The Economics of Lifestyle and Travel

So, for anyone who knows me, you are aware of my penchant for being as optimized and organized as possible.  I’m constantly thinking about the best way to get things done, essentially tweaking the economics of my lifestyle.

Now, a lot of people tend to think of “economy” or “economics” in terms of finances, but I am using it by the definition of “the efficient, sparing, or concise use of something” or “the management of the resources of a community, country, etc., esp. with a view to its productivity”.  So for me, “economics” is about efficiency and optimization, not just about how you use money.

It is one of the reasons I live with so little “things” in my life.  For the past 2 months I’ve essentially been living out of one or two bags.  I must admit though, while I love being so mobile (or as my mom says, “portable”) I am actually looking forward to settling down in Xi’an for a while and having a home base.

When this is all over in October, It will have been 11 months since I originally set out from Hong Kong; a journey that will have taken me to 4 different countries, 11 different cities, 18 different homes/hotels, 20 plane rides, 6 train rides and 7 different martial arts schools.

And certainly one thing that this nomadic lifestyle has provided me is an enhanced perspective on what does and doesn’t matter in my life, and, even more so than before, a renewed appreciation for the art of letting go of “things” and focusing on that which matters most.

The Big Picture

The truth is, we don’t really need much in life to surive and be happy.  And if you look around you can find lots of examples of people who are embracing a more simplified lifestyle, or at least a lifestyle that allows them more personal flexibility.  From the 100 things challenge, to a four hour work week, to lifehackers and life simplification, there is a drive in a good number of people to let go and re-evaluate.

I was asked by James and Pierre during our trip to China to post up a blog about some of my tips and tricks for traveling.  But for me the tips and tricks for traveling are really the same as my tips and tricks for living a relatively clutter-free life.

Too much cool clutter

When I started this trend towards simplification and reduction, the hardest thing I had to deal with was letting go of things.  This is especially difficult for someone like me who is a collector by nature. (A trait I must have picked up from my father).  At one point in my life, I’m not sure when, I found that getting rid of stuff was actually a very liberating experience. (Because who really needs lots of collectible anime figurines anyway?)

I’ve been criticized by some of my friends for giving away or getting rid of things, but it is only a foolish thing to do if you put a lot of importance in having “things” in your life to start with.  I’ve found that the less physical clutter I had in my life, the less emotional and mental clutter I had as well.  And not only that, but it promoted in me the feeling of being detached from the material, transitory and non-important aspects of this existence.

Things are only tools that help you accomplish a task.  What really matters, when it comes down to it, is your relationships with other people and your relationship with God (or whatever higher power you believe in).  This isn’t meant to be a sermon, but it speaks to my perspective on how I economize my life.  Because to me the only possession and currency worth utilizing is love.  It sounds all hippy-wishy-washy, I know.  But that doesn’t make it any less true.  As a wise man once said “love is all you need”, and so, while I enjoy the things I have around me, I try to focus on that which is truly important.

There was one point in my life where I had to move out of an apartment VERY quickly.  Basically over the course of a few hours in the middle of the night.  I had spent quite a while moving in and getting all of my things situated, but due to some problems I had to leave and live out of my car for a period of time.  Well, needless to say all of my things did not fit in my little car and so I ended up throwing out a LOT of things.

It really made me appreciate just how little a person needs to live.  Over the years, moving to L.A., then to China and Hong Kong, each time I had to go through another period of reduction.  Ironically, in each location I would buy some things that I thought I needed/wanted, only to realize that I would have to get rid of them upon my next move.

It is at the point now that I am hesitant to buy something new unless I know that it is (a) portable and (b) necessary.  If it isn’t something I’m going to use then there is no point in having it.  The only time I usually want to get something is if I feel like it can replace something bigger and less efficient, or if it is something I will really be able to use to its full potential.

Traveling Essentials

Anyway, so in talking about traveling, I think the most important thing is being able to recognize what you can and can’t live without.  Once you have that down, then traveling lightly and efficiently is a piece of cake.

