Michael Livingston's Blog
July 21, 2025
Gear Post 2025 Update
As explained in my 2025 Gear Post, I was testing a number of new pieces of kit during a 5-week trip in Europe that rolled into an additional 2-week jaunt through Colorado and New Mexico. Now that I’m back, I thought I’d post a really quick update.
Per usual, prices quoted will be suggested retail.
Pictured: a break in the weather while filming in Wales.MAIN BAGIf you recall, after long extolling my love of the Peak Design 45L Travel Backpack ($300), I acquired a Minaal Carry-on 3.0 ($350) quite cheaply and decided to take it for a spin this summer. Alas, while it didn’t perform terribly across Europe, I ended up re-packing into the Peak Design before heading to the Rocky Mountains.
Before I go into why I switched, I want to emphasize that Minaal did a lot to open up the one-bag market, and the Minaal 3.0 is a terrific improvement on the Minaal 1.0 that I used for many years. They’re doing great stuff as a company, and I still love the fact that their bag is lighter than the Peak Design and has a better sternum strap.
So why did I switch?
The main thing was ease of packing. I shot three documentaries across the British Isles this trip, and for close to three weeks I was never in the same lodging twice. Re-packing the Minaal every morning really illuminated this difference between the bags.
One reason the Peak Design is easier to pack is its structure, which is a key reason it weighs more, of course. Having extensively used both in the field I’ve decided I’ll accept (fractional) weight gain in order to get (substantial) ease-of-packing gain.
It’s not just the structure that makes the Peak Design easier to pack, though. It also has better zippers. They slide smoother than the Minaal and, rather importantly, are less prone to zipper pull loss. It took me a week to lose two zipper pulls off the Minaal. I’m a couple years into the Peak Design and haven’t lost one.
The compression straps on the Minaal, though much improved from the 1.0 version, are also an annoyance. They’re a nifty idea, but they’re seemingly always in the way. I really think the bag would be better off without them.
Perhaps most important of all, I really appreciated the fact that the Peak Design can haul more gear, either via its expansion joints or its ability to strap things on externally. I’d never use those features for a standard packing set-up, but it’s sure nice to be able to pack something extra you might pick up on the fly — like carrying someone else’s jacket for a spell.
Again, the Minaal isn’t bad by any means! Like the Knack that I’ve also utilized, it’s a really good bag. I’ve just found that the Peak Design works best for me.
SMALL BAGTalking about my much-traveled leather satchel, I wrote in my gear post “I’ve never had a problem with it.”
Famous last words, apparently, as one of my strap sliders snapped in Scotland. The satchel is still usable for now, but I’m very much on the hunt for its replacement. One possibility is the Peak Design Everyday Sling 6L ($129) — I’m just a huge fan of their work, obviously — but I remain unsure.
Honestly, I’ve kicked around ideas of making my own small bag. No one seems to have nailed the ideal convertible satchel that I want.
FOOTGEARI hiked up mountains, clambered over castles, waded through marsh, did some rock climbing, and covered miles and miles of urban pavement … and the Ecco Biom 2.1 X Mountain ($195) shoes and Teva Original Universal Sandals ($60) didn’t fail me once. I’m very pleased with both.
CLOTHESKühl’s Konfidant Air Pants ($100) were worn from scorching hot cityscapes in Barcelona to the wet winds of the Welsh wilds, and day after day they performed perfectly. Same goes for the Kühl Korruptr Boxer Briefs ($30). This trip solidified Kühl as a brand I trust, and I’ll be on the lookout for more of their gear.
My Free Fly Reverb Shorts ($70) did what they needed to do, but not so magnificently that I’m not eyeing better hybrid short replacements. Kühl makes some that might work.
Alas, my Free Fly Breeze Pants ($100) were a complete fail. I wanted something I could lounge in, but their breathability was subpar. I’m on the hunt for a replacement.
The Wrangler ATG Mix-Material Long-sleeve Shirts ($45) were terrific in terms of comfort and style. When members of the crew were sweating through t-shirts, I was doing just fine. That said, the only complaint with these comes from my producer: the microphone I wear for filming apparently picks up noise from the shirt. Kühl makes an Airspeed Long-sleeve Shirt ($99) that might be quieter than the Wrangler while being equally comfortable and flexible. Hoping I can try it out.
OUTERWEARMy Eddie Bauer Packable Rainfoil ($110) wet through in Wales. Not fully unexpected given its age, the amount of abuse I’ve put it through, and the fact that it was on clearance when I got it years ago. Kühl’s The One Shell ($329) looks amazing, but for that price it had best be perfect! I foresee a lot of research in my future.
The Scottevest Fleece was overkill. It’s still a good jacket — the convertible design is incredible — but it was just too thick and bulky for this kind of trip. It’ll be replaced with something. (Maybe something from Kühl? Haha)
Add it all up, and there will be a few changes to my kit by the time my Gear Post 2026 goes online. Can’t wait to see what comes next!
May 22, 2025
Gear Post 2025
My bag, all packed up for Europe. Yes, that’s it.If you don’t know the drill: I travel a fair amount, and I consistently do so using carry-on luggage only, aka One Bag Travel. I do this (as pictured) while packing for a range of activities in a range of settings in a potentially wide range of weather.
In less than a week, for instance, I’m headed to Europe for over a month. I’ll be in Spain, then I’m crossing the Pyrenees to do research in southern France. After that I’m jumping to the UK, where I’ll be shooting a handful of documentaries across England, Wales, and Scotland. I’ll be appearing in front of the camera, hiking mountaintop castles, giving talks on stage, exploring some archaeological sites, working in archives, and maybe, just maybe, carving out an afternoon to sit on a Mediterranean beach and relax.
To do all this with a single backpack that fits in the overhead bin on an airplane takes some preparation, and for ten years now I’ve been posting the results of my long nights of research and my far longer weeks of field research on building my One Bag Travel Kit.
Today, it’s my 2025 update.
The basic rules:
Less Is More
One Bag Travel means limited space and weight. Too much of either one and your bag will be too heavy to carry or too large to qualify as a carry-on. I weigh everything.
Don’t Pack for Just-in-case
Pack for the 90% reality of the trip, not the 10% possibility. That means going easy on the “what if?” outfits and medications (though not prescriptions, obviously!).
Flexibility Is King
If my choice is between carrying two items that do two jobs perfectly and one item that does both jobs adequately, I opt for space-saving adequacy almost every time.
Choose the Right Gear
The rules all lead to this: the right gear for the job. The right stuff will be as individual as your needs, but if it helps to hear my own hard-won conclusions when it comes to kit, please do read on!
Also: Unless a link goes to Amazon, I don’t get kickbacks for anything listed here. And while I’m listing suggested retail prices (rounded up to avoid a bunch of 9s), you can often score on sales, closeouts, or used/second-hand markets. I assure you that I paid a LOT less for my kit than the massive number you’d get by adding all these suggested prices up!
THE LIST 2025(Previous lists: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2019, 2017, and 2015)
THE MAIN BAGMinaal Carry-on 3.0 ($350)
My last list featured the Peak Design 45L Travel Backpack ($300), and I absolutely stand by that as a great pack: it’s well-designed, well-built, and straight-up handsome. In fact, I’d still be using it, except that I found a bonkers deal on a Minaal that someone had used maybe once but was selling dirt cheap. That’s me holding it up above — fully loaded with everything I’m taking to Europe.
Why even consider the switch? Years ago, I was a Kickstarter for the first version of Minaal’s carry-on pack, now called the 1.0. It was one of the first dedicated carry-on travel packs, and I used it for a very long time. It had some design flaws, though, that ultimately drove me into the arms of alternatives, like Knack and Peak Design.
Minaal’s 2.0 bag fixed most of the problems I had, and now the 3.0 version has improved things even further. So I couldn’t pass up the chance to try it again (for cheap!) and thereby compare it to both my Peak Design bag and my Knack Pack Series 2 Large bag ($300).
