Here it is, 2022 is in the bag. Another year, another write-up. Overall, it was similar to 2021 in a lot of aspects, but also different.
There were deep moments of poopiness similar to 2021, but also some really nice highs.
Overall, 2022 was an improvement over the dumpster fire that was 2021, and I fully expect 2023 will be an improvement over 2022 for reasons I’ll mention in this post.
Let’s start with the stuff that went well.
I got to travel a little bit this year, which was a welcome gift. It kickstarted with my return back to Toronto for one of my dear friend’s wedding. It was nice seeing some of my old college buddies and catching up.
A few days later, I was gifted with a free trip to a luxury resort in Anguilla thanks to a stroke of luck from one of my besties. Timing just worked out and my buddy needed a plus one for his company retreat. This was great. The food and resort were outstanding, but there was a tragedy on this trip unfortunately as my friend lost a coworker in a freak accident. This truly was a freak accident and a reminder that life is precious, chaotic, and can be taken away at any time. Make every moment count.
After Anguilla, I spent some time in Ottawa and Montreal before heading back to Niagara. I really appreciate all 3 cities and their unique charms, and have an appreciation for each every time I return.
After that, I went on an unforgettable trip to Banff, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver before heading back to Thailand. The highlight of the trip was definitely the Bobbie Burns lodge near Banff, which was a truly unforgettable experience featuring daily helicopter rides, incredible hiking and via ferratas through beautiful mountains and glaciers. The company was great, too. Hanging out and laughing with old friends is never a bad idea.
On my return to Thailand, I had the pleasure of going to the beach town of Hua Hin, and stayed at some really beautiful resorts. Thailand is so beautiful and continues to impress me more and more.
mailfloss was also a highlight this year. While in the weeds it felt like a grind, with tons of scaling issues popping up left and right, these all felt like high-quality problems. And because of that, I mostly felt grateful that there are an increasing number of customers that trust mailfloss to help them.
Near the end of 2022, I also hired a junior developer to help with some mailfloss features that I have been putting off for too long. She’s been fantastic and I look forward to all the great things she’s going to do in 2023.
I suppose my mental health could go either in the negative or positive bucket, but I’ll put it in the positive bucket because it’s been getting better.
Still suffering from the beating I took in 2021, I felt mentally crushed at the beginning of 2022. This lasted for at least the first half of the year. It wasn’t until I started to travel that I was able to snap myself out of it.
There’s still work that needs to be done here. I still feel I get too easily angered and irritable. I get anxious at seemingly random moments for no reason. I’d like to get this under control because this year I could really see how my mood swings affected my relationship. The meditation app Breethe and the therapy app Bloom have helped me a lot, and I feel that they’ll continue to do so in 2023.
In terms of things that didn’t go well this year, I’ll start with my health. Actually, it wasn’t so bad leading up until my trip to Bobbie Burns. However, I had a nagging knee injury that kept bothering me as I continued to train. All the hiking during Bobbie Burns finally put it over the edge, and during the trip the pain was so intense that I was taking aspirin just so I could continue hiking.
My knee still hasn’t fully healed and I’ve taken it easy on exercise ever since. I really thought I’d be healed by now, but I haven’t. I found a great physiotherapist that has taken the pain from an 8 down to a 2, but ideally, I’d like to take the pain down to 0 before I start training again. I may try shockwave therapy as there’s a clinic nearby, as well as start doing knees over toes type exercises if the pain persists, which seems likely at this point.
Disappointingly, I’ve also noticed a decline in my eyesight. I got Lasik surgery maybe 5 years ago, and sadly my vision has been declining, first slowly, but increasingly quicker as time has passed. I think I may need to do a round 2 sooner rather than later. I’ve been doing the Vision Gym, which has helped, but I fear I’ll never get back to my prior glory of perfect vision without surgical assistance.
I only read about 4 or 5 books this year, which is terrible. The book that I recommend from this years reading is “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant”, which contains nuggets of great wisdom. My excuse for not reading much is I’ve been putting in a lot of late hours staring at a screen, but honestly I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I think reading will also take a backseat in 2023 as I continue to focus on mailfloss, but I plan to learn through various other means.