But that paradigm shift aside, there are a few practical things that I’ve picked up over the years that I would like to share.  This list is by no means exclusive, as I’m always making new distinctions about how to improve my methods.

1. Clothing.

One of the areas people have the biggest problems with is clothing.  Since my entire life is being lived out of my suitcase I’ve had to break things down to the essentials: 7 tops, 7 bottoms, 2 shoes, 3 underwear, 5 socks.

The tops are a combination of mostly t-shirts (5), with a few button ups and warmer clothes (2) in there too.  My bottoms are distributed between shorts (3), workout bottoms (2) and pants (1 jeans, 1 khakis).  I have one pair of dress shoes and one pair of casual/exercise shoes (although still trying to find the best combination of casual and exercise, as I have one of each right now).  My underwear is exoficcio, which is a fast-wicking, quick drying underwear.  You can wash them in a sink when you go to bed, hang them up, and they are dry by the time you wake up.  When traveling I also wash my socks, which are black sports socks, and one pair of dress socks.

Most of my clothes are dark, because they tend to hide stains better.  I also advise having one suit that is an all-purpose suit, again in a dark color, but I usually don’t travel around with it.  For jackets, I have one sport jacket for dressing up a pair of jeans, one athletic outerwear, for exercise or casual events, and one winter jacket, for those colder climates.

And thats it.  You don’t need 10 pairs of shoes.  You don’t need a different color top for every day of the month.  Find a combination of clothes that work well together and stick with those.

2. Gadgets

This is a hard one for me, as I am sort of a gadget nerd.  But I’m getting better with this.  I have one laptop, 2 small hard drives for all my daily use data, and one large drive as a backup/archive that I keep in my “home base”, wherever that is.  I also am a budding photographer of sorts, so I have my cameras as well, but after a lot of research I found one backpack that is small, slick and holds both my cameras, my laptop and my various gadgets all in one place.  The Kata Sensitivity V is what I have, although now there are a few others made by Kata that do the trick too, notably this one.  I haven’t been much of a video game player in a while, but whenever I have the itch to play, i scratch it with my DS Lite, since it is portable and fun.  (There are lots of online games too, which you can play from any computer).

3. Luggage

eBags MotherLoad TLS 21" Mini

I’m in a transitional period with my luggage.  The truth is, I’m sort of a bag fiend.  I LOVE nice luggage.  And at the moment, I have several suitcases that I’m not that happy with, and there are a few out there that I’m really itching to get.  One of my favorite brands is eBags, and of theirs I’m especially in love with their Mother Lode TLS (stands for “tough, light-weight, strong”) series of wheeled duffels.  Two in particular I would love to get is the TLS Mini and the TLS 29″.  But in general, my luggage is usually organized like this:

*Large Suitcase: This holds all the stuff I keep at my “home base”.  My sleeping bag (super small, but very warm), and any clothes, suits or things that I don’t need on a regular basis but I need have around “just in case”, I keep in this.  I recommend a semi-hard case 4 wheel suitcase , for this.

*Small Suitcase: This holds my important things.  Clothes I wear from day to day, toiletries, wushu shoes, etc.  This is the bag I live out of.  The TLS 29″ would be my choice here.

*Carry-On Roller: This is for the quick weekend or short-term trip.  A carry-on bag that holds the essentials.  The TLS Mini would be the bag of choice here.  A secondary choice would be a wheeled backpack convertible.

*Backpack: For my laptop, camera and important gadgets that I don’t trust anyone else to hold or take care of.  I use the Kata Sensitivity V.

*Personal: For my wallet, keys, phone, travel documents, passport and other important stuff.  This is strapped around me and never leaves my side.  The bag I have now is just so-so, but I would love to get the Piazza Day Bag from eBags.