My verdict is … mixed. I honestly love aspects of all three. For flexible sizing, Knack is the absolute winner, followed by Peak Design. For ease of packing, the more structured Peak Design wins, followed by Minaal. For protection of a pile of cameras, Peak Design wins in a landslide. For desk-on-the-go organization, Knack is the definite winner. For comfort, it’s a toss up between Minaal’s lighter weight and Peak Design’s more robust standard harness system, which comes with a hip belt that Minaal makes you add-on (on the flip side, I prefer Minaal’s sternum strap design to the one Peak Design uses). If you’re strapping things to the outside of the bag, Peak Design is fabulous. Knack has the best water bottle holder. And so it goes.
For looks … well, aesthetics are inherently personal, so you do you. I’ll say that there are definite color differences, though. Minaal has luggage standard black (which I have) and grey. Ditto Knack (in which I have the grey). Atop these standards, Peak Design offers a handsome sage (which I have) and a new and wonderful coyote color. For me, Peak Design has a big edge in this regard (did I mention I think that coyote is gorgeous?). On the other hand, I’m in love with the bright interior liner of Knack, which helps prevent things from getting lost in the bag crevices.
TLDR; the best pack comes down to your style of travel and packing. I still have all three bags and still use all three. I wouldn’t blink an eye at anyone favoring one over the other. For this trip, though, I’m suiting up with the Minaal — largely due to its lower weight and my desire to give the bag a full field test.
PACKING CUBESPeak Design Packing Cubes: Medium ($40) and Small ($30)
Minaal makes their own set of packing cubes, which are sized to fit their bag perfectly ($50 total). Alas, my used bag didn’t come with them, and I’m too cheap to buy them when I have other cubes that work so well: namely, the ones from Peak Design. Like many others, Peak Design’s cubes compress (an essential feature, I think), but unlike others they have an internal liner that allows you to pack clean and dirty clothes in the same cube without mixing them. Keeping your clothes compressed whether clean or dirty is an absolute game-changer.
SMALL BAGI typically carry a small bag with me for daily carry: my iPad, charging cords, headphones, spare camera battery, that sort of thing. Mine’s a handmade leather satchel I picked up years ago. Whatever works for you, but do be sure that it’s not so big that it looks like a second carry-on. This will count as what airlines often call a “hand bag.” My satchel is roughly 11″ x 9″ x 3.5″, and I’ve never had a problem with it.
FOOTGEAREcco Biom 2.1 X Mountain ($195)
Teva Original Universal Sandal ($60)
For One Bag Travel, I believe what you need is simple: a pair of do-it-all shoes and a pair of pack-flat sandals. But finding either is easier said than done.
To walk city streets needs breathability. To struggle through boggy countrysides needs waterproofing. To hike up a mountain needs support. To wear the same shoe all day for weeks needs lightweight and comfort. And as if that wasn’t enough, to appear professional greatly restricts the pool of candidates to do any of this.
The footwear I’ve used more than any other over the years has been Thursday Boots Captains ($200, in brandy). They’re gorgeous, well-made, professional boots. On long trips they don’t have the kind of cushion I’d prefer, however, and they also don’t look great in shorts.
Another option I’ve reached for is a pair of Air Jordan 1 Element Gore-Tex high-tops (discontinued) with replacement EasyFeet In-soles ($30) because Jordans aren’t for long walks without them. These are a pretty great city shoe thus modified, but they’re not super for traction and aren’t exactly professional on stage. I’ve spent several years in Salomon XA Pro 3D GTX Hiking Shoes ($160), and they’ve been generally quite excellent. They’re Gore-Tex. They’re supportive and lightweight. They look good with shorts and they aren’t garishly sporty. They’ve also held up very well in terms of physical comfort and are a terrific hiking shoe. That said, they apparently underwent some kind of internal delamination after less than a month of usage: one shoe creaks when I walk, and I have found no way to resolve it. It’s certainly not the end of the world, but it won’t do for filming.
So what am I wearing this trip? Like most shoe names, it’s a mouthful: Ecco Biom 2.1 X Mountain. It’s a waterproof hiking shoe with decent stability and structure, but it’s also lightweight and relatively modest in its styling. And Ecco shoes are a strong brand that typically fits my foot very well. That said, I admittedly haven’t put the shoe through the serious paces of a summer expedition where I’m pounding 10,000 steps day after day across various terrains. As I’m about to do just that, next year’s list will tell the tale on these shoes. Fingers crossed!
As for sandals, the main problem is that I want them to be lightweight and flat-packing to minimize the room they take in my bag … but the flatter and lighter they are, the less useful they tend to be.
I’ve gone through a lot of sandals in search of perfection. XeroShoes AquaClouds ($50) are amazingly light and packable, but on rough terrain or long walks they’re exhausting. I have a pair of Nike Vista Sandals (discontinued) that are super comfy and supportive, but they don’t pack flat. I thought Shamma Super Browns ($125) would be the perfect solution — relatively flat, lightweight, and damn good looking — but on my last long-term trip I found them too hard on my feet and not stable enough. I’ve also long used the Bedrock Cairn 3D Pro II (now relabeled, I think, as the $140 Cairn Evo 3D Pro). They’re heavier and a bit thicker than I’d like, but they’re still quite marvelous.
I’ve tried so very many sandals … and in the end I’ve ended up back in the ‘90s, wearing what were simply called Tevas back when I was in high school but are now more specifically labeled a Teva Original Universal Sandals. They pack flat. They have a decent amount of arch support. They’re comfortable and lightweight. And unlike options with toe-posts — my Bedrocks and Shammas, for instance — they work with regular socks should I ever need to roll out that combination. Sometimes the old ways are best.
CLOTHESKühl Konfidant Air Pants ($100) x2*
Free Fly Reverb Shorts ($70) x1
Free Fly Breeze Pants ($100) x1
Wrangler ATG Mix-Material Long-sleeve Shirts ($45) x2*
Icebreaker Merino 150 Tech-lite Short-sleeve T-shirts ($80) x2
REI Co-op Flash Merino Socks ($20) x6
Kühl Korruptr Boxer Briefs ($30) x6
*These are sets, because I need to have two matching outfits for filming: otherwise I’d be one sloppy lunch from having a stained shirt suddenly appear on screen!
Most of these pieces are very temperature flexible. The Wrangler shirts have different materials in different parts of the shirt to dissipate heat and moisture, and the roll-up sleeves add flexibility, too. The Kühl pants have ventilation at heat spots that you can zip open or shut as needed. I formerly recommended the Kühl Renegade Convertible pants, which are even more flexible given that they turn into shorts, but they’ve undergone a tremendously disappointing redesign that’s both a visual and technical failure for my needs.
The Free Fly shorts I use can do triple work as regular shorts, swim shorts, and gym shorts, which saves a lot of space — that I then fill with a featherweight lounge pant (the Free Fly Breeze) that I can wear as a relaxing change of pace after a long day.
You’ll notice a lot of merino wool in my list. If you’re not familiar with it, merino wool is an extraordinary natural material for traveling. Temperature regulating and it doesn’t get stinky. I’m a huge fan of it.
For colors, I mostly keep to the black-grey-brown-tan spectrum so that everything will go with everything else.
OUTERWEARAviator First Class Merino Hoodie ($185)
Scottevest Fleece 8.0 (discontinued)
Eddie Bauer Packable Rainfoil ($110)
English Heritage Scarf ($35)
Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer Hoody ($360)
Tilley Mash-up Hat (discontinued)
Alpaca Wool Beanie (handmade)
Outerwear is trip-dependent. This summer, for instance, I’ll not be needing the warmth of my Mountain Hardwear puffer or alpaca beanie (which a friend bought me in Peru). There’s a decent chance I won’t need the Scottevest fleece, either, but it’s so damn flexible I can’t leave it at home.
The Aviator hoodie is stunningly comfortable and — again thanks to the merino wool — temperature regulating. I wear it on flights, and on a trip it’s the first thing I reach for if the weather gets even remotely chilly. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
The Scottevest fleece is no longer made, and it’s a damn shame. There are things I’d change about it, but I’ve never found anything that was as thoroughly perfect for traveling and life in general. I’ve looked and looked for something as good, but nothing gets close (including SeV’s newer Tropiformer, which I really wanted to like).
