The goal, of course, is the infinite pack load: something you can use forever that fits into a 45L backpack. Buy on the ground to replenish things as they run out, do laundry once a week.

Six weeks abroad feels like a good testbed for this, and I’ve been really excited to see how this all nets out.

I did most of it right and would change a few things:

• The farmers market tote I brought was truly enormous: more fabric than I need, too bulky for the load itself. The real answer is to get something that can pack down to baseball size or smaller, and patch as you go. A Baggu will do just fine here.
• Heresy, I know, but I probably did not to bring my full nomad-grade laptop dock. I have a stand, keyboard, mouse, and microphone that work great for interviews & podcasts. I recorded zero podcasts on the road, I didn’t have a desk to call my own, and my earbuds have good enough of a mic to handle my calls. When I worked for long periods I’d flump around from couch to patio to kitchen.
• I went somewhat nuts with my packing cubes, subcategorizing my whole laundry load instead of putting everything into a clean/dirty like normal. Unnecessary.
• I also brought a second notebook that I thought I’d use, but I always had my smaller one on hand. Shipped it back home.

The theme here is twofold: overpacking, and not field-testing gear before taking it on the road.

Everybody overpacks. One comes to expect it. You don’t know what you’re going to use – or not use – until you’re actually there, using stuff. Then you look across the room at something you brought and wonder why you did that.

Why don’t we err on the side of underpacking? The answer is obvious: you don’t want to be schlepping around town, trying to find substitute gear that eventually underperforms on you. The fear of that happening outweighs the fact that you’re bringing a bag large enough to fit every pet in your house with room to spare.

But also, why even care at this point? These are quibbles in the grand scheme. The pack load worked really well this time. I should stop changing it around for its own sake and start traveling with it, instead.