For 2023, I feel it’ll be much of the same. I hope mailfloss will grow quicker next year, and I plan to make that happen with some good hired help and some coaching. I plan to up my education through paid courses and online coaching as well. I’m also thinking of doing online therapy sessions to further improve and strengthen my mental well-being. If I can grow mailfloss quicker in 2023 despite turbulent macro-economic conditions, I feel like it will be really well-positioned to be a market leader in the years that follow. I am prepared to make the sacrifices needed to make that happen, and with a little luck and elbow grease I think 2023 is going to be a good one.
Happy New Year and I wish you the best in 2023. It seems like it will be a chaotic one with unfavorable economic conditions, but you’ll be ok. Hug and kiss your loved ones and all the very best to you and yours.
Wow, I’m glad that one is over. That was a tough one. In a decade of tough and shitty years, that one was the worst. Maybe the toughest year I’ve had. There wasn’t a week that went by without any sort of chaos. I thought it was going to be much better than 2020. I was so wrong. It just goes to show how little I know and how unpredictable the future is.
I won’t get into the specifics, because frankly they hurt thinking about them. I feel like all areas of my life suffered in one form or another repeatedly throughout the year. Physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, financially. I took a thrashing non-stop. A whole can of whoop-ass. It was tough, man…
But, it’s over, so screw it. It’s in my rear-view now and I’m looking forward. There are still problems I need to address lingering from the previous year, but they’ll get resolved. Anyway, I do feel like 2022 is going to be a better year. But that’s what I said about 2021 and boy was I wrong. I feel like it will be better but again I know so little. I just feel like all of the pain and suffering I went through in 2021 has allowed a smoother ride going forward.
Take mailfloss, for example. There were serious growing pains that required long, long, lonngggg hours and many late, stressful nights. A lot of issues that plagued the system have been resolved. And mailfloss grew quite steadily. I’m very grateful and thankful for that. And I do believe that things will get better from here on out.
I didn’t do as much reading this year as in previous years. Books have taken a back burner in my life in recent years and that’s unfortunate, but I still try to make time to read some. This year I read mostly business books, many from Mike Michalowicz who has some gems like Profit First, Clockwork, The Pumpkin Plan and Fix This Next.
Healthwise this was probably the worst year I’ve had in the past 8 or 9 years. For the first half of the year, I hardly did much exercising and ate whatever the heck I wanted. Finally, I bought some calisthenics equipment in the summer and put it to daily use but even that wasn’t as much as I would have liked. Once I got the equipment consistency wasn’t really the problem, more like volume and effectiveness. I hope I can improve that this year.
The biggest takeaway from 2020 aside from the overarching theme of knowing very little about the future is to stay in the game. If it’s important to you, stay in the game! With health, staying in the game might mean eating healthily consistently or working out regularly to see results. In business, it might mean suffering for a while but staying in the game will allow you to weather those tough storms. If there’s a relationship worth fighting for, then fight for it. Stay in the game.
I’m happy 2021 is over and I’m excited for 2022. I feel like the future is going to be brighter starting now. There are surely going to be obstacles, but as long as I stay in the game, I’ll be ready for them. At least, that’s the plan. Wishing you and your family all the best for a prosperous 2022. And if you’re hurting, know that it won’t last forever. Hang in there, take care of yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask for some help when needed. Stay in the game.
I’m sitting in a hotel room in quarantine as I write this and contemplate what the heck just happened in 2020. To sum, it was a train wreck. What started out as a promising year turned from bad to worse as the pandemic hit. I started 2020 in Mexico City with my buddy and really enjoyed myself.
There was news reports of some new coronavirus from China as I was there but didn’t really think much about it. I very distinctly remember my brother and girlfriend making a huge stink about it, but nobody else I talked to expected what was about to happen. But at the same time, I noticed I was getting weird, negative reactions as I continued my journey in Colombia.