I know there are rain jackets that pack lighter and smaller, but the Eddie Bauer I got on clearance is working for now.
LAUNDRYScrubba Wash Bag ($60)
Sea to Summit Lite Clothesline ($15)
Drain Stopper ($5)
Washable Lint Roller ($10)
With this relatively small number of items, I have to do laundry on the road. Sometimes this means using a launderette (which is fun when you don’t speak the language!), but usually it means hand-washing in my room at night. If you plan to do this in a sink, I recommend bringing a simple silicone drain stopper just in case your room doesn’t have one (it’s also good for taking a bath in a plug-less bathtub). More fancy is the Scrubba Wash Bag, which I’ve been using for years. In either case, you’ll be hanging things up to dry, and a packable clothesline helps a lot.
I love dogs, so if I meet one I’m going to get fur on me. Enter a travel-sized washable gel lint roller!
TECH AND GADGETSPhone/Tablet. I work on a laptop at home, but I don’t carry it with me when I travel. On the road, I do everything on an iPhone 16 Pro and an 11″ iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil.
USB Adapter. I carry around an inCharge 6-in-1 Adapter ($20) for connecting electronics in various combinations. I also use female-to-female USB-C adapters in case I need to combine a couple USB-C cords for extra length.
Headphones. The older I get, the more I appreciate a good pair of headphones. I picked up Apple’s AirPods Pro when they first came out. They’re hard to beat for the size. But I happened to be in a store that was closing down and saw that they were practically giving away some Bose QuietComfort 45 Headphones ($330). Couldn’t pass up the deal and haven’t packed my AirPods since.
Plug Adapter. There are many adapters on the market, and most are those clunky “brick” things that adapt to international outlets but also convert the stronger 220/240 voltage overseas to the 110 voltage we’re used to in the USA. Thing is, most modern devices are built to handle dual voltage out of the box, rendering that conversion unnecessary (obviously check these things on your devices, folks!). If that’s the case, all you need is the plug adapter, not the big brick. After years of using the Road Warrior Plug Adapter ($10), I’d become concerned with how flimsy and, well, sparky it could get. I’m now packing the Mogics Super Bagel ($60), which packs a more stable travel adapter with a short extension cord, plug splitter, and USB charger. It’s a remarkable piece of engineering.
Spare Battery. To charge up on the go, I use an Anker 521 MagSafe battery ($35). There are newer models, but mine is still chugging along.
Phone Holder. If you need something to hold up a phone on your flight or on the dash of your rental car, I suggest the AirGlo FlexFlap ($20). It takes up next to zero room, and it can be a great benefit.
OTHER DOODADSCarabiner. I’ve long carried an extra carabiner with me, and it’s saved my butt on a number of occasions: from hanging my bag to hanging my laundry. These days, I’ve leveled up to the Heroclip ($20), which is a compact carabiner and awesome hanger all in one.
Silverware. If you grab something to eat but didn’t get the accompanying eating utensils, some travel silverware saves you from looking too much like a savage. I recently found Humangear’s GoBites Duo nesting fork and spoon set ($10), and I think it’s really great.
Water Bottle. Around home I use a Thermos that I’ve customized with a quote from my Seaborn books. But on the road I don’t want something so bulky, so I carry the collapsible and lightweight Vapur Anti-Bottle ($15).
Whistle. An emergency whistle could save your life. The S.O.L. Slim Rescue Howler ($10 for two) is small but loud.
Multi-tool. Mine is actually a Wizzle, but I can’t find that brand on Amazon. This Geekey ($20) seems to be the same thing. It’s tiny, travel-compliant, and can fix a lot of little problems.
Day Pack. Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil 20L Day Pack ($45). This compresses so ridiculously small that sometimes toss it in my bag just in case I buy some gifts or something I don’t otherwise have room to carry.
Travel Towel. It’s the one thing an intergalactic traveler should never forget, because it’s so darn useful. I pack a small microfiber one from Wise Owl Outfitters.
Travel Pillow. I’m getting old, I guess. Or I’ve just had to sleep on one too many garbage pillows on the road. But we got a Purple Harmony Anywhere pillow ($150) in a package when we replaced our bed, and I’ll be taking it to Europe.
Sunglasses. Whatever works for you, of course. But they’re the sort of thing you want to be able to pull out when needed…
March 30, 2025
Introducing a Bookshop: The ‘Stache’s Stash
For some time, folks have been asking for ways to (1) get books from me directly and (2) get them signed.
Well, I’m pleased to announce the opening of The ‘Stache’s Stash: an online shop where you can buy copies of my books directly from the piles I have sitting around the house. Shipping is free, and so is personalization!
You get the copies, I get to clear out my storage. Win-Win!
January 6, 2025
Multiple Careers: Or, Why I Do That Other Thing
Not all my books are blue, but these two are!I receive a lot of career-help advice that goes something like this:
“Why waste time writing fiction! Just write history!”
Other times, it goes something like this:
“Why waste time writing history! Just write fiction!”
I’m grateful that anyone cares enough to give advice. Truly. And I’ve heard this sort of thing enough that I’ve dutifully unpacked it. I know some other folks who also wrestle with multiple career tracks — many but not all of them scholars who write fiction — so I thought it might be helpful to talk a bit about why and how I do what I do.
Interpretation One.One way to interpret the above advice is to concentrate on that verb waste. This would belittle one of the two career paths in favor of the other. In other words:
“If you gave up X, you would be more respected at Y!”
Perhaps so.
I do know there are Serious HistoriansTM who snicker about my seriousness as a scholar because I have written fantasy novels. This seems strange and narrow-minded to me, since I sure can’t imagine them saying the same thing about C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien. (Or maybe they do? I dunno.) But I also can’t deny that it’s a reality.
On the other side of the ledger, the fact that I have to spend so much time researching history means I don’t have time to go to cons and do all the social media connection-making that could (maybe?) lead to greater sales in the field of fiction. This, too, is a reality I can’t deny.
But I also can’t deny the reality that I enjoy writing both history and fantasy — and hosting documentaries, for that matter! Life is finite, and I don’t see a convincing reason to deny myself the joy of doing these things with the little time I’m given.
Interpretation Two.The other way to interpret the above advice is to boil it down to an issue of productivity:
“If you gave up X, you could do more Y!”
I can certainly see how this would seem to make sense. I just don’t think it works this way for me. I already write at a fast pace — my next book will be number 22, I think? — and I wholly believe my productivity depends on my multi-tasking.
This is hard to articulate, but let me give it a shot by running through some (but hardly all) of the projects on my desk right now, in order of expected completion date. And of course I should note that all of this comes after time spent with my family (first priority) and my duties as a professor (my primary income):
Current projects: Iceborn (fiction). The second book in the Seaborn Cycle. This is coming out 16 January in the UK, 1 April in the US. So mainly I’m just trying to post about it on social media. Chateau-Gaillard (documentary). A new show on History Hit. This is shot and through major edits, so I mainly just need to check and record the narration.Battle of Bouvines (documentary) A new show on History Hit. This is shot but still has edits and everything else ahead. Stormborn (fiction). The third book in the Seaborn Cycle. This is in copy-edits.A New Article on the Battle of Crécy (non-fiction). This one is done and accepted. Just waiting for copy-edits.A History of the Hundred Years War (non-fiction). This one is now in edits while I’m wrangling with images, captions, maps, and all the other good stuff that goes on behind the scenes of a Big Book like this.A Bunch of Other Documentaries (documentary). I’m in negotiations to shoot a number of documentaries over the next year. It takes a lot of time to review scripts, locations, and then shoot them.A Bunch of Other Articles (non-fiction). I’m in the middle of, well, a lot of other articles. Mostly medieval military history. But also a couple fun ones on medieval literary masterpieces.A Maybe-I-Am-Doing-This History (non-fiction). A publisher asked me to consider writing a new history of [REDACTED], and I’m 30,000 words into figuring out if I really want to take on something so controversial.A Science-Fiction Novel (fiction). This is an expansion of my short story “The Keeper Alone,” which I published years ago. I’m pretty far into it, though it’s not under contract so it’s no hurry at all.Point is, I’m more or less working on a lot of things simultaneously, and I’ve long done so. Here’s the big secret to how this works:
I write what I’m ready to write.