Here is a demonstration of the awesome Mother Lode series of bags from eBags (first is the 29″ and second is the 21″):  (If you can’t see the video go to narom.net)

It is important to note that all of these can be carried by one person on a flight.  The large and small suitcases can be checked through, the carry-on and backpack go with you on the plane.  And I know a lot of airlines say you can only have one “personal” item, but I’ve never had anyone bother me about my fanny pack or a small shoulder bag.  I can almost always get on a plane with the 2 standard carry-ons and a small personal item.  Usually the wheeled carry on goes in the overhead compartment and the backpack goes under the forward seat.  The personal item usually can fit next to it or in the seat pocket.

4. Top 10 Tools of the Traveling Trade

There are a few things that I bring with me when I travel that make life a little easier on the road.  Pierre and James seemed interested in this aspect of my lifestyle so I thought I would write up a quick list of my top ten travel essentials:

**Suction Hooks:* These are super handy.  They adhere to any smooth surface (mirror, window, etc.) and have a hook that you can hang things on (hanger, bags, etc.).  I have one that I keep with my toiletry bag so that when I’m in the restroom I can hang it up right on the mirrow without worrying if there are any towel racks to use or not.

**S-Hooks:* This idea I got from Chinese house-wives, who use these hooks to hang up their grocery bags on the seat bar on buses.  They are great if you have some luggage and don’t want to hold it all the time, or just for hanging up things in general.

**Cables/Bungies:* I didn’t bring any on this last trip, but bungy cables are great for a couple reasons.  You can use them to tie up things to your luggage, like an oversized coat, or wrapping up your backpack to make it more secure from pickpockets.  They can also be used with the Suction hooks or S-hooks as a laundry line.

**Cable Lock:* I use a small cable lock to secure my luggage.  I loop it through my zippers on my backpack so that I don’t have to carry my backpack across my front, worry about someone opening it up behind me.  I also use it to secure my bags together or securing them to a post or rack to keep people from taking them away.

**Travel Billfold:* A lot of people have these travel wallets, but I just thought I would add it to the list because they are handy.  Especially good are ones with zippers.  I use a small memory card holder to keep SIM cards for the different countries I visit so that I can swap them out whenever I land in a new place.

**Business Card Filing System:* I started doing this when I lived in Shanghai, but whenever I am in a new city and I run across a business that I would like to remember, I get their business card.  Then I have a small business card holder that I keep all of the cards for a specific city in.  Whenever I’m going to that city, I just bring along the associated card holder and I have an easy way to show a taxi driver exactly where I want to go.  For big cities that I frequent a lot like Beijing, I would have one holder for restaurants, another for other types of businesses.

**Luggage Scale:* I got this idea from Pierre, actually, and I was able to pick one up in Beijing for cheap.  They are relatively small and can weigh luggage up to 50 pounds.  Great for figuring out weight distribution between bags for check-in.

**Small Digital Camera:* I carry around my Casio Exilim camera, not so much to take pictures of things, but because it is great as a portable scanner, recorder or document reference guide.  If I see a billboard for something I want to remember, I just snap a photo.  If someone is going to give me a phone number or address, I just record them telling it to me.  If I need to remember something, I can just take a quick video or picture as a reminder.  Cameras are a great way to document more than just your sightseeing, and for the main photographic adventures I prefer to use my Digital SLR anyway.  The Exilim fits in my pocket and I use a belt clip holder to keep it handy at all times.  Camera phones with good video quality are also good for this.

**Expandable Bag:* I got a nice portable duffel at REI a while back and use it all the time when I’m traveling.  They have various sizes, but mine is big enough to check in on a flight or to hold all of my clothes.  It zips up into a super small size that could fit in my pocket, but I have found the extra storage to be super convenient.

**Shamois Towel:* Whether you get one of the fancy ones at REI or pick up a Sham-Wow at your local Walgreen’s, these are very handy things to have.  Very absorbant, very small, and very convenient.  I use them to wipe the sweat off my brow during summers in Asia, or to dry myself off after a shower.  They wash quickly and dry even quicker.

So, there you have it.  A few of my thoughts on travel and lifestyle optimization.  I really could write about this topic all day long, but I’ll keep you guys from getting more bored than you already are.  I’m sure there are a lot of things I missed but this should give you a general idea of what I do when traveling or living a lifestyle of economy.

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