It’s time for travel this year, and the destination of choice is New York City. Like Portugal we’re aiming for lazy tourism and as much good food and drink that we can pack in within a 5 day period.

Bellroy 20L Classic Backpack - The perfect size for a warm and dry trip.

Since we’re going for just 5 day and in pretty temperate, dry weather, I chose to pack up my Bellroy 20L Classic backpack. This thing is the perfect size with space to spare for a lean packing list and should keep me very mobile through the city. I enjoy the understated look which doesn’t scream Travel.

We’ll start with worn clothing, keeping it pretty cozy for a quick flight to Montreal followed by a short layover before heading over to New York. No surprise, keeping it monotone, with everything here being black!

Seagale Action Merino Tee - Plain black tee, great fit, solid performance. Super soft for an against-the-skin layer.

Uniqlo Merino Crew Neck - It’s generally a little chilly on flights and in New Brunswick, so this will get me through that and also act as a super compact layer for cooler evenings in New York. This was really nice on the Staten Island Ferry, with the wind coming off the water.

Lululemon ABC Joggers Skinny - Basically sweat pants. One of my two pairs of pants for the trip. Wore them in the mornings when getting coffee and during the flights.

Saxx Ultra Brief - Moved over to these lately. The viscose is actually a lot better at managing moisture than the nylon/poly of the Quest series, and I’m a big fan of the cut for less fabric which means I can pack more of them.

Smartwool No Show Socks - I’ve been wearing these for a while. They fit well and perform great with about 60% merino content.

Allbirds Tree Runners - Since Vessi removed the all black option I decided to give Allbirds a go. They’re no where near waterproof which is fine. They breathe better and are comfortable for long walks. They’re also machine washable which is neat. The understated look can pass for a shoe for most occasions.

Packed is a bit of a mixed bag, and I could probably cut this back a bit more, but I have the space and the flexibility. We’re expecting most days to be north of 25c, and some days to be even north of 30c, so I kept that in mind and primarily packed black clothing. All this fits in a Peak Design medium packing cube (not pictured) with room to spare.

Seagale Action merino tees (3) - One black, one light grey, and one dark grey. I could probably cut this back to two extra shirts but they don’t take up much room and with the temperatures I don’t mind having the extra. I did end up wearing all 4.

Ministry of Supply Apollo raglan sleeve button down - Perfect untucked button down in a very easy wearing fabric. Grey brushed. If it did Michelin starred restaurants in Portugal it didn’t have any issues in New York City spots. I was able to tuck it into my sling after a lunch on a hot day, and it came out wrinkle free.

Saxx Ultra brief (5) - What can I say, I don’t want to wash underwear this trip! Underwear is one thing I do not re-wear. It’s 5 days and they don’t take up any real space compared to boxer briefs. I have tested hand washing these and they generally dry overnight in a standard air conditioned room.

Smartwool no show socks (3) - I trust these to get 2 wears a pair, especially with the Allbirds being so breezy. Having an extra pair for the trip home was nice.

Uniqlo Airism Boxer (2) - Sleep pants. Incredibly quick dry so I can wash in the shower in the morning and they’d be good to go by the evening.

Lululemon ABC pants skinny - Black pants! They fit well, stretch well, and look like skinny jeans. When cuffed they have a fairly modern look and they were breathable enough for hot days.

Lululemon T.H.E short 7” - I didn’t actually end up wearing these - The only item I packed that I didn’t wear!

BRISIRA 5” swim trunks - Last minute pickup on Amazon, they fit slim and are lined. They got a single wear to the pool on the roof of the hotel - I’d love to get a pair of Lululemon pool shorts to replace, but I’ll wait.

Electronics has been kept slim as the focus of this trip is food and lazy tourism mostly. I’m still packing a camera, and the single focal length should give me some nice creative constraints. All this fits in my Bellroy Lite Sling which will double as my day bag.

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 Lightning SD card reader - This works, and works well. I didn’t actually import any photos from my trip while in New York, opting to wait until I got home to review and edit.

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 have a Tiffen black pro mist 1/4 strength filter attached to it almost permanently. I’ve got a Peak Design leash on it this time around so it’s easier to keep out as it can hang on my body.

Extra Fuji battery - Neewer branded, I’m medium on actually needing this as I don’t think I’ll burn through ~400 shots in a day.