I have strong memories in February and March of cab drivers getting a little hostile and rude. I had one Uber driver writing to her friend on WhatsApp that she thought she was going to get coronavirus from me, in Spanish, as she was driving. Rude. I had waiters who didn’t want to serve me and pharmacists try to shoo me away. I had a bunch of immigration officers straight up yell at me because I was Asian. This was in Panama, about as close as I would get to Canada before heading further south to Argentina and Brazil. So I had to make a decision quickly as to continue my journey or return home. I had a few hours to decide as I headed to the airport. That was a bad day. A few hours later, the WHO declared a pandemic, and Canada, Brazil, and Argentina locked their borders.
The next 6 months were pretty much the same. I left the house a grand total of 5 times and basically worked and worked out to pass the days. I picked up a PS4 as I was starting to burn out from work a bit and would spend the hour before bedtime playing some games. I played more games in 2020 than the previous decade combined and have had my fill for the next little while.
Work itself was great. mailfloss is so much further along now and grew quite well. As a product, it is so much better than the competitors in so many ways and I’m very happy with where it finished in 2020.
The last quarter of the year was an insane blitz. As I was planning my work goals I read some quote from Elon Musk or something about condensing your 10-year plan down to 6 months, and I decided to give it a try. I don’t even remember the quote, or if it was Elon, and probably saw it on some stupid motivational Instagram post. But I thought I’d give it a try anyway, and went balls out.
Around the same time, other things sort of sprung up out of the blue. Some countries’ restrictions were loosening up, and I needed to get back to Thailand. That process was not easy. There was an obstacle every step of the way. I’d book a plane ticket, and the transiting country would ban transit. I’d buy some insurance, and the insurance requirement would change. I’d book a covid test at a testing location, and all of a sudden customs was seizing the test samples. I’d call every doctor’s office in the city asking if they’d write a doctor’s note and all would say no. The one office that said yes would continue to say yes after following up with them four times, until it was time to get the note. Everything dragged on and on. Everything took longer than usual. Everything was a damn negotiation.
Then there were the junkies, dealers, and crackheads. How do I even write this part, I’m not sure. Let me just say that there are some real fucking scumbags on this planet, and they are close by. Not just in the movies or tv shows. Not far away in the news. They’re right there around the corner. And when you have to deal with them, it ain’t pretty.
If I learned anything in 2020, it is that the bar got fucking low. It is so easy to be just a little bit better these days. To be a little kinder, a little more patient, a little more empathetic. Because everyone else is miserable and it shows. The new average is simply not to suck, and it’s sad. But you can’t blame people, either. When you have news as unreliable and inaccurate as we’ve had, politicians and governments who don’t know what they’re doing, social media companies being incredibly greedy and irresponsible, and corporations who dgaf about anything except increasing share prices, it’s no wonder everyone is upset.
The only thing you can do is be better. Even if you get the shit end of the stick over and again, as I did in many scenarios. I remember scrubbing the back of a toilet covered in someone else’s shit on Christmas day and thinking fuck this shit (literally), but that’s how it goes sometimes. You can whine about it or you can be better. You’re allowed to be upset, and you’re allowed to be pissed, and you’re allowed to complain. You can do all those things and still be better. To be just a little kinder. To be a little more patient. Even when you are arguing with dispatch who is lying to you when you call 911 for help. Even when the police show up 4 hours late to an emergency situation. Even when your friends ghost you and are completely unreliable. These things and more all happened to me in 2020. Oh, and never forget, nobody cares.
But I refuse to stoop to these new normal levels of shit. For no other reason except because I can. Hard times make hard (wo)men. The others can fold and be shitty and weak and petty. I choose not to because I’m better. And you’re better.
This year I didn’t read that much, only 9 books, the least amount I’ve read in about a decade. I was really focused on business, and by the time I was finished, I was too knackered to read and use more brain, and figured video games would be a better use of my spare time. I felt that this was the right move in 2020 but do hope I will read a little more this year. The books that I did read were mostly business type books and I thoroughly enjoyed a number of them including “Building a Story Brand”, “Obviously Awesome”, “Traction”, and “The Ultimate Sales Machine”.
