Travel Hack: Building a 3-Night Bag

From time to time I will post a travel hack, which I hope will give you an idea on better ways to travel.  One thing I've noticed in my journeys, is that people carry far too many bags with them, especially when going on short, weekend trips.  I have found that one standard-sized backpack can handle all the items you need for going on a 3-Night trip.  My backpack is a Wenger Swiss, but even a cheap generic backpack can serve as an effective 3-Night Bag--the most important factor in building a successful 3-Night Bag that can hold everything you need for your trip is that your bag have a multitude of different pocket sizes to help you with your organization.

Here's another hint: your 3-Night Bag can easily become a 6-Night Bag if you make sure you stay at a place with laundry facilities.  That way, on night 3, you can wash and dry all your clothes and extend your stay to 6 nights while having only bag without experiencing any significant inconvenience. 

The benefits to carrying only one backpack:  you save the cost of checking bags to your destination, you save time at check-in and you can just jump on the plane, no chance you'll have lost luggage unless you are hopelessly absent-minded, no time spent at the baggage carousel at your destination, and when you arrive at your hotel you can unpack everything and your backpack can then serve as your day-bag for any of your outdoor excursions & adventures, just to name a few benefits.

Below is a list of everything I packed on my recent 3-Night stay in the mountains at Bogor.  Tell me what important items I was missing, if you find any.  The only item I might have packed would have been an extra pair of pants (and often I do pack an extra pair), but I wanted to leave a little room in my backpack for any items I might have purchased along the way.  If you are a fancy pants and are attending the opera, this strategy probably won't work because formalwear that cannot be folded will not survive being rolled up in a 3-Night Bag.

So, here's the list of what was inside my 3-Night Bag on my trip to Bogor:

Apple Mouse

MacBook

MacBook Charger

Cell Phone and Charger

3 books for leisure reading

Notebook

Infrared Thermometer

Ear buds

Work calendar/agenda

First Aid Kit including medicine and vitamins

Sewing kit

Foot lotion

Toiletry bag with 21 items (comb, deodorant, toothbrush, dental floss, toothpaste, fingernail clippers, emergency shampoo in case you find out the hotel doesn’t supply it, razor, cotton swabs, etc.)

Bottle of Aspirin

Box of Cold Medicine

Bottle of Hand Sanitizer

One packet of Kleenex

COVID Antigen Home Test

Sun hat

Extra N95 face mask

Passport

Apartment building keycard and my metal apartment key

Indonesian travel documents

Emergency contact/address book

An assortment of 20 tea bags and stevia packets

Container of Anti-viral Baby Wipes

Sunscreen

Mosquito Repellant 

Tiger Balm

Eyeglass Cleaner Cloth

6 pens and a permanent marker

3 clean shirts

3 clean pairs of socks

3 clean pairs of underwear

One night shirt

One pair of swimming trunks

One foldable cloth laundry bag

Compact umbrella

Snacks (three protein bars and a small bag of cashews)

And a small stash of chocolate, which almost goes without saying…

Of course, you might have other items you'd prefer to pack--for example, most people wouldn't pack three books for leisure reading like I do and you can easily substitute several of your favorite items that I haven't mentioned, instead of bulky books. 

You'll have a much more pleasant vacation, free of the worry of excess luggage, if you take the time to get a solid backpack and develop the practice of building an efficient 3-Night Bag. 




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