Extra 49mm filters - To give myself a bit more flexibility, I’m carrying filters in a filter holder which is metal screw on caps for either side. I have a NiSi True Color Pro Nano circular polarizer and a B+W XS Nano clear filter in case I want to pull off the Black Pro Mist.

Tom Bihn Utility Cloth - It’s a wool square! I already waxed poetic about this thing in my Portugal post so I won’t repeat here, but it’s just a really functional piece of wool. Honestly this just hung out in the hotel room most of the trip, I’d probably drop this.

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.

(Not Pictured) iPhone 12 - Still going strong but I may replace it this year with an iPhone 15 Pro Max (Another post, at some point…). Airalo eSIM bought for the US.

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.

Various additional stuff I’m carrying is dispersed on my body or in the bag.

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. I’ve grown to keep these in any day bag I carry around now.

Apple Magsafe Wallet - Not much to say here, standard 3 card carry - ID, debit card, credit card.

Vapur Eclipse bottle - For water at the hotel. I could have skipped this as we had a daily minibar credit along with convenience stores/bottled water being cheap and accessible.

KN95 Masks (2) - Black, used on the plane.

Matador Packable Tote - Useful for day excursions and shopping. Fits in the Bellroy Lite Sling easy but I keep it in the bottom of the backpack for the actual travel part of the trip. I didn’t end up using this.

Passport - Well this is kinda needed for international travel.

Business cards - Just in case someone is interested in mediocre photography or bad tech opinions.

Microfibre cloth - Gotta clean that lens sometimes.

Heroclip - This is useful for hanging my bag when I’m in a place without bag hooks. I didn’t use this, but I’m happy to carry it for the odd bathroom stall that doesn’t have a hook.

For toiletries I’m trying out a Peak Design Wash Pouch that I picked up at a pretty steep discount. My initial impressions were that it’s… Large. A bit too large for what I need. That said, with the stuff I put in it the Matador roll top would require some finessing to get it to roll, so this is definitely an advantage. it’s also got a lot more organization which is nice, and the built in hook is great. I find it still squishes a bit to fit in bags but not as much as the sack that the Matador roll top is. After using it in the hotel though, I can see the advantage of it 100%! The hook was very handy for just hanging in the washroom and the organization/folding made it very easy to pull stuff out when needed. I think I’ll try the smaller version, and my wife may find the larger one helpful.

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 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 use these at home instead of liquids, and can’t complain. We were never without toiletries due to staying in a hotel however, and I only used these on the last day as I found they kept me cleaner for longer than the hotel provided goods.

Philips One Toothbrush - Fits in the toothbrush holder section but I need to remove the head.

Various OTC meds - Advil, Benadryl, and Gravol. Stored in a Nalgene container, these little things are waterproof and well built.

Hello brand toothpaste tabs - Toothpaste replacement - Found a bunch of them on clearance and they’re super minty and clean well. This was enough for both myself and my wife, and again stored in a Nalgene container.

Hair Bands - Long hair life.

Xiaomi Mijia S100 shaver - Really need to get around to doing a manual razor again… This still isn’t bad as long as I use it every 2 days or so. It struggles with much more than stubble.

Native Deodorant - Been my go-to for a while. I can’t seem to find a travel size of this scent in Canada, but this would be a huge space saver if I could.

Folding brush - I’ve had this for ages, and it’s been awesome. No complaints.

Neutrogena sunblock stick - Non-greasy application and a solid which I very much like.

Matador Ultralight shower towel - Wasn’t needed, but fits easily into the wash pouch.

What worked?

My packing list and habits have become incredibly refined and I feel like I can travel just about anywhere temperate on this size of bag. The fact that I wore all but one piece of clothing packed is a testament to that.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Peak Design wash pouch. The organization and hanging function was incredibly ideal in the hotel room and made the whole “washroom away from home” a breeze.

The Bellroy Lite Sling continues to be an MVP - This bag does it all and is just big enough.

What didn’t work?

Again with the overpacking in some spots, mostly with nostalgia. I could have left my wool cloth at home, but I really like it. I should have made the call too on not needing the packable towel as well.

I really need to figure out cutting down my toiletries as well. That was the largest piece in the bag, and I’d love to move over to the Peak Design wash pouch small, but I’ll likely need to cut down on a few things like soap bar size, deodorant size, and dropping the electric razor for a manual one.

Overall really happy with the trip and how things worked out! We got a number of good meals in along with some solid walking (Approximately 20000 steps a day), even in the dead heat of the last two days. Looking forward to refining further for the next one.