Sure, sometimes I need to prioritize a project based on due dates and such, but for the most part I work on whatever project my mind is ready to work on in the moment. A couple days ago, that meant 4,000 words done on that [REDACTED] project. Yesterday, it was fiddling with an article involving medieval military technology. Today, I’m working on some things for that Hundred Years War book along with a few documentary bits here and there. Tomorrow … who knows?
Many writers live in fear of the blank page or of “writer’s block,” which is very often the result of not knowing what comes next. Whenever I face that uncertainty in a project, I shuffle stacks to a project for which I do know what comes next. By the time I stumble on that second project, my subconscious has typically figured out what to do on the first project … or what to do on a third or fourth project on my desk.
Even if it’s only by a little, something is moved forward just about every day. Over time, this means everything gets done. And to return to the starting point, I simply can’t imagine any single project getting done much faster if it was all I was doing. I just imagine being far more stressed about doing it!
December 13, 2024
Gear Post 2024
The Hagia Sophia in IstanbulMany folks have found the One-Bag life through my gear posts, which is great. Just this summer I met multiple people happily rocking gear from my lists. It was awesome, not because I get some sort of kickback for this stuff — aside from the few things I can use an Amazon affiliate link for — but because I write these posts to share the result of my experiences and research. It’s nice to know when it really helps.
If you’re new to the show, here’s the quick run-down:
Between research trips, family trips, documentary shoots, lectures, and even the occasional vacation, I do a lot of traveling. Some of it is for weeks at a time, with the need to go from hiking Greek mountainsides in search of ancient walls I found on satellite to giving an important lecture at a holy site in Istanbul in the matter of days. I’ve been doing this kind of travel for years, and I’ve been doing it with a single carry-on bag. Pulling this off starts with following a few basic rules:
Less Is More
One Bag means limited space and weight. Too much of either one and your bag will be too heavy to carry or too large to qualify as a carry-on. And I recommend you always start a trip with space and weight to spare, so you can pick up an awesome and unexpected memory trinket or two.
Don’t Pack for Just-in-case
Pack for the 90% reality of the trip, not the 10% possibility. That means going easy on the “what if?” outfits and the medications. Obviously you need your prescription meds and some basic first-aid items — like a few pills for an upset stomach or a head cold — but in truth you only need enough to get to a pharmacy where you can pick up what you specifically need.
Flexibility Is King
If my choice is between carrying two items that do two jobs perfectly well and one item that does those jobs adequately, I’m going for space-saving adequacy every time.
Choose the Right Gear
The rules all lead to this: the right gear for the job. The right stuff will be as individual as your needs, but if it helps to hear my own hard-won conclusions when it comes to kit, please do read on!
To repeat: Unless a link goes to Amazon, I don’t get kickbacks for anything listed here. And I think only one product on the list (Knack Bags) was sent to me for free. Even then, though, it’s only listed because it qualifies on its own positives. How I got something is irrelevant to whether I use it!
Also, I must emphasize that the prices listed here are suggested retail. In many cases, you can get things cheaper on sales, closeouts (Sierra Trading Post is a favorite), or used/second hand. My wife is a used-clothes sniper, for instance, and her hunting ground of choice is Poshmark. If you’re wondering how on earth I can afford some of this stuff … well, that’s how!
The historian has seen your figurine and is not amused.THE LIST 2024(Previous lists: 2023, 2022, 2019, 2017, and 2015)
The Main BagI continue to reach for my Peak Design Travel Bag 45L ($300). It’s about a pound heavier than I’d like, but that extra weight certainly isn’t wasted: the bag is designed to keep cameras safe, which means a little extra padding and structure than a typical travel-only bag. (Note: Peak Design now has a lighter Outdoor Backpack that seems very intriguing, but I would need to try it before recommending it.)
What are the other options? One is the Minaal Carry-On 3.0 ($349), which is indeed lighter than the above. I’ve not tried it, but I do own their first-generation bag, and its (very) few design problems seem to be fixed in the third-generation bag. Another terrific option is the supremely flexible Knack Series 2.0 Large ($295), which is what my wife uses when we travel.
I recommend using compression packing cubes to keep things organized on the road. My favorites are those from Peak Design, which have a dirty/clean separator.
As good as these packs are, they’re too big to carry a few things around for a day walking around the city. For that, I toss in the amazing little Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Ultralight Daypack ($45) and pop it out if needed.
ClothesClothes is where most folks over-pack. My clothes are travel-friendly (wrinkle-resistant, durable, and quick-dry), ready to be layered to match temperatures, and colored to mix and match. Here’s a fairly standard load-out:
Underwear: 6 pairs. Socks: 6 pairsShirts: 3-4, at least one of which is a long-sleeved button-up.Shorts: 1 pair, which is swim-ready material. Pants: 2 pair, one of which is jeans, worn on the plane.Footgear: 1 pair of shoes, 1 pair of sandals.Outerwear: 1 hoodie, 1 flexible fleece, 1 rainjacket, 1 scarf.Hats: 1 hatLaundry. With this relatively small number of items, I have to do laundry on the road. Sometimes this means using a launderette (which is fun when you don’t speak the language!), but usually it means hand-washing in my room at night. If you plan to do this in a sink, I recommend bringing a simple silicone Drain Stopper ($5) just in case your room doesn’t have one (it’s also good for taking a bath in a plug-less bathtub). More fancy is the Scrubba Wash Bag ($57), which I’ve been using for years. In either case, you’ll be hanging things up to dry, and a Sea to Summit Lite Clothesline ($15) helps a lot.
Shirts. Merino Wool has remarkable properties, and I’ve slowly been shifting as much wardrobe to it as I can. My travel t-shirts are now a Merino Icebreaker Tech Lite II T-shirt ($80) and a non-Merino Bluffworks Threshold T-shirt ($52). I also appreciate a Rag and Bone Henley ($158). My long-sleeve adventure shirts are Wrangler ATG Mixed Material ($59).
Pants. I lost a lot of weight this year, which meant needing new pants across the board. Alas, the Kuhl Renegade Convertibles ($115) that I love weren’t available at a price I was willing to pay. Instead, I got a deal on some Bluffworks Envoy Lightweight Travel Pants ($125) that are delightful (as everything from them has been). My travel jeans are from Rag and Bone ($250). If I decide to take something for relaxing, I throw in some SmartWool Recycled Merino Terry Pants ($150): they’re very comfortable, with a flexible weight and styling. I try to always pack a pair of swim-shorts. I have a few of them, but none so profoundly awesome that I’d bother recommending them.
Socks and Underwear. I love Merino socks (style and brand may vary). I had very high hopes for some SmartWool merino undies, but they were uncomfortable and of poor quality. The travel underwear I’ve been using instead is 32 Degrees Active Mesh Boxer Briefs
Footgear. Shoes tend to weigh a lot and take up a lot of space in a bag, so ideally you want a single pair that will (a) fit all occasions and (b) be comfortable enough for wear for thousands of steps day after day. In practice, this depends a lot on what I’m doing. Looking nice? I go for my much-loved Thursday Boots Captains ($199, in brandy). Serious backpacking? I have Salomon Quest 4D Gore-Tex Forces 2 ($260, in coyote brown). But for a more do-it-all travel shoe, I usually reach for a pair of Air Jordan 1 Element Gore-Tex high-tops (in light curry) with replacement EasyFeet In-soles ($30) because Jordans aren’t for long walks without them. I also like to pack sandals for relaxing or a change-of-pace. I vacillate between Shamma Super Browns ($125), Bedrock Cairn 3D Pro II (no longer available, but maybe closest to the $140 Cairn Evo 3D Pro), and some Nike Vista Sandals (no longer available).