2020 was the year I became somewhat fluent in Spanish and made massive gains at a school in Colombia. By the time I left, I felt quite confident and was having conversations with locals, could ask for directions, order food, go shopping, and felt comfortable doing so. This made me quite happy as Spanish is a language I’ve been trying to learn for years.
The last thing I wanted to mention is my gym gains. I was also quite happy here. I lifted every day despite previously lifting only 3 days a week. The conventional wisdom is that you need rest days to recover. And yet I was breaking personal bests and felt great on a daily regimen. I felt the focus in the gym was a nice break from sitting in front of the computer and I liked seeing the numbers go up.
I’m glad 2020 is over and I am positive 2021 is going to be a much better year in just about every way. If you went through a hard time and are possibly still going through one know that you are not alone and things will get better as they always do. Hang in there, you got this.
Happy 2020! I didn’t write a mid-year update for 2019 because I was putting in crazy 16 hour days, under cyber-attack, and just trying my best to stay afloat. It was insanely tough and there wasn’t much to say other than it fucking sucked. But I got through it and here I am reflecting not only on the past year but the past decade as well.
A year ago I was terrified of leaving my job to work full-time on mailfloss. At the time it wasn’t doing a whole lot in revenue, had a high churn rate, and a ton of bugs. Mentally, I felt really isolated, unprepared and alone, but in retrospect, it was absolutely the right thing to do. It’s been incredibly challenging at times, but nothing in my life has ever felt so rewarding, either.
2019 gave me a glimpse of a new life and what’s possible. Walking into the new year and the new decade I feel like I’ve gained some confidence back and know that everything is going to be alright.
I spent half the year in Canada and half the year in Thailand. There was one issue with Thailand, and that was the fact that I didn’t work out at all. This is horrible and something I need to fix. I’ve been doing double duty since coming back to Canada for the past month and it’s really made a difference in my size and leanness, but it’s also starting to nag on my joints a bit, especially my elbows.
The good news is I’ll be heading to South America for 3 months starting next week, which was my original plan in 2018. I’ll give my elbows a break from the daily grind for a few weeks, but then I’ll still need to get into a bodyweight routine of some sort, or end up with a dad bod again, which happened this year but thankfully is now under control.
My Spanish will be put to the test while in South America, which is exactly what I need. I had a tutor for over a year and still feel like my Spanish isn’t up to snuff, which is frustrating but is what it is. I feel like I’ll be able to get by without too much trouble, but we’ll see once I get there.
I read 23 books this year and the one that I recommend the most was the first one I finished – Atomic Habits. It’s a blueprint to better habits and really helped my productivity shoot through the roof, eliminate some nasty habits and get better at sticking with good ones.
Some lessons I’ve learned and re-learned from the past 10 years include:
Consistency is everything. Slow and steady wins the race. The tortoise beats the hare 9/10 times.
Don’t tolerate toxic people. Friends, family, SOs, classmates or coworkers, it doesn’t matter. If they continuously disrespect you and don’t support you then get rid of them. You will be objectively happier and better off once they’re out of your life.
Nobody gives a shit about you and nobody owes you anything. Don’t cry about it, this is empowering. You can do anything. Get after it.
Friendships come and go in cycles. Life changes, people get married, have kids, move away. Don’t hate, accept it. You can’t force and beg people to be in your life. If it was meant to be, so be it. You never know when you’ll reconnect with old ones.
Be cautious of the “isms” and worship nobody, no matter how great you think they might be.
Respect everyone until they give you a reason not to.
Be kind, even to those who don’t reciprocate.
Effectiveness beats efficiency, but ideally, you’d want to be efficient at the effective stuff.
Be micro-impatient, and macro-patient. H/t to Gary V for this one. Meaning go fast and hard short-term so you can reap the rewards long-term. But they don’t come overnight.
Sleep well so you feel great and can perform well.
Eat consciously.
Kaizen – try to continuously improve, always.
1% improvements add up quickly.
Don’t sweat the small stuff, but don’t underestimate them either.
Believe in yourself, even when nobody else does.
Don’t forget to breathe. This is especially important when shit is hitting the fan.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help, especially if you need it.
