We finally got across the ocean for a quick trip to Portugal, and it was a blast. We spent a fairly sunny week with some rain interspersed between Porto and Lisbon, doing some lazy touring and concentrating mostly on food and drink. Our return involved a 9 hour layover in Toronto, which was super awesome as it meant a whirlwind of seeing a few of our favorite places. Overall, really happy with how my load out performed, but as always there were some learning opportunities taken away.
Bus stop in Lisbon.
Overall, for a first trip to Europe it was great. I didn’t get much opportunity to sleep on either end of the trip (I don’t do well on vehicles for sleep), but the time spent in Portugal was very relaxed and slow paced. For my first international trip with my wife it was the best I could have asked for. We ended up doing pretty much exclusively Michelin rated dinners, ending the trip with back-to-back 1 star tasting menus at Encanto and Eneko in Lisbon, which provided me with a ton of kitchen inspiration. Accommodations were fine, with the hotel in Lisbon being incredibly hot due to the AC being turned off for the winter, probably the only complaint about the time there. Well, that and every restaurant charges for water.
Worn Clothing
We’ll start out with what’s worn, keeping it rather comfy for time spent in airports and on flights. I’m once again keeping my wardrobe monotone to try to make it easy to blend and mix and match.
(Not Pictured) Ministry of Supply Atlas Crew Neck Sweater - I was between this and the Uniqlo Heattech Ultra Warm Crew I had in black (Pictured), but made a last minute choice to go with the Atlas crew. Part merino, very soft and anti-odor. Worked great for the flight there and subsequent travel from Lisbon to Porto the morning we landed, but otherwise didn’t get any wear. Still happy I brought it along.
Ministry of Supply Composite Merino Tee - Some of my favorite tees from a great brand. These are cut like a standard tee, fit me well, and although they’re only 15% merino they resist stink pretty darn well. I find they don’t require any special care while washing and drying, which is a bonus too.
Saxx Quest 2.0 Boxer Brief - I’ve had these for a while and they’re probably still my favorite style from Saxx. They hand wash and dry well, and they’re comfortable. All I can ask for.
Smartwool Full Cushion Crew Socks - Merino socks! What’s more to say. Smartwool is affordable while on sale and has some great durability. I’ve been happy with my pairs so far.
Lululemon ABC Pants Skinny- Warpstreme fabric, great stretch, solid stand in for skinny jeans. Spoiler: This is the only pair of pants I wore the whole trip! They dressed up great, even for fine dining spots.
Pontos The Pacific Shoe - These have been awesome. Very comfortable to walk in, and they dress up or down really nicely. Probably my favorite shoe right now, and the only one I took. I found over wearing them 24+ hours that they didn’t breathe fantastically, which made them feel wetter than they were. I had a lot of good luck removing the insoles overnight however, and by morning they were dry. These did cobblestone, grass, rocks, sand, snow, rain, etc, all without breaking a sweat, and they looked great doing it. I would have probably swapped these for blundstones as a better colder weather footwear, but these were fine for the trip.
(Not Pictured) Arcade Midnighter Belt - Stretchy belt! I’ve had it a while and it’s been very comfortable. Keeps my pants up. What more can I ask for?
Packed Clothing - This was in a Peak Design medium packing cube.
Packed is once again kept functional and monotone. Portugal is definitely a warmer climate, but thankfully going in December means no sweltering heat. We definitely don’t need to pack like we’re staying in Atlantic Canada though!
Seagale Action Merino T-Shirt (2) - Black tees, easy care, love the fit. They hand wash really well if necessary, but I got 3 wears out of these easily. Having this tee on for the 24+ hours of travel on the leg home was a godsend, great moisture management and incredibly soft.
Ministry of Supply Composite Merino T-Shirt - Some of my favorite tees from a great brand. These are cut like a standard tee, fit me well, and although they’re only 15% merino they resist stink pretty darn well. I find they don’t require any special care while washing and drying, which is a bonus too.
Ministry of Supply Apollo Raglan Sleeve Sport Shirt - Basically a button down. This thing fits awesome and doesn’t wrinkle. Standard sleeves would be better but this dresses up well enough - I wore this out to 6 different restaurants in Portugal, and even gave it a whole day as a layer over a tee, and it was very comfortable and performant. No need to wash between wears with a tee under it. I wish they’d make a sports cut in the same material with standard shoulders, but until then, this will do!
Ministry of Supply Pace Chinos - I didn’t need this extra pair of pants, but it was nice to have them around I suppose. If my Lululemon Skinny Commissions were in before we went on the trip, these would have probably been those - I’m happy with the fabric and the slimness here but I need to get them tailored to extend the leg a bit and move the button.
Lululemon T.H.E. Shorts 7” - We didn’t have access to any pools or spas while there, so these were dead weight. Considering they weigh almost nothing though, not a big loss.