Outerwear. The ideal travel jacket does not exist (at least by my definitions). I’d had high hopes for the ScotteVest Tropiformer, but a test across France proved it deficient in a number of areas. So at present I use a magnificent fleece from ScotteVest (no longer available). If it pours rain I throw an Eddie Bauer Packable Rainfoil ($109) over the top. I also travel with a hoodie that I can layer under the jacket(s) or wear on its own. Last year I used a no-longer-available pullover from LL Bean, which is still fine, but my Black Friday splurge this year was to take advantage of a wicked sale on Aviator’s First Class Merino Hoodie ($185), which I’d been eyeing for a long time. It is unreal. I never want to take it off. I also tend to carry a scarf, just to add to the temperature flexibility. My favorite is a merino one from English Heritage.
Hats. In the field I pretty much always have my travel-worn Tilley MH55 ($100) or my highly packable REI Screeline Cap (no longer available). But occasionally I’ll run a trucker hat, like the Madison Creek Outfitters Richardson Hat ($40) that came free with an unrelated purchase. I also carry around
TechPhone/Tablet. I work on a laptop at home, but I don’t carry it with me when I travel. On the road, it’s an 11″ iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard and an iPhone 12 Pro. Both are a few generations old.
USB Adapter. I carry around an inCharge 6-in-1 Adapter ($20) for connecting USB and Lightning things in various combinations if needed.
Headphones. The older I get, the more I appreciate a good pair of headphones. I picked up Apple’s AirPods Pro when they first came out, and I do still use them on occasion. They’re hard to beat for the size. But I happened to be in a store that was closing and saw that they were practically giving away some Bose QuietComfort 45 Headphones ($330). Couldn’t pass up the deal and haven’t packed my AirPods since.
Plug Adapter. There are many adapters on the market, and most are those clunky “brick” things that adapt to international outlets but also convert the stronger 220/240 voltage overseas to the 110 voltage we’re used to in the USA. Thing is, most modern devices are built to handle dual voltage out of the box, rendering that conversion unnecessary (obviously check these things on your devices, folks!). If that’s the case, all you need is the plug adapter, not the big brick. After years of using the Road Warrior Plug Adapter ($12), I’d become concerned with how flimsy and, well, sparky it could get. I’m now packing the Mogics Super Bagel ($60), which packs a more stable travel adapter with a short extension cord, plug splitter, and USB charger. It’s a remarkable piece of engineering.
Spare Battery. To charge up on the go, I use an Anker 521 MagSafe battery ($35). There are newer models, but mine is still chugging along.
Phone Holder. If you need something to hold up a phone on your flight or on the dash of your rental car, I suggest the AirGlo FlexFlap ($18). It takes up next to zero room, and it can be a great benefit.
Other GadgetsCarabiner. I’ve long carried an extra carabiner with me, and it’s saved my butt on a number of occasions: from hanging my bag to hanging my laundry. These days, I’ve leveled up to the Heroclip ($20), which is a compact carabiner and awesome hanger all in one.
Spork. If you grab something to eat but didn’t get the accompanying eating utensils, a simple spork saves you from looking too much like a savage. Mine is from Light My Fire ($8 for two).
Water Bottle. Around home I use a Thermos that I’ve customized with a quote from my Seaborn books. But on the road I don’t want something so bulky, so I carry the collapsible and lightweight Vapur Anti-Bottle ($12).
Whistle. An emergency whistle could save your life. The S.O.L. Slim Rescue Howler ($11 for two) is small but loud.
Travel Towel. It’s the one thing an intergalactic traveler should never forget, because it’s so darn useful. I pack a small microfiber one from Wise Owl Outfitters. Sure, you can dry off with it, but it’ll also make for a sunshade between takes when shooting a documentary at Château-Gaillard in France…
Don’t Panic … and don’t forget your towel!
May 22, 2024
The Story of Seaborn
I’m beyond thrilled that Seaborn, a novel of mine previously exclusive to Audible, is getting print and ebook editions — and a gorgeous new cover — thanks to the good people at Head of Zeus. I mean, look at this:
[image error]Print and e-bookJust stunning. It comes out August 1 in the UK, October 1 in the US. New releases of the remaining Seaborn novels will follow soon.
Anyway, I thought it might be worth explaining the relationship between the Seaborn novels and my bestselling audiobook, Black Crow, White Snow, because they share the same characters and something of the same story, but they’re also rather different.
A long time ago, I had a dream. A small group of women stood on a frozen sea, the wind whipping snow across the meager fire they’d made to keep warm. Behind them was a massive, frost-painted ship. Locked in the ice. Broken by it. A slight young man was with them, teeth chattering from the cold water he’d just escaped. One of the women — the one in charge — looked around at them all with both pity and determination. I heard the voice in her head as if it was my own. Helm to the end.
I don’t know how it is for other authors, but a lot of my stories start this way: I wake up with a scene in my head that’s viscerally real, and I have to figure out just what the hell it was. In this case, I wrote an initial short story about the desperate mission this crew was on to find a secret weapon.
Not long after the publication of the third Shards novel — an announcement on that coming soon, I hope! — my agent was approached by Audible.com, wanting to know if I’d write a novella for them. As luck would have it, I’d been fiddling with my ship-in-the-ice story for years, adding more and more depth to the world and characters. I gave it a final polishing, and it appeared as Black Crow, White Snow:
[image error]I do love this story, so I was thrilled when it did well.
Very well.
Bestseller-for-a-couple-of-months well.
I was paid a flat fee, so I didn’t get to enjoy riches from that, but it was still pretty amazing. Plus, Audible was pleased enough to ask if I would be interested in writing a series of novels in the world. I answered “Yes” — obviously — because by now I had a much larger story of these characters in mind. I also had a much larger picture of their world, thanks in part to the inadvertent help of N.K. Jemisin and a creative writing class I was teaching around that time. I talk about this in the acknowledgments of the first book that resulted: Seaborn. Here’s the original Audible cover for that, which is still awesome:
[image error]In terms of timeline, the events of Seaborn take place before the events of BCWS, which are themselves, um, “echoed” in book two, Iceborn. Here’s the original cover for that (new one to be revealed soon!):
[image error]I say “echoed” because a series of novels allows for characters that are far richer, landscapes that are far larger, and stories that are far more complex than what one can get in a single novella. So the story of BCWS within Iceborn may start off in something close to the same way, but it has some very significant differences.
Among them, of course, is how it lays the groundwork for the final book in the trilogy, Stormborn:
[image error]I really hope these books reach a bigger audience. The story of Bela has come along way since I first dreamed of her on that frozen moment. And, as it happens, it reaches even further than these three books even show.
Perhaps I’ll get a chance to tell those stories, too, one day. Time will tell.
Helm to the end.
October 21, 2023
Agincourt: Battle of the Scarred King – Out now!
Agincourt: Battle of the Scarred King is on the shelves in bookstores and, I hope, in the hands of readers. I’m enormously excited to share it with you.
[image error]Out now!And I do mean you, because the only reason I can imagine you’re reading this is that you’ve read and enjoyed one (or hopefully more!) of my books over the years.
In fact, if you don’t mind, I wanted to take a minute to look back over the last few busy years — to take stock and, well, thank you for the part you’ve played in all that’s happened to me.
This is my third “battle” book in three years, all from Osprey Books: Never Greater Slaughter: Brunanburh and the Birth of England (2021), Crécy: Battle of Five Kings (2022), and now Agincourt: Battle of the Scarred King (2023).
When I committed to writing the first of these books, I didn’t know that I’d be writing all three, but I’ve come to view them as something of a trilogy. They fit together in structure, theme, and intent. They also share a conversational style meant to welcome anyone and everyone into the joy of history — not just the remarkable events themselves but how we know what we know about them. I want the scholarship in these books to stand up to the rigor of my academic colleagues, but I want the words themselves to be accessible to anyone with even a passing interest in the subject.
