Street tacos are the best. Sure, tacos and a liquada sitting down in a restaurant can be nice, but standing on the corner in the sun downing a couple fresh street tacos with a friend can’t be beat.

One of the things about simple living is the few things we own can be “nicer” because we don’t distribute budget across extra items.

Instead of six or seven pairs of sixty dollar shoes we can have two pairs of two hundred dollar shoes. And if we shop at Nordsrtom Rack, that’s two pairs of $400 dollar shoes. Those are nice shoes!

Same with shirts, jackets, anythng.

While higher quality goods tend to last longer anyway, I like to do what I can to make them last as long as possible.

The hardest thing on clothes is washing. Machine washing. So don’t. Learn how to hand wash everything you can. You will be amazed how long good quality clothes last if you hand wash them.

But how? Isn’t that a major pain in the ass? Actually, not really. The first few times may be challenging if you haven’t done it before but I quickly got used to just doing it.

You’re going to want a bucket of some sort. Nearly anything will do. A cleaning bucket, an empty paint can, a roasting pan, anything. Since I travel so light right now I use a medium sized OR dry bag. Yes, a bag. Works a treat.

For socks and unders, just take them into the shower with you. Two pairs of socks and two pairs of unders and you always have clean ones.

I have traveled with one pair of trousers and one shirt. I wash them before going to bed and put them right back on in the morning. On St Thomas or in Playa del Carmen, this worked great.

When I was van dwelling with a health club, I would wash everything in the shower at the club, burrito roll them in a towel and put them right back on. In southern California they were often dry by the time I got back to the van. Certainly by the time I got to the restaurant. But I have done this in Seattle, too. Both my shirt and my trousers are nylon so not only do they last an eternity they are warm wet and dry quickly, too.

Posted on May 20, 2019 by lonnatic

I’ve been promising an updated inventory. Here we go.

Upper left to right. The first thing is another awesome bag. Some of you know I have a bit of a bag fetish. I have owned up to seven Filson bags at once. This little beauty is a Skyway Coupeville 20″ Travel Backpack I scored on clearance from The Bon. Oh. Macy’s. Whatever. It came up in a google search for “carry on backpack”; a search I have run often. I spotted this and immediately searched for reviews. I have watched hundreds of reviews for dozens of bags so imagine my surprise when I could not find one single review of this bag. Strange indeed.

I already knew a little about Skyway from seeing their goods at Goodwill in the past. I have owned a couple of their classic suitcases. They are a Seattle company and have been in the business of making fine luggage for over a hundred years. Longer than Jansport. Or almost anyone for that matter.  Almost as long as Filson and as long as Samsonite.

Next is a packing cube with a long sleeved wool base top, a pair of shorts, a dress shirt, a pair of ExOfficio mesh unders, a wool base bottom, and a nice Pashimi scarf. On top of the Jansport is my laundry bag with a pair of socks ready to wash. Then my venerable Jansport Right Pack. There’s an article about this bag around here somewhere. Both bags have those nice Rick Steves luggage tags. Those prayer flags fit in the packing cube. The colorful Trader Joes shopping bag is nice for carrying a hat when on the move and holding my groceries in the community or airbnb fridge. That’s my Levine Hat Company Homburg style Panama. I can’t say enough good about this hat and this hat company. I will buy another. And another. Right below the hat is an original Pack Towel. There is a reason everyone copies them. These are awesome. Just plain awesome. Always know where your towel is. There’s some standard tech there in the corner. An iPad Pro, a Macbook Air, some charging cables, and an audio cable. I sent one of my guys to the Office Max on St. Thomas for some shit and asked him to grab me an audio cable while he was there. He came back with a pink one. Said it was all that was left. Sure.

Coming back to the middle left. That’s a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm Sleeping Pad. I use this when the airbnb bed isn’t a bed. Or if I’m crashing on a couch. Fuck the couch. They always slope and are always too short. I roll out my pad and sleep like at “home”. Dromedary bottle. Worth the space. No weight. Stainless water bottle. Really the only way to go. I’ve tried them all. As much as I like to reuse a Perrier bottle, it’s just not a good idea. Next is another Rick Steves item. He carries these nice little “wallets”. They hold a metric stack of cards and there’s a little front pocket for little stuff. The ideal place for keys to friend’s houses, usb sticks, sim card key, fobs, what have you. Then a bunch of cook kit stuff. There’s an article about most of this stuff around here somewhere, too. GSI cup. Stanley cook kit with the stupid plastic cups thrown away. BRS3000 Titanium Stove. Wow! MSR fuel. Standard size bic. That is a really nice super fine strainer I got at Sur le Table in Pike Place Market. For making coffee. That’s a Zassenhaus manual coffee grinder next. Some Dr. Boners, and a fork and spoon from Goodwill. I know everyone loves their Titanium Sporks. Good on ya! I like a real fork and a real spoon, thank you. This all fits in a small Eagle Creek packing cube. That’s a Jack Spade bonded trench coat. It weighs about a quarter what my last nice trench coat weighed and takes up about as much less space. I’m very happy with it. On top of it is a pair of 10 x 35 field glasses and a Black Diamond headlamp. These go in the outside, easy to reach pocket. And of course, dance shoes. Tango.

Bottom left. A down “puffy”. I got this one at the Nordstrom Rack for $50. Smartest $50 I ever spent. Shoe care. Hairbrush. I don’t think this is essential but it’s nice and doesn’t weigh hardly anything. Above the hairbrush is a basic emergency kit. Bandaids, sewing kit, patch kit for the therm-a-rest, earplugs, and a supply of toothpicks. All fits in a nice little two pocket mesh zippered pouch thing I found at Savvy Traveler. Under that is my Eagle Creek silk travel wallet, passport, sd card, and social security card. I always load this up with local currency and put whatever US dollars I brought in there. There’s a splash of miscellanious small crap there. A soap dish with a bar of ayurvedic soap, more toothpicks, toothpaste, toothbrush and perioaide, a lock and cable, shoe horn, bulldog clip, raquet ball, and dental floss. Each one of these can have it’s own article. The lock and cable is super handy in a coffee shop. Just throw it around a chair leg and through the handles of a bag when it’s time to use the bathroom. It’s just nice to know it’s there. I take my laptop with me. Next we have a really nice little Tumi bag. The laptop charger is in one, too. I am guessing Tumi made these for Delta Airlines since there is a Delta logo inside. I get them at Value Village from time to time for about a dollar. I think I have four. They are great. This one holds my toilet kit. Four three ounce bottles. Scissors. That cool stainless nail clipper I like. My Joris gold plated open comb safety razor, some razor blades, and my razor case. Also a lock for the gym locker.

I’m wearing some nice Crocket and Jones shoes, Smartwool argyle socks, some manner of nice trousers, a horsehide belt with a real brass belt buckle, ExOfficio mesh unders, and a very nice knife on the belt. A J.Crew classic safari shirt in nylon, a bandana, a sport coat with a pocket square. There is a clean handkerchief folded into the pocket square for her. Pockets hold cash in a money clip, phone and headphones, whatever key I need right now, a change purse with my 19 year coin in it, and earplugs. My wallet with three bank cards, my drivers license, my insurance card, my Yacht club card, my scuba dive certification card, and my Washington State Boaters Education card. There is a nice, heavy rollerball pen in here somewhere. And a mala. And a hat.

That’s it. That is all I want to own.

“I don’t want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I’m not sure where that is but I know what it is like. It’s like Tiffany’s.”

― Audrey Hepburn