Saxx Quest 2.0 Boxer Briefs (3) - 1 black, 2 grey. I’ve had these for a while and they’re probably still my favorite style from Saxx. They hand wash and dry well, and they’re comfortable. All I can ask for. I washed each pair once over the trip, and they dried overnight.
Uniqlo Airism Boxers (2) - Sleep shorts. Hand washed once each, and they dried overnight.
Smartwool Full Cushion Crew Socks (2) - Merino socks! What’s more to say. Smartwool is affordable while on sale and has some great durability. I’ve been happy with my pairs so far. I washed each pair once over the trip, and they really just needed a one day dry. I think the number of socks packed was pretty ideal.
Smartwool No Show Socks - I didn’t need or use these, but having the emergency socks was a nice include. They’re small and didn’t really add any weight.
Outerwear - Split between the packing cube, worn, and in the main compartment of the bag.
Outerwear was kept to a minimum as Portugal isn’t exactly cold right now. but I had to consider that we’d be seeing friends for a day in Toronto as well. I’m happy with the pieces and performance here.
Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket - Wind proof, water resistant, very insulating. Packs down rather small. I’ve moved to synthetic insulation as it keeps warm when wet unlike down jackets. Patagonia has a great warranty and will repair just about any issues. This held up well to a bit of rain while we were there and kept me warm enough most days.
Patagonia Torrentshell 3L - Water proof. Wind proof. A bit crinkly, and didn’t really get a lot of use in Portugal due to the lack of heavy rain. Also being waterproof it tends to keep heat in just as well as it keeps water out, so combined with the nano puff it offered pretty good insulation for Toronto.
Smartwool Glove Liners - Just some basic gloves. They work with touch screens, that’s cool I guess! Solid for Toronto.
Merino Buff - Part neck gaiter, part sleep mask for the flight. It was awesome to have. On tour buses with an open roof it was very nice to have a bit of insulation I could throw into a sling.
Electronics - This was dispersed between the Bellroy Lite Sling and the main compartments of the backpack.
Electronics have been slimmed down considerably as the focus of this trip was not photography, but I can’t help but bring at least my X100V with me. I still got a few great photos I’m happy with.
Tom Bihn Ghost Whale Small - This contains my charging and camera connectivity kit, and it’s a tight squeeze but everything fits.
Mophie 6000mah universal PD battery - Not the smallest or lightest battery, but it supports lightning input, and also does passthrough charging, which makes it the centerpiece for my tiny charging empire.
Apple SD card readers - These just work, and they work well. Both Lightning and USB-C. Once the iPhone goes to USB-C I can drop the Lightning one. Let’s me ingest RAW files onto any of my devices. I didn’t need the Lightning one, but it’s just a standard in the bag now, so along it came.
Anker Powerport III Nano 30W - Super slim, 30w charging. It’s been a standard for me for a while.
Anker Cables - 3ft USB-C to Lightning and 3ft USB-C to USB-C. Covers all my device charging needs.
Fujifilm X100V - Killer camera, compact, fun to shoot with. I’d be half tempted to drop it if I had an iPhone 14 Pro, but only for trips that aren’t photo related.
Tom Bihn Utility Cloth - It’s a wool square! It’s moonlighting as a camera wrap here, but it can be anything! Neck gaiter? Check. Very small blanket? Check. Table cloth? You bet. The options are limitless for the wool square! This was actually an MVP - The tiny blanket feature came in handy on tour buses, and it worked great for wiping down wet seats on a boat tour. I’m probably going to buy the large version.
Keys - Featuring an Airtag, and the final member of the charging gang, an InchargeX. I’ve also got a Nite Ize Doohickey on there for bottles and boxes. The Doohickey is awesome as it passes through airport security without issues and does a good enough job of what it’s designed to do.
Airpods Pro - Basically perfect headphones for short stints. Reasonable battery life, great noise cancelling, agreeable sound quality. Overall solid.
Destination Specific adapters (2) - Two is one and one is none, or something like that.
iPad Mini 6 w/ Smart Cover and Apple Pencil - Great replacement for the iPad Pro - much better size for reading and still plenty zippy for photo editing. I liked this in the evening using my iPhone as a hotspot for browsing maps and whatnot, and for reading on the plane.
(Not Pictured) iPhone 12 - Still going strong with no desire to replace it yet. I grabbed an eSIM from Airalo on MEO, giving me 30gb of data for 15 days.
(Not Pictured) Sony WH-1000XM4 - These were great for the 6-8 hour transatlantic flights. Definitely a last minute pick but I’m glad they made it into the bag.
A quick note on my charging setup: The whole setup for charging with my InchargeX allows me to charge two devices overnight AND my battery off a single 30w slim wall adapter. This is about as close as I can get to a perfect tiny charging setup. The iPhone plus the battery is plenty enough to get me through even the heaviest of days, into a second day.