Unintended this “Battle Trilogy” might have been, but looking back I can see how the three books not only lay bare the ways I approach both history and conflict analysis, but also reveal the ways I’ve grown as a writer.
I don’t mean that there’s anything wrong with my earlier work. I am proud of each of these books. I mean only that most authors get better as they go along, as they build upon what works and find ways to build anew what doesn’t. I’m no different.
I love all my books.
But I do think Agincourt is my best yet.
And part of the thanks for that, I’m sure, is how the strange turns of life have meant that across the three years that these three books appeared, I published five others.
Seriously.
I hadn’t even stopped to think about how many there were until I was updating my CV with this latest publication. Here’s the timeline from 2021 to the present:
January 13, 2021: 1066: A Guide to the Battles and the Campaigns (with Kelly DeVries). May 11, 2021: Never Greater Slaughter: Brunanburh and the Birth of England .June 6, 2021: Of Knyghthode and Battaile (with Trevor Russell Smith).September 30, 2021: Iceborn (Seaborn #2).June 7, 2022: Crécy: Battle of Five Kings .November 8, 2022: The Origins of The Wheel of Time: The Legends and Mythologies that Inspired Robert Jordan .March 9, 2023: Stormborn (Seaborn #3).October 10, 2023: Agincourt: Battle of the Scarred King .During this same stretch of time I also finished another book that’s still to come, which will total nine books in just under 37 months:
February 1, 2024: The Killing Ground: A Biography of Thermopylae (with Myke Cole).I can assure you that having co-authors for three of these books very much helped to keep the line of production moving along (not to mention enabling me to learn from Kelly, Trevor, and Myke). Believe me, I’m not sitting here patting myself on the back. Instead I’m sitting here in bewildered gratitude that I was blessed with so many opportunities … and recognizing that any way you look at it, that list adds up to me writing a lot of words. And since writing, like any skill, gets better with practice, I’d be bitterly disappointed in myself if those hundreds of thousands of words hadn’t taught me how to tell a better story.
The other thing I’m recognizing is how varied those nine stories have been. That list includes the popular histories of my Battle Trilogy and The Killing Ground, but it also has the absolutely specialized academic work of editing a Middle English poem (Of Knyghthode and Battaile). It has Origins, which is part biography, part literary study, and part oh-my-gods-I’m-behind-the-scenes of a beloved fantasy series and its author. Oh, and it has the second and third novels of my Seaborn fantasy trilogy, which were written for audiobook (though they’ll soon be coming out in print!).
I assure you that I didn’t intend to whiplash myself through this mix of genres. I certainly didn’t intend to write so many books in so brief a window! But chances came along that I knew I couldn’t pass up, and this concentrated experience has absolutely honed the way I approach stories and the audiences I share them with.
Which, as I said above, must surely include you. So let me close by thanking you — truly, humbly, from the bottom of my heart — for being here. No matter the stories I might want to tell, I couldn’t be a storyteller without an audience. I’m grateful that you’re willing to listen to me.
And with that, I should probably let you get back to reading Agincourt: Battle of the Scarred King.
And I’ll get back to writing the next story: a new history of the Hundred Years War. More news on that as I have it!
July 13, 2023
My Drone
Since a few of my colleagues have asked about how I use a drone to conduct aerial surveys and photography on potential battle sites, I thought it might be worth a quick post on the drone I have and how I travel with it.
[image error]My drone, on its landing pad, during initial surveys on the battlefield of Agincourt in France.First things first, if you’re going to use a drone — at home or abroad — you must follow all laws and regulations at your location. If those rules don’t match my advice, please follow the rules and not me, ok? I’m not a lawyer. I’m an amateur drone user at best!
That out of the way, I’ll tell you that most jurisdictions draw a bold line between heavy drones that require licensing and substantial flight permissions and lighter drones that have far fewer restrictions. The general rule of thumb is that the line between them is drawn at 250 grams.
So the first advice I have if you’re going to use a drone — especially if you’re going to use it abroad — is that you get one that weighs less than 250 grams.
This will mean sacrifices. It won’t have an IMAX camera. More pertinent, a drone of this size will, because of its lightness, have difficulty in high winds. Also, it likely won’t have some of the most advanced bells and whistles, either, like collision avoidance, object tracking, on-board LiDAR, etc. It’s going to be pretty basic, in other words, though these days “basic” covers a lot of awesomeness.
I use a first generation ‘Fly More’ Combo DJI Mavic Mini from DJI. The drone in flight weighs 249 grams — they even make a point of printing this on the drone itself just for good measure. There are cheaper drone makers than DJI, which is one of the biggest brands in the world of drones, but I like that the ubiquity of DJI means a lot of online resources to get help using it, plus a wide pool of parts on the market if something goes wrong.
If you’re just starting out, I do recommend that you look to get a drone used, even if it’s a generation or two back. A lot of drone hobbyists quickly jump on the next generation and are keen to part with their older ones cheap. For instance, mine is the original Mini, but DJI now makes Mini 2, Mini SE, and Mini 3 models. The last of these has some really terrific advances, but it also comes with a much higher price tag. Would I like to have a new Mini 3? Sure, but it’s many hundreds of dollars more money than mine.
I do highly recommend a ‘travel kit’ set up if you can get it. These will have the smallest controller and battery charging stations, and space matters when you’re traveling (especially if you One Bag Travel like I do). I’d recommend at least three batteries. You can crush juice quick if you’re going high and far in search of the perfect angle and shot.
[image error](Clockwise from upper left: drone case, drone, controller, battery pack … all on my fold-up landing pad.Speaking of space, I don’t use the case that came with my drone. It’s a lovely case, as you can see above, but it makes for a substantial, inflexible mass when packing. Instead, I separate my drone into three pieces: drone, controller, and battery charger.
If you do decide to separate the drone from its designated case, I highly recommend getting a propeller strap that wraps around the drone and holds its propellers in place (get the one that matches your drone, obviously). This is a trick I picked up from a drone operator on a film shoot, and it’s brilliant. The propellers are easily the most breakable thing on the drone, and keeping them hugged in place is the best way to keep them safe while traveling.
[image error]Propeller saving strap: like a hug for the drone!To save the propellers while the drone is flying around, you don’t want them to hit anything, and for this reason the drone will likely come with a thin plastic cage that can surround it. This is quite nifty, though I confess I never use mine. It’s too bulky to fit in my bag. I mostly just try not to fly into trees. 
A less obvious way to screw up your fragile little propellers, though, is in the course of landing. With a lightweight drone, even coming down in soft grass has a chance of catching a blade and ruining your day. For this reason, I recommend using a fold-up landing mat. I use a discontinued one from Moment that is built for this purpose and packs up real nice, but there are others. You don’t even need to buy one: all you need is something (a piece of cardboard, even) that you can lay out over the brush to keep it down and give you a wide, flat place to land. That said, I do like using something with bright color, which stands out as a marker on the landscape when I’m guiding my drone in for final approach.
Last piece of advice: have fun. Yes, you need to be hyper-vigilant to be safe and follow local regulations, maintaining line of sight to your drone, keeping it clear of people, and so forth. But along the way don’t forget to marvel at what an awesome tool it is, and what a wonder it is for us as earth-bound creatures to know — at least through a screen — what it’s like to fly.
2023 One-Bag Gear Packing Post
Just a few weeks ago I was in Bordeaux, waiting at the airport for a flight to Edinburgh via Geneva. Just an hour or so before boarding for that first leg, EasyJet first delayed and then abruptly canceled my flights. They dutifully rebooked me for the next day, but that wasn’t a good option for me: my tight schedule required me to be in Scotland early in the morning. So as I hustled to an EasyJet desk, I found an alternative flight leaving almost immediately that would get me to London Luton where — if I sprinted through customs, the security queue, and the terminal — I might manage to catch the last flight out from there to Edinburgh. Failing that, I figured I’d have time to rush into London and maybe get a sleeper on an overnight train.
Happily, I made the new flights. More happily still, I made it with all my luggage, which was only possible because I travel with One Bag, carry-on only. If I’d checked a bunch of bags in Bordeaux — or really at any point —lord knows when and where my gear would have caught up to me in Scotland.
