We did 4 days 3 nights in Halifax. Now that we’ve moved to New Brunswick, this really wasn’t a huge trip, but I still had a lot of fun planning out a packing list and a capsule wardrobe for the it!
The eternal struggle of getting a good photo at Peggy’s Cove. We did beat the tour bus convoy though!
We were pretty lucky with some reasonable weather the whole time, mostly sunny, low teens for temperature, little wind. Our transportation there and back was the bus, and our main purpose of the trip was to drop my wife’s parents off at the airport for their trip back to India. This go around I wanted to concentrate on a smaller pack (20L) and also test out a capsule wardrobe from a new favourite brand, Ministry of Supply. We kept is pretty casual, with mostly city based activities (A lot of restaurants and bars!) along with a trip to Peggy’s Cove for the Wife’s parents.
A not-so-visually-pleasing photo of the 20L classic in our Airbnb. Bellroy replaced my Charcoal model with the black option when I noticed some fraying on the strap - No complaints on the colorway!
For a packing list I tried to streamline while giving myself a number of options for different looks over four days, targeting a slightly more dressed up look than I normally go for. My bag of choice was my Bellroy Classic Backpack coming in at 20L, and everything fit comfortably. For clothing, I went with below, most stuffed into a Peak Design medium packing cube:
Monochromatic! Not pictured here is the shoes and jackets.
2x Ministry of Supply Composite Merino Tees, Heathered Grey - 1 worn, 1 packed. Although these are only 15% merino they’re pretty anti-stink for me, and 2 was plenty for rotation over the few days we were away. Overall they’re durable due to the high poly content, dry quickly, and fit well. Great base layer.
Ministry of Supply Apollo Button Down, White - Packed. This was an awesome layering option and looked very smart on it’s own or with a pullover on top. Can be worn buttoned or unbuttoned over a tee.
Ministry of Supply Atlas Crew Neck Pullover, Grey - Worn. This was a great warm layer that has some visually interesting details on the shoulders. Mostly merino it provided a good bit of thermal regulation and worked great over a shirt or under a jacket.
Ministry of Supply Kinetic Joggers, Black - Packed. Stylish looking, great stretch, provided a slightly more formal option for dining at nicer spots. I really could have cut these in favor of the 5 pockets exclusively, but it was nice to switch up for a few spots.
Ministry of Supply Kinetic 5 Pocket Twill, Heathered Black - Worn. Basically a superlight alternative to five pocket jeans. Great stretch, love the waistband drawstring internally, and they fit really nicely after getting them further tapered. I find they have a bit of a blue hue to them, so I may favor my Lululemon ABC skinnies over them, but these look a lot more put together.
2x Smartwool No Show Socks, Black - Packed. Could have cut one of these. These are pretty standard, great fit, don’t see them over the shoe, and they’re fairly anti-stink.
Smartwool Crew Sock, Black - Worn. VIP. Really could have done just a second pair of these if I didn’t pack the joggers. I wore these most days and after hanging for the night they drop most of their smells.
4x Saxx Quest 2.0 Boxer Brief, 2 Grey 2 Black - 1 worn, 3 packed. I had enough space to change underwear everyday so I went for it. If I was travelling longer these dry quick after a sink wash and fit great, so 4 total is plenty for indefinite travel.
2x Uniqlo Airism Boxers, Black - Packed. I could have dropped one of these. They’re my preferred sleep boxers when travelling as they weigh nothing, take up no space, and dry incredibly quickly. Being used exclusively for sleep I find I can get a few nights out of a pair.
Uniqlo Ultralight Down Jacket, Black - Packed. Reliable layering option, packs into a pocket inside it, and is very warm for it’s size. Perfect for the weather we had while in Halifax.
Patagonia Torrentshell 3L, Black - Packed. We didn’t expect any rain, but this is a reliable windbreaker and due to it’s waterproofing makes for a great layer in which to further insulate. Worn at Peggy’s Cove, but otherwise packed.
Ponto The Pacific Shoe, Black - Worn. Hybrid between a sneaker and a dress shoe. They were probably just a bit too dressy for the whole trip, but they wore well, walked well, and looked very sharp paired with the joggers or the 5 pocket pants. I’d probably replace these with something a hair more casual like an Ecco street tray shoe or the likes if I was to do the trip again. Didn’t have an opportunity to test the water resistance.
My toiletries haven’t changed much since last time, I’m still using a Matador Flatpak waterproof toiletry case with the roll top. Inside it I packed a few different things though.