Think for yourself and don’t believe everything you read or see.
Exercise, already!
Balance is still over-rated. Especially when it’s ill-defined.
Just because you love something doesn’t mean it’s good for you. This includes friends and hobbies. And cheeseburgers.
Try to full-ass stuff rather than half-ass stuff.
Travel more. (side note: Instagram doesn’t need to know)
Put away your phone. It’s alright.
Looking back on the past decade, I can say without any doubt that this was by far the toughest decade I have gone through and perhaps ever will go through. I left the corporate world in 2009 and haven’t looked back, but nothing turned out the way I envisioned it. While my friends got married, bought houses, cars, had kids, got promotions and new jobs, I got none of that. I failed, again and again and again and AGAIN, moved home, was ridiculed and laughed at and wrote off, brushed aside, disrespected, ghosted, and thrown shade at more times than I’d like to think about.
But it’s all been worth it for what comes next. I genuinely believe 2020 and beyond is mine for the taking, and I’m coming for it all.
I had another good year in the books. It was marginally better than 2017. Aside from that, there isn’t much more to add in addition to my mid-year update. It was still the best year for me in terms of physical fitness and aesthetics. My Spanish continued to improve steadily and slowly (and frustratingly). Ditto to my swimming, although I haven’t jumped in the water in a few months.
There are a few other things worth sharing. For one, I bought a one-way ticket to Asia, where I’ve been spending my time the last 3 months. I started in Chiang Mai, then went to Bali, and finally to Tokyo. It’s been a dream come true and one of the best decisions I made in 2018. My original plan was to head to South America in January but I love it here too much and am currently HQ’d in Chiang Mai. The only thing I really, really miss aside from my family is the barbell. I really friggen miss it. But luckily, even after 3 months away from training and eating everything under the sun, I’m still feeling good and relatively fit. Bodyweight workouts are fun, and I plan on improving my flexibility over the next couple of months, but still, I love the feeling of getting under a bar and trying to lift it.
I read 21 books in 2018. It was a good pace for me. I was quite busy so getting in 21 books was more than enough. Some of my favourites include Win Bigly, It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work, Tools of Titans, and Discipline Equals Freedom.
The only part of 2018 that I struggled with was my job. This was a biggy, and I spent too many days in a row waking up and not looking forward to the workday. So I made the decision to leave just around the end of the year. So here I am at the beginning of 2019 on the other side of the world, far from home, and starting my life all over again and at the bottom. I’ve been here before. Back to back to back to back business failures. You’d think I’d learned my lesson by now, but I haven’t. I’m an idiot. But a happy, wandering idiot. Cheers to a great 2019.
Late, as usual, but whatever. This is more catharsis for myself than anything else. Plus I’ve been hella busy so bleh. So far, I’ve been very happy with this year. It feels oddly familiar to 2007. 2007 was an epic year for me, and from 2007-2009 is when I experienced the most growth as a person and racked up a ton of life experiences. This year, 11 years later, so far feels a lot like 2007 in so many ways. It feels like I’m on the cusp of some more big lessons, wins, and life experiences.
Next year looks to be business as usual in a lot of ways, but there will also be exciting opportunities available. I think it will be a hard but rewarding year. And if it’s a good year like this one I’ll gladly accept it. I’m excited to see what happens.
I’d say that’s largely true. Business as usual. Lots of hard work. But rewarding work. And the results are showing. For example, I rehired my swimming coach like I said I was going to do, and she’s been fantastic. I feel so much more comfortable in the pool, and panic far less now. I’d say I’m now a slightly-below-average swimmer at this point. I know that doesn’t sound amazing, but for my entire life I was so mortified at even the thought of putting my feet into the water that this is a huge achievement for me that I’m really happy with.
