One Bag

A man is rich in proportion to the things he can live without - Henry David Thoreau

Capitalism has unfortunately fed us with the idea that more is good. But the problem with more is that it is never ending, and the chase is ever lasting. It ties us into a constant state of desire.

What if we could flip the question, what's the bare minimum you really need? What does it take to live a happy life? The beauty of chasing less is that there is a limit, and you'll run into that pretty quickly.

The philosophy of one bag is to travel with a bag of around fifty liters. What are the absolute necessities for running your life at a good comfort level? Can you live with all your belongings which would amount to something which can fit into one bag?

Here is my list

• Backpack

Wear

• 6 high quality T shirts
• 4 pairs of sweat pants
• 1 Hoodie
• 6 pairs of socks
• Travel under garments
• 4 gym pants
• 4 gym shirts
• Travel towel
• Sun glasses

Electronics

• Phone with a good camera
• Earphones
• Kindle with at least 5 books ready to go
• Laptop
• Smart watch
• USB thumb drive
• Type C to HDMI cable
• Power bank (ideally compatible with both laptop and phone)
• Wireless Mouse

Wallet

• Proof of Identity cards like Aadhaar, PAN, passport etc..
• 1 Credit card
• 1 Debit card
• Cash

Toiletries

• Sunscreen
• Shampoo
• Razor
• Soap
• Deo
• Toothbrush & tongue cleaner

Miscellaneous

• Medicines

This goes hand in hand with minimalism. Just like minimalism, the idea is to not throw away or replace stuff you enjoy. It is instead to cultivate an awareness and dispose/replace stuff which does not matter while also optimizing for high quality and high utility items.

Although the idea fits in very well for travel, some people have taken this further and started living out of one bag. That might not be everyone's cup of tea and that's alright. But I think there is merit in exploring and evaluating the idea.