Packing for “my life off the comma” nomad trip

You may be wondering, how does one prepare for a one-year trip away from home? It’s  a really interesting scenario. It is a little bit like moving, a work trip and vacation all stacked into one. This post is about how I’m packing for the trip. More to come about other preparations in other posts. Since we humans are obsessed about our stuff, this is a good place to begin.

When it comes to travel, I think about the same things whether it’s for a week, month or year. What changes is the amount and types of things. By the way, I’m a huge list-maker. I use my Notes app on my phone/cloud to keep a regular packing list and I just check it off for each trip. BOY did it help me for this one!!!

Clothes & Toiletries

Since the majority of this adventure (that I know of) will be by car, I’ll have the luxury of taking things with me. I try to be minimalist when I travel. So I’m not packing multiple outfit options for every event. To be honest, I don’t really own a ton of clothes. If I were traveling for a week or even a month, I would have basics, toiletries, and ONE pair of shoes (maybe two). Now we are talking about a YEAR away, so I need to think about weather changes, work clothes, unplanned circumstances and different climates.

For toiletries, if you know me, you know I don’t need much. I have one toiletry kit that I use for all trips and it is adequate for this. Anything that runs out, I’ll just restock from the road the same way I would if I were at home. I already have a set of electric razors in my suitcase and there’s nothing that would come up on the road that requires anything extra for me. I might bring a larger bottle of lotion from the bathroom cabinet.

For casual clothes, since I don’t plan to be going to fancy restaurants, clubs or dress-up events, that narrows the field a little. Given that I tend to wear the same clothes week after week when I’m not around other people, I’ll pack those things.

For work, I only need special clothes when I’m meeting in-person, which is usually when I’m teaching live classes or at conferences. I have a staple of 2-3 dress shirts and 2-3 pairs of slacks that I rotate. Add the belt, dress shoes and long socks and I’ll be all set there.

For seasons, a layering plan will help with this. I have “warm” and “cold” clothes and I can use layers to help with the middle temperatures. Since I’ll be traveling through southern states in the winter, I will be less likely to encounter extreme cold weather. I’ll pack a jacket and a heavy coat, just in case. But not much more. I’ll pack some long-sleeve things and some long pants, but not many. If it’s mild-to-cool, that should be fine. If it gets cooler, I can layer my warm weather clothes with the long sleeves. This is honestly an age-old travel hack: instead of having 5 separate outfits for 5 days, bring 3 that you can mix, match and layer. Again, I’m not going to fancy places and trying to impress people. I just need versatility and convenience. For the warm temps, I’ll likely be wearing my shorts and light clothes for a good part of the trip, so those will be in use and anything “extra” can be packed in the truck for when the warm months return. (I’ll talk about that in a minute.) I don’t plan to hit the cold weather states until the spring/summer.

For laundry, I’ll be staying with friends. In between those stays, laundromats are really easy to use and everywhere. (If you haven’t used one, I encourage you to do this once. You get to see how a LARGE part of the population washes their clothes, enter into a communal space where people share, and you might meet some new friends!) I’ve used laundromats many times and it can be a great place to write, work and read. Or go for a walk while your clothes spin.

Anything I didn’t plan for, I’ll hit the resale shops first and/or I can always contribute to the destruction of the planet by shopping for new stuff. I’m going to challenge myself to minimize this as much as possible.

Bags/Luggage

This is my favorite part! I am a storage and organization person. I love bags and containers. I love thinking, engineering and arranging stored items. It’s such an obsession that even after I’ve found “the way” to pack my stuff, I’ll find ways to re-engineer it after a little time passes by.

Okay, let’s start with the bags. Remember, I want to be as minimal as possible – but for a year. I have traveled for years with only a carry-on sized roll aboard and a small backpack. The goal isn’t “what all do I want to take?”, but instead “what will fit in these 2 bags?” For a year, I’ll need more than that. But I’ll bring those 2 bags for when I plan to fly on the journey. So, I’m planning on having the following bags available to me: my main bag to haul from trunk to bedroom, the smaller bags for travel (these will hold my “extras” that I mentioned earlier), and what I call my “purses”. These are the little bags I use for walking around all day, walking to a grocery store, carrying my tech to write or work at coffee shops, etc. Fortunately, these bags are all soft and collapsible, so I can actually bring a variety of them. (I could write a whole post about my addiction to having “just the right size bag” for the things I want to carry.)