I’ve also hired a Spanish tutor, and after 5 months with him I can have so-so conversations and can express my ideas in Spanish that he’s able to understand. It’s definitely not fluency by any means, but he’s ecstatic with my progress and I’m somewhat satisfied. I really want to be fluent at the end of the year, which is quickly approaching, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll happen. That seems to be the norm for me. I just seem to have to work harder than everybody else to get mediocre results. When I read stories of people who get fluent in a language in 3 months or get down to 7% body fat after a 3-month cut I always get envious. I’ll do my absolute bestest to follow the exact step-by-step plan and I simply just don’t get the same results. But then I look back at how far I’ve come and remind myself that it isn’t a race and that the only person I should compare myself to is my former self.
Physically I feel fantastic. I’m in the best shape of my life, for sure. Training has gone exceptionally well and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve got some naggy elbows for the past month but they’re feeling much better now, and I didn’t have to slow down my training, progress, or volume. I couldn’t ask for more in this regard, to be honest.
I did end up going to India for a month in January, and I loved it. I went with one of my besties who hasn’t really traveled much and it was quite obvious he wasn’t having a good time. So we were both glad when he left and I continued on my own, then met up with some of my other besties. India is a challenging country in so many ways and yet it all felt so normal to me. Travel isn’t always comfortable, in fact, I’d argue that a lot of travel isn’t, and yet on the other side of that discomfort is so much win. With that said, I’m going to do some wandering for a while and work remotely in different countries. It’s time. I’m not getting any younger and this is something I’ve always wanted to do ever since I read about it in the 4-hour workweek way back in 2007. I have so many excuses in my head as to why I shouldn’t go, and only a few reasons for why I should. But fuck it, sometimes you just gotta stop listening to your head and listen to your heart. First stop, Asia! Stay tuned…
I’m heading to India for a month, traveling through the country using planes, trains, and automobiles. It’s a trip I’ve wanted to do now for many years. Timing wise, I would have preferred to do the trip at another time as it really cuts awkwardly into some of my goals and kills some momentum. But three of my best friends are going to be there at various times that I’m there, as well as a few other people who I haven’t seen in a while. I don’t know how many chances I’m going to get to travel with friends like this, so I figure why not. Plus I could use the break as I have been working on overdrive for the last couple of months.
Anyway, I’m only packing a single carry-on backpack like I usually do. A friend asked me for some advice on how to do this so I figure I’d just write something up real quick. Here are some quick tips to help you accomplish this.
1. You need a good bag
You want a carry-on backpack and nothing bigger (I think this point is obvious). There are a ton of them out there as ultra-lite travel is a growing category. The Wirecutter even did a breakdown and analysis of the best carry-on backpacks. Getting a quality bag is worth paying extra for because it will last many years and follow you on many travel adventures. My bag, the Aviator from Timbuk2 (no longer available), has been through hell and back and still looks brand new. Before my last trip, I lost one of the female buckles. I walked into the Toronto Timbuk2 store and they replaced it free of charge before I headed to the airport. Thumbs up for awesome customer service.
2. You need good clothing
Good clothing is subjective, but there are some rules I follow. It must look good (that means none of those god awful pants that convert into shorts when you unzip the bottoms aka travel clothes), feel good, and have properties like anti-odour, anti-bacterial, wrinkle-resistant, quick-drying, strong, durable, light, temperature regulating, etc. So cotton and polyester are out, for example. Clothes made of materials such as merino wool, tencel, modal, and silver fibers are generally good candidates for travel clothing. With good clothing, you can bring a single pair of comfortable pants that look good instead of 3 or 4 pairs that will stink after a single wear. When it comes to packing, your clothes will take up the most space so don’t take this lightly. Invest in good clothes.
3. Be prepared to lose it
If you bring it, be prepared to lose it. So things like expensive jewelry are out. Only bring the necessities, and be fully ready in your mind to have it rip, snap, snag, break, get stolen, soiled, burned, and shredded. I have lost count of the number of items I’ve lost over the years while traveling.
4. You don’t need to pack that
The best travel experiences and memories aren’t always comfortable. You have to change your mindset. If you’re female, you might not be able to bring your entire makeup kit. You’ll just have to get used to it. Every single item you have on your packing list must, must, MUST have a good reason to make the cut. Otherwise, you’ll end up bringing more than you need. That means no hair-dryer “just in case” the hotel doesn’t have one. A carry-on backpack is a great constraint to have – it will keep the number of items you can bring in check. If you bring a huge piece of luggage, you’ll just find ways to fill it up, no matter the size. Embrace the minimalist mindset – you’ll be happier with it.
