Art & science

One bag guru Doug Dyment’s website subtitle is the “The Art and  Science of Traveling Light”. While I try not to rip off Mr. Dyment’s ideas, I have been thinking about the art and science concept of of one-bag travel. It’s an instructive way to look at it. Let’s reverse the order and look at the boring part - the science - first.

SCIENCE 

There are some concrete, physical factors to deal with when going one bag. You have to stay below carryon weight limits (usually around 40 lbs. in the US and 22 lbs. internationally) and you have to know how many bags besides your main carryon you can take (one additional personal item for most of the world, zero for the UK). Pretty dry stuff. You can learn some neat packing strategies, like bundling or rolling. You can learn how to choose versatile, quick-drying clothing and how to efficiently sinkwash it as you go. Anybody can handle that. But there’s more.

ART 

The artist must master certain skills. However, those skills must be applied with creativity and a thoughtful, personal touch to produce art. The personal element is all-important in light travel. It’s why I don’t provide a laundry list of instructions, any more than art schools provide step-by-step how-to guides for painting masterpieces. No two people will (or can) do it alike. Your preference and style should guide your decisions about what to pack, how to pack it, and what to carry it in. To this end, I’ll be adding a static page soon called “How to do it”. It will suggest how you might go about going light, but it won’t say how you must do it. It will provide encouragement, though, that you can do it and do it well — if you so choose.

Art is about the pursuit of truth and beauty. Light travel is about the pursuit of travel that is easier: more enjoyable, flexible, and affordable. And to tell the truth, that’s a beautiful thing.