June 11, 2023
The Minimalist Packing List
The packing list can be considered more as a dynamic collection of components rather than a bunch of static items added to a checklist. These components work together for overriding trip goals: flexibility on the road, having the most fun on tour, and the least amount of stress.
There are both offensive and defensive components built into the planning. The main attempt is to marshal the vast amount of resources that are available to enjoy on the tour without carrying them along with you. Meanwhile the stuff that you do carry is protected to the extreme with several lines of defense. You want to remain in control of the trip and not let it become sabotaged by loss, theft, damange, or other mistakes.
As a brief illustration, it is likely that several hotels will have mahogany desks, weight rooms, swimming pools, and buffet breakfasts. Who knows what else you'll find. I think we can all agree that none of that is going along with you on the trip. Also, maybe you'll get invited to parties or be mobbed by locals wanting selfies. You need systems in place to enjoy the hell out of these encounters but also protect your stuff without making it appear that you think people are out to rob you. All this is a fine art.
When it comes to defense, it helps to think back to all the tours where disaster happened and then learn from that so as not to repeat. Without a doubt the worst tour I had was in July 2019 when I lost my passport in Thailand near the Cambodia border. It all happened because of a buildup of stress where I wasn't having much fun, and basically sabotaged my own packing efforts. All I can remember is that the passport was last seen the night before checking into a hotel. The morning after, maybe I had chucked it into a laptop bag and strung it across the handlebars. I'll never really know. The most likely explanation is someone nicked my valuables at a gas station. All of it could have been prevented, and so the way to do that is a constant unpacking and repacking of stuff at hotels, along with multiple checks and double checks.
You want packing systems to be so incredibly simple they can be done under duress. For example, you could still manage the packing after an entire night of no sleep or waking up disoriented in a total hungover mess. When you need to hit the road cycling the next day, what are you going to do about it?
Once you've figured out your packing arrangements, it's time to rehearse the daily routine over and over and over again. One technique which has really helped me is to survey a hotel or guesthouse in detail and take the time to visualize where I can unpack my stuff and the order in which to do it. Then, the next day, the whole process is reversed and the hotel is left in the same pristine state in which I entered it.
Here is a brief example of this:
- You walk in the hotel, survey the place, and spot a safety deposit box: learn how it works, try it out a few times, then put the passport, cards, and the majority of the cash in there while portioning out some smaller cash for the restaurant and whatever else you might find while walking around town. Then you find a nice table with electrical outlets nearby: unpack the computer and charge it along with all other electronics. Books are also taken out and ready to read. A similar place is spotted for laundry: dirty clothes are unpacked and ready for washing. Clean clothes are unpacked and reorganized. Coins are taken out and assembled for what can be spent immediately and gotten rid of over time.
So without further ado, the packing list:
Component #1: the valuables. This is literally the main driver of the entire tour. Passport, cash, phones, bank cards, etc.. are just things you can't afford to lose and so the idea is to pack them in a waterproof case and keep with you as close as possible. That is to say like a money belt.
Component #2： waterproof panniers. This is where most of the non-valuable stuff goes in. You want something easy to snap in and snap out of the rear rack and a bit of shopping found some really good ones. They have about 2L capacity which is more than enough.
Component #3: The laptop. This is packed into a waterproof carrying pack along with the charging cables etc... One option is to put them into the panniers, will try it along with other options on my shakedown rides coming up where all this is tested.
Component #4: The electronics. All other electronics are carefully assembled in the same place and that includes things like data cables, heart rate monitor straps, etc.. The idea here is they are all in one place which helps with airport security. The electronics will need to be unpacked, put in one place, and repacked together quite likely multiple times. The last thing you want is a huge mess of electronics all cobbled together that you don't even know what they are and will raise eyebrows. When airport security asks if you know the contents of the bag and if you packed it yourself, you can immediately say yes.
Component #5: The Garmin GPS is best attached to the bike itself which will require some upgrades before the trip. Ideally I'll be finding a guy who can raise the handlebars, change the seat cover, and attach a component to fix the Garmin on.