Everything else.
I had odds and ends interspersed throughout the backpack, along with a sling for day-bag stuff.
Bellroy Lite Sling - Champ. Very flexible in loadout, the 7L size made for a very good holding capacity to size ratio. This functioned as my camera bag and held essentials when transiting through airports or while on trains.
Tom Bihn Ghost Whale Super Mini - Bag of holding for…
Ray-Ban Folding Wayfarers - Matte black, high quality, compact. Non-polarized. Perfect fit in the ghost whale and always with me for sunny days. These were very MVP for the trip as we had a lot of sunny days. The green lens I was concerned would look too green, but it mostly appears black externally and offers better clarity than the grey or brown options. I could have probably gone with Foldies or another brand, but time was of the essence and these were on sale on Amazon.
Apple Magsafe Wallet - Not much to say here, standard 3 card carry - ID, debit card, credit card.
Vapur Eclipse bottle - Didn’t actually use this, but fit in one of the mesh side pouches in my Peak Design bag handily.
PackTowl Large - Came in handy when we were short a few towels in the hotel the first day in Porto.
KN95 Masks (3) - Black, used on the airplanes. We didn’t get sick on the trip!
Matador Packable Tote - Was useful for day excursions, shopping, etc. 18L packs down into a very compact size and it’s a robust bag.
Passport - Well this is kinda needed for international travel. I also had my Presto and my line of credit card in here as a just in case. Didn’t actually use my Presto as the UP Express supports tapping credit card now for payment.
Toiletries were packed out in my long running matador rolltop bag. It’s getting a bit tight for what I like to carry, but it’s fine for now. I’m definitely looking at other options, but the dry-through features are great. I don’t have any real complaints about what I packed, as this is getting to be the most consistent/solid part of my kit.
Exfoliating cloth - Nylon textured cloth that’s basically an unravelled loofah. So easy to get a lather and you feel a lot cleaner after a good exfoliating scrub. I use one of these at home now too. I’d like to find a face cloth sized one for travel.
Unscented Company Shampoo bar and soap bar - Stored in Matador soap cases (Which are magic) these lather really well, clean great, and support my “all solids” agenda for travel. They work great for cleaning clothes too. I’ve been using these at home instead of liquids, and can’t complain. We were never without toiletries due to the hotels, but I prefer the bars now.
Philips One Toothbrush - Next time I’d probably just get a cover for the head as I think the case was a bit large. I liked having the electric function though.
Various OTC meds - Advil, Benadryl (wife has a crustacean allergy), gravol, and ginger gravol. Used a few of the ginger gravols for longer trips as near the end of 24+ hours being awake my stomach starts going haywire. Stored in Nalgene containers, these little things are waterproof and well built.
Lush Dirty Toothy Tabs - Toothpaste replacement and my go-to for a while. I’d like to find something more affordable, but these are good. This was enough for both myself and my wife, and again stored in a Nalgene container.
Hair Bands - Long hair life, bun life. I only used the one I wore, but having spares was a good idea anyway.
Xiaomi Mijia S100 shaver - New to me, picked it over a Philips OneBlade. Dual rotary shaver, compact, USB-C charging. I don’t get a lot of facial hair growth but I get enough that I like touching up every couple days. This did the trick. I’d like to go back to a manual razor but I find them irritating.
Native Deodorant - Been my go-to for a while. I can’t seem to find a travel size in Canada, but this would be a huge space saver if I could. I may consider melting it down and re-packing it as some enterprising individuals on the internet have before me.
Folding brush - I’ve had this for ages, and it’s been awesome. No complaints.
Porto.
This was my first long trip with the Peak Design 30L travel backpack. I swapped my Bellroy Transit 28L for this a few months back as I was just looking for a change, and if I’m to be vain, I wanted something in black and nobody had the Transit 28L on sale or in stock at the time. I learned from my trips with my Transit 28L that I wasn’t using the admin pocket a lot, and the 28L size was pretty acceptable for what I liked bringing. The Peak has the distinct advantage of being compact at about 27L, and expandable to 33L with a quick zipper pull.
I really like how the backpack feels smaller than the Transit 28L at a pretty similar bucket size. It’s a giant open space with a few organization options inside in the form of un-stretchy mesh pockets. It definitely felt like it fit better under airplane seats or luggage holds on public transit. I’m happy with the change for sure and I’m curious as to how it’ll go with a more camera-focused load out.
Oriente Station, Lisbon.
Overall I think I’m pretty refined on what I wear daily, so if I’m bringing something with me I’m going to be happy. I think I do need to work a little bit on the amount of things I do pack (Example being dropping the pants I didn’t need), but otherwise I’m pleased with where I am with my packing lists. Looking forward to some travel in 2023!