More than that, I think I only managed to make that tight sequence of flights because my One Bag is a backpack. There’s just no way to navigate a busy terminal swiftly while trundling along with a rattling roller case.
One Bag Travel. It’s amazing.
Since I continue to get questions about how I travel this way, I’m going to post my current travel kit in case it’s of use to anyone.
First, as a proof-of-concept, here’s a video of me, taken over a month ago, unpacking my kit. This was just before I headed off for a 39-day, 11-flight trip through England, France, Switzerland, Scotland, Germany, Greece, Türkiye, and England (again).
Seriously, that’s the whole kit: 100% what I packed and how I packed it. That’s all I took on a trip that stretched from Scotland’s Isle of Skye to the edge of Asia in Istanbul, that saw me giving speeches in front of 100s of folks at the Chalke Valley History Festival, filming in front of cameras, and hiking in heat and cold.
And you know what?
I could have packed even less.
In fact, if I was making a set of rules for the One Bagging life, this might be the One Rule to Rule Them All:
LESS IS MOREThis applies to pretty much everything in One Bag Travel, because your two great adversaries are space and weight. Too much of either one and you’re screwed: your bag will be too heavy to carry or too large to qualify as a carry-on.
Since the quest to cut space and weight is never-ending, the effort to maximize space and weight can become something of an obsession. It certainly is for me! But if you’d rather not go down the rabbit hole yourself, you can simply read on for my own hard-won conclusions when it comes to kit.
As we move towards that list, I wanted to share a few basic principles that you can keep in mind to help take control of your kit. Here’s the first:
Don’t pack for just-in-caseThat worst-case scenario of a summer blizzard isn’t likely to happen. Neither is that scenario in which you befriend an international spy and need a tuxedo on the yacht. So don’t bring things for either occasion. Instead, pack for the 90-percent reality.
And I’m not talking only about clothes here. Too many folks haul around a veritable cabinet of “just in case” medications, for instance. But unless you’re traveling to Nowhereville, they’ll have pharmacies aplenty. You’re not a Victorian explorer headed to the Amazon. Where you’re headed they probably take credit cards (speaking of which, see below). So sure, carry a few general medications — like pills for an upset stomach or a head cold — but only carry enough to get to the pharmacy where you can get more of what you specifically need.
Flexibility is kingOn principle, a single piece of gear that can do two jobs adequately is better than two pieces of gear that each do only one job perfectly. Can there be exceptions to this? Sure. You’re making your own kit, not mine. So if you really need both fingernail and toenail clippers, go for it. But I’d urge you to consider compromising perfection if it means saving space and weight. Be honest with yourself and merciless with your kit.
This leads us to the next principle and the reason for this article:
Choose the right gearWhat constitutes the right gear will depend on you, your destination, and the activities you know you will do there (not just-in-case!). My list of gear below is what I just carried, but this was a trip to Europe in summer … if I was going to Edmonton in January it would be different.
But in any case, one of the things I would advise you to consider in choosing your gear — in addition to flexibility being king! — is cost over the long-term, which is inherently a question of relative durability.
I’ll be the first to tell you that some of the gear I use is expensive. You can get travel bags that are a lot cheaper than mine. A good friend of mine certainly does. But on multiple trips together he’s had one or more of his bags fail: a broken wheel, a stripped buckle, a shattered strap, a failed seam, and so on. Replacing multiple “cheap” bags gets expensive in a hurry, not to mention the stress and time lost on the trip itself trying to fix the bag or find a replacement. Me? I’d rather pay a premium upfront to get a bag I can trust.
On the other hand, I’m fine to buy cheap charger cables. Expensive ones might last a little longer, but in my experience no cable is an enduring resource, and getting another is cheap and easy once one inevitably fails.
Boil it all down, and the right gear for One Bag travel is in that sweet spot of lowest cost over the long-term, lowest amount of volume taken, and highest flexibility to your travels.
For me, this is that kit:
THE LIST 2023(Previous lists: my 2022, 2019, 2017, and 2015)
The Main Bag
Big change from previous lists here.
I’m a firm believer in the travel backpack rather than a roller bag (see above), so I’m enormously pleased to be living in a golden age of great backpacks that are sized Just Right to fit the strict restrictions of airlines. I absolutely recommend getting one of these.
Which one might depend on your preferences in form or fashion. There are a lot to choose from, so definitely do your research. For my part, I can speak to the bags I’ve handled myself, which has led me through some big hitters in the market.
My first One Bag was a Maxpedition Fliegerduffel. Available on Amazon for around $175, the Fliegerduffel is a 42L duffel bag that can also be worn as a backpack. It works, and it helped convince me I could One Bag, but I was never very pleased with the bag. The looks were “tacticool,” and the bag wasn’t comfortable to wear or carry in *any* configuration. It also didn’t look remotely professional. Would not recommend this.
When I could afford it, I moved up to a Minaal Carry-on bag. The difference was night and day. The Minaal was more comfortable to carry, more flexible in use, and absolutely more professional. Mine was the first generation of the bag, and I loved and used it for years. Minaal has since improved the bag considerably: the Minaal Carry-On 3.0 starts at $349. I’ve not handled one of the new ones, but I’ve no doubt that they’re great — and the Vancouver Grey looks amazing in pictures. I recommend them with confidence.
In recent years I ran with one of two bags by Knack: their original Knack Pack Series 1 large ($270) or their newer Series 2 medium ($265) — both of which were sent to me to review with no strings attached. I was very pleased with the bags (see my video review here). The expansion joint they have is a terrific way to get added flexibility (which is king!), and there were a lot of “little” moves they made in design that were spot-on, like the bright inner liner that makes it easier to find things in the bag. If I was getting a Knack Pack today for long-haul travel, I’d be looking at the Knack Series 2 large ($295), which looks to combine everything I love about the two packs of theirs that I own. I’d get it in Alloy Gray. Like the Minaal, this is a bag I’d happily recommend.
To be clear, I was absolutely satisfied with the bags I was running. My first-generation Minaal was showing signs of wear, but it was still trucking. My Knack Packs continued to perform like champs.
Nevertheless, an incredible sale last year convinced me to try out another option that I’d seen folks swear by: Peak Design’s 45L Travel Backpack ($300). I’ve been using it for several trips now — including this massive one from which I’ve just returned — and it has met or exceeded every expectation. It’s absolutely moved to the top of my One Bag Travel selection. Why? For one thing, it’s sexy. I got it in Sage, and it has a vintage character that’s at home on the Underground while remaining clean and professional enough to look just fine in the fanciest of London hotels. It’s stunning enough that I’ve had folks compliment me on it (they ain’t talking about me, I assure you!).
And inside, the design is terrific. One of my favorite things about the Knack Bags is their expansion capabilities, which make them flexible in volume. Since Flexibility Is King, this is awesome. The Peak Design does this, too, but even more. Instead of two sizes, its design offers three. And while the Knack’s expansion opens an additional compartment to the main compartment, the Peak Design’s expansion offers its additional space in the main compartment if you want it. That’s flexibility atop flexibility.
The Peak Design also offers a whole swath of great design features, which you can get a sense of by watching their video introducing the bag.
Do I think Peak Design’s 45L Travel Backpack perfect? It’s damn close. I’d love to see it lose a little weight, for instance. The Minaal Carry-on 3.0 weighs 1.41 kg empty, to which you need to add 0.15 kg for a padded hip belt (Peak Design, bless them, has a padded hip belt built-in). That’s a total carry weight of 1.56 kg. The Knack runs about the same. For comparison, the Peak Design is 2.05 kg. That difference is not just relatively large, but it also means that carrying the Peak Design means carrying roughly 1 lb more on your back. It’s very much noticeable.
To be fair, a lot of this extra weight comes from efforts to make a bag built like a tank. Peak Design isn’t just maximizing durability in their build, their also trying to maximize the protection offered to the bag’s contents: Peak Design is a company built around cameras, which don’t respond well to being banged around.