The “main” bag: I originally toyed with just using the 3 bags I currently have for different uses and nothing else. Instead, I’m going to design for the in-and-out motions of traveling. When I travel, I don’t like to spread my stuff out. I’ll hang some things and put things on counters, but I don’t really use the drawers, etc. I like my things in as contained of a space as possible. It might be weird, I dunno. I wanted a top-opening duffle bag that I could treat like a “trunk”. No matter what kind of room I’m in, I won’t have to worry about where to put the suitcase, because I can just have it on the floor. Top-opening will allow me to just unzip and access the stuff inside. I like to arrange my bag like a bookshelf, so that I can grab what I need and put it back, very easily. I’m essentially “always packed” and ready to go. This is really helpful in small places. I found a 28” duffel back that also comes with a hanging rod for clothes. This is common for dancers. It comes with a handle and wheels. Very mobile. So I’ll have a complete closet on wheels that fits in my trunk. It will also hold all my clothes, toiletries, chargers, shoes, accessories and so forth. I’d also like to be able to put my work backpack into it, so that when it comes time to unload the trunk, I’m just hauling out ONE bag.

For the work stuff, I work mobile, so I’ll have a fair amount of tech, which I’ll describe in the next section. I have a small’ish backpack that can carry all of these things. It will sit inside the large duffel and I can also carry it separate. It’s also the bag I take on planes with me and put under the seat.

Work Stuff/Tech

I do almost all of my work from a keyboard, computer screen or phone. Since I coach online, teach online, write online and meet online, my computer is the heart of the operation. While I don’t have an office filled with books, files and office supplies, I still have things I use for the variety of work and projects that I do. I’ll be taking my computer and chargers, of course. Along with a notebook (I use these for anything I write – all in one place). I’ll also have remote monitors, stands and cables. The ones I have are extremely minimalist. There are a few accessories I travel with; certain types of adapters, cables of different lengths, portable batteries, and such. There’s also my microphone and headphones for the podcast. Lastly, I’ll have some lights. Portable lights for unknown settings. I anticipate that almost all of this will fit in the backpack and the podcast gear will have a spot in the large duffel.

Fun Stuff

I put this category in, but now I’m not sure what belongs here. Most of my fun stuff is virtual. I read books online and much of my entertainment is virtual. My exercise clothes are also my casual clothes. I won’t need to pack weights or yoga stuff – I can work around that on the road. My tech are my toys. If I’m going to read a physical book, I buy them at resale shops and pass them along as soon as I finish them. So I guess I’ll have to see what comes up for the fun stuff. Comment at me if I’m missing something???

Other Stuff

Okay now here’s where the challenge kicks in. I need to plan for things that I might not think about. This requires thinking ahead for the year! I know I’ll want to try to travel abroad during the trip, if I can. So I need to remember my passport. While I’m on that subject, let me throw in those plug adapters for different countries, too. Oh, and the extra euros, pounds and pesos that were left over from other trips in the past! Are there any types of office supplies that I use only when I teach classes? Pack those. What about jewelry (chains, pendants, rings) I might want? Pack those. What about all my little “fix it” kinds of things: hooks, clips, straps? Might want to pack some of those. What about an extra phone cover from the drawer? May want to throw that in. These are things I wouldn’t normally travel with. They are excess for a one week or one month trip. For a year, it might be worth throwing in the trunk, if it will make my life easier. Again, there’s always the store for anything I might need.

I probably forgot some things and I’ll end up throwing them in last minute. All good.

Ultimately, I envision a 28” duffel bag, a 22” roll aboard, and maybe a foldable duffel. Each of these will be filled with the essentials and will be versatile to be swapped, switched and converted, depending on the trips I might make from wherever I am on the road. I also have some grocery bags and such in the trunk for emergencies.

I will mostly be staying with people I know and settling in for periods of time. However, this packing plan will also allow me to take spontaneous trips to other destinations without worry or shopping. I also feel that I won’t be too over-packed, since it will all easily fit in the trunk.

That’s where I’m at so far. It’s been fun thinking about planning for this trip. I have been FAR less panicked about it because I pack light and because I try to reduce my dependency on things. I’m a long way to go before I get to totally minimalist, but this will be a really good experiment. I do NOT want to come home in 10-12 months with extra stuff. I’ve made a commitment to use a “replenishment” methodology for anything I buy. If I buy something new, it has to replacesomething old. The old will have to be donated or given away.

Questions for you:  What would you pack for a year on the road? What can you not live without? What could you live without? What would scare you the most about packing for something like this?

Drop your thoughts in the comments! Have a great week ahead and enjoy packing for whatever journey you have coming up!