Component #6: Bike accessories: I went shopping just now and bought the following: new gel seat cover, new kickstand, multi-tools, inner tubes, hand pump, tire change kit. It won't be hard to find bike shops but in remote areas you never know, it is good to repair something in a pinch.
Component #7: Active phone and music: a waterproof phone holder on the front of the bike is ideal along with wireless earphones to listen to tunes during the mundane stretches. Update: went shopping for this and found one which still allows the phone to be used while in the case. Rather convenient.
Component #8 Coins: this system I already developed out of Tupperware containers. Coins for all the countries will be packed in advance. Thai baht has the most volume which unfortunately means it gets thrown into a bag and weighs down the trip at first. But once the HK and Macau coins are spent, the baht moves into those containers and then the load will lighten up as the trip goes on and the coins gradually spent.
Component #9: Sun gear: hat, sunglasses, sun cream.
Component #10 Rain gear: at best it will be a simple poncho. The reality is during the rainy season I'm gonna get soaked. Too much gear just adds weight and doesn't stop getting soaked, I'll end up sweating anyways. The priority is protecting my stuff from getting wet not myself.
Component #11: Books. Only 1-2 books. Most of the reading will be ebooks but for printed books the goal is to (gasp) actually read them in detail. I would consider bringing along James Clear Atomic Habits because the stuff there is daily learning in there for minimalism anyway
Component #12: Clothes (4-5 days worth) It is easy to buy clothes on the road as the occasion warrants but it's better to avoid accumulating clothes that seldom get worn. For this system I'll be doing daily laundry as well as rotating through the clothes every week approximately. The key is that I'll actually be regularly wearing what I pack.
Component #13: Shoe gear. Max two pairs of shoes. These can be rotated. The problem with only bringing one pair is if it gets rained out. Then it's smelly and gross the next day and this problem only compounds further down the line. Keeping two pairs makes it fresh along with bringing shoe cleaner and washing them at the guesthouses.
Component #14: Various personal gear, air freshener, bug spray, etc.. On this note it has to be mentioned. We've all had terrible tour experiences of being "invited" into someone else's guesthouse and encounted foul odors. One of the worst things possible is to turn a fresh hotel or guesthouse into a dump by not showering, just throwing clothes and gear everywhere on the floor, not cleaning up, not opening windows etc.. You wouldn't think you do this but if those habits happen, regretably, they compound over time. A daily routine of cleaning etc.. are a better set of habits, that is treating the guesthouse like it was your house.
Component #15: Workout gloves. These have the dual function of keeping sunburn off hand as well as doing a bodyweight and/or strength workout.
Component #16: Pens and temporary paper. You never know when you'll need them. Paper is best avoided. If something needs to be written down it can be done at the hotel and then a picture taken. Digitized notes are the way to go.
Component #17: Alcohol flask. Saves the day more than once. Also I intend to carry around small amounts of alcohol, such as from shops or the duty free. There is no point in carrying around large bottles of whisky for days on end just because it's cheap. You want a sustainable supply system and that means drinking what you carry.
Component #18: Water bottle. Most of the time, drinks can be found at convenience stores but it's good to stock up when needed. Besides, how do you it's water in there?
Component #19: Food packing. Similar to water, most of the eating will be at restaurants and convenience stores. Stocking up only happens for the occasional remote stretches. The rule here is that no food gets packed for more than a day, and that includes not leaving stuff overnight in a guesthouse
Component #20: Protein powder, BCAAs, etc... This could get messy but such supplements are important for a tour so a creative method is needed. One thing for sure, the water bottle must be thoroughly cleaned daily or else the smell of rotten protein is not even worth thinking about. Another thing: it makes more sense to buy the protein powder in Laos or Thailand and not take it on the airplane. Anything powder would raise eyebrows at airport security.
This isn't a complete list but it surely gets the ball rolling. As mentioned, these are all various components of a larger packing system.
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