5. Try to find travel-sized versions
A toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant are all things that come in travel sizes. Other things like pens, notebooks, nail clippers, and hand-sanitizer all come in tinier sizes. For liquids, you can only carry so much. Get the TSA travel-sized liquid tubes to put your favourite shampoo and other things into if you must. If it passes rule #4 (you don’t need to pack that) then see if you can get a tinier and lighter version of it.
6. Know where you’re going
Packing for a country that can go from rain to wind to sun and back again in a matter of minutes like Iceland will be slightly different than packing for a tropical island like Fiji. Clothes is the obvious thing that will be different. You’d also want to maybe bring an umbrella to Iceland but not Fiji, but you’d bring some bug spray to Fiji and not Iceland. Many things will stay the same, though. If you pack correctly, maybe only a handful of items will change and the rest will stay the same.
7. Get some good shoes
Shoes are a tough one. If you’re packing light, putting an extra pair of shoes into your carry-on can be tough. I generally bring only a single pair of shoes. For women who love their shoes, this might be very tough. Shoes should be comfortable and versatile enough to look good in a variety of outfits and situations. For men, a pair of chukkas, desert boots, or Tom’s classic can go a long way (but depends on #6, where you’re going). For women, I have no clue. Good luck.
8. Try to only bring items that have multiple uses
Because you are so constrained with what you can bring, the items you bring should have multiple uses whenever possible. That’s why things like travel pillows are out. They take up too much space and you only use them on long plane rides. That marginal increase in comfort on the plane ride isn’t worth lugging it around for a few weeks or more. This might make more sense with some examples. Below you’ll see my packing list and gear I’m bringing with me to India.
What I’m bringing to India
This is everything I’m taking in my Aviator carry-on backpack or wearing the day of travel. I haven’t finalized my packing list just yet (I’ll likely remove some items rather than add), but this will give you an idea of just how much stuff you can bring in a carry-on backpack.
1. 1 pair of shoes, the Nike Metcon 2. I got these on clearance during Boxing Week at the Nike Outlet. They look decent and are meant for various activities so I figure these are worth a go in India. The pair I bought are a light brown colour.
2. Aviator backpack. This was a gift and I’m mostly pleased with it. One thing drives me crazy with the backpack, and that’s the inability to access the laptop compartment without opening up the top compartment. This is clunky, and sometimes a pain, especially when getting through airport security. But overall, this is a great bag.
and 1 pair of boxer briefs from Unbound Merino (merino wool).
I like having loads of underwear on hand, because that’s really the only clothing item I care about having a fresh pair on at all times. Ideally, I’ll do a quick wash of my clothes every 5-6 days, but just in case, having a few extra pairs of undies is worth carrying for me.
4. 5 pairs of socks – 4 pairs of the YAthletics ankle sock and 1 pair from Unbound Merino. I really love these socks from YAthletics. They don’t stink even after a long day of walking and feel great.
These shirts all look good, feel great, and have great properties. Not washing them is no big deal as they won’t stink, even after a heavy day of sweating and moving. All you really need to do is hang them somewhere to air out and the next day they are as good as new. You can’t do this with a cotton shirt. This is why I say pay for good clothing.
6. 2 pairs of shorts – 1 pair from Cobba and another from Aviator USA. These are both great shorts with lots of neat features and properties. They’ll help me survive the heat in India.
7. 2 pairs of pants – The Live Lite A/C pant and the Live Lite Adventure pant from Dish and Duer. I’m a big fan of Dish and Duer clothing. Their pants are great for a number of reasons. I’ll wear a pair of these in Canada to stay warm as I go to the airport, but will also wear them in India because they’re temperature regulating and I won’t feel like I’m wearing snow pants while I’m there.
8. The MEC ionic hoody. Another item I’ll wear in Canada as I go to the airport. I’ll wear it at night in India should it get a little chilly, especially in the north.
