an astounding amount of clothing into a relatively small space. The only downside is it has no wheels which means you have to physically carry it around.

I have another exceedingly stylish Weekend Satchel Carry-On Bag by JW Hulme Co. So far I’ve been extremely satisfied by this piece and when I go somewhere I need to make a good impression this is my travel bag of choice.

Ultimately your choice in luggage should come down to practical considerations.

For this reason I decided to go with a smaller suitcase that has wheels. When I transfer in Chicago I’ll have to walk quite a distance to the next terminal so I need something I can wheel around quickly instead of having to carry it all the way.

What I Will Use:

What I decided on was my Genius pack suitcase which is a great carry-on suitcase (with wheels). A very nice feature is its use of checklists.

So now that we know where we’re going and we know what to expect when we get there it’s time to get to the practical nitty-gritty of what we’re going to pack for this trip.

What I’m Taking On My Trip:

Checklists

It is vital that you have a list of the things you need for your trip and despite the amount of times I’ve traveled I still use a checklist when packing for a trip.

Important: The first rule of traveling light is to wear your bulkiest clothing. This may be a bit uncomfortable while traveling but it will save on bag space.

Travel Clothes

For this trip I had already decided I did not need a heavy jacket and so I would be wearing a light-weight cashmere sweater, which I could wear in the event I needed something warm.

I was also wearing my white cotton dress shirt, an undershirt, a nice pair of denims and my driving moccasins.

I have mentioned I’m not going to give you an exact checklist on this article, but make sure you have an exact checklist for your own trip.

Undergarments:

• 3 pairs of underwear, Stuck by Ribbed Tee
• 3 different undershirts by Ribbed Tee undershirts: a classic ribbed, white ribbed and blend (lightweight weave)

Workout gear:

I expect to be there for about a week as I would still exercise I took the following:

• Workout shoes
• A running shirt by TASC -which feels great to run in
• Running/Lifting shorts by Strong Body Apparel – I talk about these in various videos but I just want to say I love both the shorts and the company that makes them. These can even double as swimming trunks if need be.

Shoes:

• Driving moccasins by Paul Evans  -which I’ll be wearing when traveling.
• The Poitier Double Monk dress shoes by Paul Evans -easy to match with just about anything.
• The West Wingtip (Full Brogues) dress shoes by Paul Evans – look good, are easy to wear and also easy to match.

Neck wear

• One casual net necktie
• One dark green tie with a polka dot pattern
• One red tie with small blue and dark blue repeating patterns

Can anyone guess why I wear a red necktie? If not watch this video The Color Red Affects Persuasion and Sales

Jackets:

• A blue sports jacket with pocket square packed and business cards inside
• A brown dress jacket, which I will wear on the plane to save bag space

Shirts:

Dress Shirts:

• A blue striped dress shirt
• A solid-looking blue dress shirt that’s actually a very fine herringbone pattern
• A new gray check dress shirt from Men’s Style Lab
• A white linen cotton shirt which can double as a dress or casual shirt
• A travel shirt by Libertad Apparel which I plan to run through the wringer to see how it performs
• A handy chambray shirt

Pants

• Casual gray chinos because gray matches anything since it has no color
• Light dress slacks made from linen which I can wear with any shirt
• Light brown pants made from Holland and Sherry fabric (goes with either jacket)
• Darker brown pants made from Holland and Sherry fabric that won’t work with the brown jacket, but works great with the blue jacket.

Socks

• 1 colorful fun pair from Soul Socks
• 1 blue patterned pair from Mens Style Lab
• 2 pairs of dress socks from BlackSocks.com

What I love about this assembly that I hope you pick up on is that almost everything is interchangeable.

You’ll note there are no athletic socks, I’ll just wear my regular socks for training. When packing light I can’t afford to take a pair of dedicated athletic socks.

Miscellaneous:

• 1 pair of shirt stays from KK and Jay – these aren’t garter belts – they connect your shirt and socks, keeping your shirt tucked in and and your socks up.
• A book for reading: Manvotionals by Art of Manliness – I love this book.
• 2 amazing handkerchiefs from TSHU instead of a pack of tissues
• 1 extra pocket square just in case – you always need a pocket square
• My video cam
• 1 pair of Collar bones or stiffeners
• My sunglasses, a pair of Maui Jims you must have seen me wear before
• My Rogue Wallet from Rogue Industries:
• RFID
• 4 Credit cards
• Cash ($100 – never know when you may need it)
• Driver’s License
• Military Veteran ID card
• 3 packs of gum
• Portable mouse
• An empty water bottle because I don’t like to buy water and this way I can run through security without a hassle and fill it up once I’m through
• A small container of clear cream for show polish because it’s neutral and I can use it on any shoe
• A Small shoe brush to take care of my shoes

Travel Bag:
For my travel bag I have two options:
A JW Hulme bag which I use when I’m not taking my laptop or MS Surface Pro
A Saddleback Leather Bag which I use when taking my laptop which is what I’ll be taking for this trip

• In this bag I also have the following:
• Charger (an extra one so I always leave one in the office)
• Connector for Iphone
• Iphone extra battery pack charger
• Iphone in my pocket
• A pair of earbuds
• My Marine Core coin so that if I run into another Marine at a bar I can ask if he has his coin and if he doesn’t he has to buy me a drink.
• A pack of wet wipes for emergencies

And that’s it!

Let me know if you think I forgot something (which I probably did).

As always I love to hear your comments and experiences. Feel free to contact us with your stories on how to travel lightly or even your embarrassing stories about things you may have forgotten because you don’t have a checklist.