Really distilled down to a functional collection. Not pictured is the toothbrush case, though I’d probably just throw a head cover on it.
Philips One Toothbrush - A bit bigger than my old folding brush but worth it for a nicer feeling clean.
Lush Dirty Toothy Tabs in Nalgene container - Standard solid toothpaste for me. Not overly minty, and I can carry a ton of them.
Various OTC meds in a Nalgene container - Ibuprofen, antihistamine, anti-nauseant. Standard stuff as a just-in-case.
Folding Brush - Same one I bought years ago in Japan, been working awesome.
Native Deodorant - I love the smell of the eucalyptus mint. Wish I could find a smaller one.
Unscented Company Solid Shampoo and Conditioner in a Matador Flatpak Soap Bar Case - Still a wonderful little product for holding bar soap. The unscented company stuff works great for body wash AND shampoo, but if I was going on a longer trip I’d likely pack a bar soap from them too. Very happy with their products.
Beauty cloth - Unbranded. Just a grey exfoliating nylon cloth, similar to a loofah but unwrapped. I use these at home all the time now, they lather well, exfoliate nicely, and dry very quick due to being a loosely weaved nylon.
For tech and extras, I had to lug along a few things. Most of this was stored in my Bellroy Lite Sling which kinda doubled as a tech bag/day bag. It was big enough to hold my camera, a jacket, a packed Matador tote bag, and my battery.
A selection of the stuff below. The Bellroy Lite Sling was really functional for city walking.
Fuji X100V - Just the camera, no extra lenses. Haoge lens hood for no lens cap and a Peak Design wrist strap.
iPad Mini 6 w/ Smart Cover and Apple Pencil 2 - I replaced my iPad Pro with this a month and a bit ago. Phone was too small to read on, iPad Pro was a bit too big for cramped transit like the bus or economy plane seats. The Pro was also hard to use one-handed. This was the perfect in-between and I’ve been loving it. I read on the bus ride and used this for importing photos/editing on Lightroom.
Tom Bihn Ghost Whale Small w/ charging goods - This contained a Mophie 6000mah universal battery, a 30w Anker Powerport Atom III Slim charger, a 3ft USB-C to USB-C cable, a 3ft USB-C to Lightning cable, and both a Lightning and USB-C card reader from Apple. Coupled with the Incharge X on my keychain I can charge the battery and two devices overnight. I still don’t know if the Ghost Whale is the right pouch for this stuff, but it’ll do for now. This little pack has been shifting between my various bags over the past few weeks.
Airpods Pro - The ongoing standard. Pretty much flawless, easy to pop in and out, great for short listening sessions. Connects to my two devices without issue, seamlessly.
iPhone 12 with Apple MagSafe Wallet - Still happy with this. Sometimes I do wish I had the longer lens from the Pro, for short trips like this I could almost drop my camera then. I’ve removed my case and switched my wallet for the black version. If Apple does come through with USB-C on the next iPhone I’ll upgrade then. Debit card, credit card, ID.
Keys - Wonder what these are for? I have an Airtag fob on them and an InchargeX from RollingSquare.
Packtowl - I’ve had this guy for a while. I want to switch out for a Matador towel, but that’s not at all important. I didn’t need this as the Airbnb had towels.
Vapur water bottle - Still awesome, used this everyday in the Airbnb.
Tom Bihn Wool Utility Cloth - It’s a wool cloth! It’s a 25” square of wool! I used it mostly as a neck wrap, but you can use it for anything - Seat cover, impromptu single person table cloth, camera wrap, bandana, etc.
What Worked?
I loved everything I brought from Ministry of Supply. Overall the stuff is well suited to my body size, with anything in their XS size hitting perfectly. I was also over the moon about my charging setup, being able to plug my phone and my wife’s phone in at the same time was great. I felt like I brought the right selection of tops to keep things looking visually interesting, so I’m pretty happy there too.
What didn’t work?
If I was to approach again, I’d have just worn a single pair of chinos and left the joggers and five pockets at home. I recently took delivery of a pair of Pace chinos from Ministry of Supply and I can’t wait to try them out over an evening or two. I feel they would give me the best in-between mix of casual and dressed up.
I could have also dropped a pair of no-show socks and a pair of sleep boxers. With such a short trip what I had was plenty. Dropping both no-shows for another pair of crews would have been an option with just the chinos on hand too.
I really didn’t need the packtowl, but it didn’t take up much space so no issues there.
Constantly learning. Our next trip looks to be something a week long overseas in December, so I’m looking forward to curating a packing list for that. Stay tuned for another post!