9. The ultrafine long sleeve crew neck from Element Pure. Made of tencel, this is an amazing long sleeve. I’ll wear this in Canada as well as on chilly nights.
10. Wind jacket from Puma. I don’t know the exact version or product name. I bought this on a whim in Hong Kong and I think I’ll be replacing it soon. It packs in super tiny, though and weighs almost nothing. Worth bringing to stay warm in places where it might be windy or at night.
11. Uniqlo down jacket. This thing packs in super tight. On my last trip to Chicago, I forgot I had brought it because it is so light. I ended up letting my buddy wear it to stay warm as it was unusually windy and cold (or usually, damn you Chicago!). I’ll wear this in Canada and doubt I’ll wear it at all in India. This can also double as a pillow on flights and trains.
12. Chaos multi tubular. Made of merino wool, I can use this as a scarf, balaclava, neck warmer, and so on. This is what I mean by a multi-purpose item. This will also keep me warm while I’m still in Canada and making my way to the airport.
10. Apple Macbook. Since I’ll be working for half the trip, I’ll need my laptop. These Macbooks are slim, light, and super sexy.
11. Nexus 6P. A big and powerful phone. It’s the only one I have, otherwise I’d prefer something smaller. I’ll use it to take photos and look at maps when I get lost.
12. 2 USB to USB-C cables. These are to charge my phone and Macbook. It saves me from carrying the Macbook charger.
13. Cambridge anti-pollution mask. I’ll use this for protection against the bad air quality in places like New Delhi. It will look weird and is tough to breathe in, but I’ll get used to it.
14. The Anker power charger. This is another example of a multi-use item. It acts as a wall charger, but also has its own internal battery that can act as a portable battery when away from a wall outlet to charge your phone or laptop while on the road.
15. Cozyphones sleep headphones. To help me go to bed through the noisy cities in India. I’ll be using this every night so to me it is worth bringing.
16. Scrubba portable wash bag. I’ll use this to do my laundry. Fill it up with soap, water, and dirty clothes, then beat up the bag for 5-10 minutes. Rinse and hang dry the clothes, and bammo, good as new.
17. Beats urbeats earphones. They were on sale over Boxing Week and I needed some. They seem to fit my ears pretty well. I tend to go through earphones very quickly, but I’m hoping the Beats last much longer than what I’m used to.
18. Kikkerland UL03-A Universal Travel Adapter. This thing rocks. A travel adapter that is very portable and works just about everywhere, in every country I’ve been in.
19. Manta sleep mask. One of the best sleep masks I own. This one is super light, small, and you can adjust the eye covers to maximize light blocking.
20. Grayl water bottle. Water is a little sketchy and undrinkable from the tap in India. The Grayl is an awesome portable water bottle that will make any water drinkable. I’ll probably use this a lot.
21. Travelmore 20L Jetpack. This is a badass little daypack that crunches down fairly small, but has a lot of great features and holds up quite well as a daypack. I’ll use it to carry my Grayl, hand sanitizer, money, and maybe some snacks whenever I go anywhere and am leaving the Aviator in my hotel room.
22. Gee-Fi portable wifi device. This thing will act as a router and give me wifi just about anywhere. It costs 10 bucks a day to use, though, so I’ll only use it when wifi at hotels and lobbies aren’t available.
23. Deuter toiletry kit. This kit contains things like a travel toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, nail clippers, disposable razor, deodorant, a portable clothesline, some bandaids, Tide to Go stick, Tide laundry packets, hand sanitizer, and medicine including benadryl, gravol, and immodium.
24. Other miscellaneous items include wipes, tissues, ear plugs, pen, moleskin notepad, headphone splitter, flashlight, safety pins, athletic tape, portable power strip, key and key chain, printed copies of passport, travel insurance, plane tickets, hotel confirmations, and train tickets.
As you can see, that’s actually quite a lot of stuff I’m able to fit into a single backpack. By following my tips you should easily be able to do the same. Traveling with a single bag is a liberating experience. Once you do it once or twice and get the hang of it you won’t ever want to pack one of those huge suitcases ever again.