There are some niggling other alterations I’d probably make, but, honestly, the Peak Design is a brilliant choice for One Bag Travel. Despite the bit of extra weight, it’s truly the bag to beat for me right now. I’m loving it. Highly recommended.
Packing Cubes
I bought the bag during Peak Design’s Black Friday sale, and their matching Packing Cubes were also at a good price. Though I’ve got quite a few packing cubes, I picked them up — and I’m so glad I did. Best cubes on the market. Not only are they well-built compression cubes (absolutely necessary), but they open on top and bottom with a liner in between. When something is dirty, you put it into the bottom of the cube: everything stays compressed in the cube, but now your dirties are separated from your clean clothes. Just terrific.
Footwear
I’ve also switched up my footgear.
As my main shoe/boot I’ve run with Thursday Boots for years and LOVE them. This particular trip, though, I needed something that quite frankly doesn’t exist: an all-day, pavement-to-peak, bog-to-bike shoe that’s durable, breathable, and waterproof … but still looks professional enough to wear giving an academic speech. The closest thing I’ve managed to date is a pair of Salomon XA Pro 3D hiking shoes. Very good shoes.
I also take a pair of sandals on my trips: they pack flat and provide a lot of added flexibility for sore feet. My long-time standard for this has been XeroShoes Aqua Clouds. They’re amazingly light and thin (3mm). But I decided this trip I wanted something with a bit more padding … while still being light and packable. I love my Bedrock Cairn 3D Pro II sandals for canyoneering, but for One Bag Travel they are too heavy (8.7 oz) and thick (16mm). I also wanted something that was a nice leather look rather than bright and sporty. Enter Shamma’s Super Browns, which are light (3.5 oz), just-right thick (7mm), gorgeous, and pack very flat.
Jackets
I continue to seek the perfect travel jacket. Last year I traveled with the new ScotteVest Tropiformer, hoping it would end the search. It did not. In truth, their now-extinct fleece (which I ran into the ground after years of use) was a far better travel companion.
So I’m back to my Eddie Bauer travel blazer, which has been a repeated favorite for me. Alas, I don’t know that this helps you: I’ve made customizations to the jacket, and I’m pretty sure EB doesn’t make it anymore. The blazer comes with a puffer vest that you can wear independently or snap into the blazer for a surprisingly sharp look. The documentary I just shot in England has me wearing both at once.
The blazer has water repellency, but since I was headed to Scotland and the Isle of Skye I also took a packable Eddie Bauer Packable Rainfoil. Terrific jacket and it squishes down nice and small.
Because of the variety of climates across my travels — in this case it was the Mediterranean beaches of Thessaloniki to the Scottish Highlands — I always pack in layers. So slipping under my blazer and puffer, if needed, was a thin but glorious LL Bean Airlight Knit hooded sweatshirt. Superlight but flexible. I also carried a scarf that I picked up at Stonehenge.
Hats
My trail-loved standby is a Tilley MH55. It’s a great hat that’s been through it all and seems to look better and better for it. (I wish I could say the same for myself!)
This trip, though, I wanted something that could fit under a hood if I was hiking in one of those hits-you-from-all-sides Scottish rains. So I left the Tilley behind in favor of the terrific REI Screeline Cap. It’s the best looking foldable hat I’ve ever seen and worked a charm.
Other Goodies
Previous lists will give you links to a lot of my basics, but I have added a few new pieces of kit mentioned in my video above:
February 22, 2023
Russell Peck, My Friend and Mentor
A few days ago I heard that Russell Peck had entered hospice, but that he was still reading messages. Unsure how much time could be spared for all the words in my heart, I sent the following as quickly as I could:
Russell, my friend, my mentor … please know that the boundless love that you’re feeling from your beautiful family is just a fraction of what’s pouring out across the world from the countless lives you’ve touched. We teach as we were taught, love as we were loved, because you showed us the way. There are no words to thank you for what you’ve done for this world. Gower drew back his arrow, but you made it fly.
I was fortunate to be able to get that message to him, brief though it was. Too often we don’t get such chances. It was a rare gift atop the rare gift of being able to know him.
But it wasn’t enough.
I knew it then, and I feel it even more keenly now that word has come of the great man’s passing.
So tonight, as I continue to mourn, I want to record more words in memory of Russell Peck — a man was not only a legend, but also one of the most important people in the making of who I am today …
—
When it came time for me to apply to PhD programs, I applied to only one.
This was not, my advisors at the Medieval Institute told me, How Things Are Done.
But I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and I knew why.
Russell.
He wasn’t “Russell” at that point, of course. Not to me. He was Dr Russell Peck, the John Hall Deane Professor of English at the University of Rochester and the founding editor of the Middle English Texts Series. He was a legend in Medieval Studies and in the editing of medieval sources — fields that were then at the very center of my passions.
He was also, as I’d learn soon enough, a legend in life.
Still, as I was readying my application to Rochester, I remember having a second thought about going all-in like this. Getting into a PhD is signing up for years of working closely with someone. I knew Dr Peck’s work, but what if we didn’t get along?
I raised the question with Dr Tom Seiler, a trusted professor of mine at the Medieval Institute. “Oh, you’ll like Russell,” he replied. Then he laughed and corrected himself. “No. You’ll love Russell.”
Still, this was a big step. I decided to visit Rochester and check things out. Dr Seiler sent Dr Peck a message introducing me and telling him that I was coming to visit with my wife and father.
It was a desolate upstate winter when we arrived, but Russell — in retrospect this would be no surprise — had arranged a party. He and his beloved wife Ruth had opened their home to us and invited a handful of current graduate students and some of his fellow professors over so that we could meet and get to know each other.
A silly thing to remember, perhaps, but the wine he brought out was Borsao, a reasonably priced Garnacha that (I would later learn) he bought by the case. As I write this tonight, I’m having a glass of it again, raised to his memory.
It was a whirlwind visit, both that night and the next day when he took me first to Susan B Anthony’s grave and then to the amazing Robbins Library at the University of Rochester. There, with Dana Symons — an amazing graduate student who was unquestionably his Number One at the time — we went over my paleographical responses to a manuscript of a medieval poem called Kingis Quair.
Towards the end of the visit, he took me back into the stacks and pulled out the scans of a manuscript containing The Middle English Metrical Paraphrase of the Old Testament, an 18,372-line biblical retelling from which he’d edited a few pieces in his book Heroic Women from the Old Testament in Middle English Verse (1991).
“This is an important poem,” he said, “but it’s never been edited.”
“I think you already did the good parts,” I replied.
He shook his head. His eyes seared into me with an intensity that seemed as if he was trying to channel one of the prophets in that very book. “I don’t think anyone even knows what the good parts are. So you’re going to come here. And you’re going to edit it. For your dissertation.”
I later learned the word vatic. It’s definition, for me, is the look he had in his eyes: a clarity and passionate surety that seems to predict the future — not because Russell could see the future, but because his willpower left the world no choice but to make that future a reality.
I left Rochester with a shocking clarity. Tom Seiler was right. I loved this man.
Rochester let me in — thank God, since like an idiot I had absolutely no backup plan — and I became a student of Dr Peck.
Russell, as he insisted I call him.
Over the next few years the Robbins Library would become my home as his student and as an assistant and then associate editor for the Middle English Texts Series that was housed there. Across those years, if there was a time when he and I passed two days without exchanging emails or pleasantries, I cannot remember it.
And, yes, I edited The Middle English Metrical Paraphrase of the Old Testament for my dissertation. My edition of that beast, all 18,372 lines of it, would be the third of my twenty-some published books.
I damn sure wasn’t about to tell him no.
He was, as I said in that last message I sent him, both my mentor and my friend. He was, at every turn, what I aspired to become — as a teacher and a scholar, yes, but also as a human being. He was a fountain of energy, bouncing and beaming through life in childish wonderment at the world’s delights.
On one of our many trips to the Stratford Festival near Toronto, a group of us went to see a performance of Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, which was a revision of one of Russell’s favorite medieval works, Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde. Shakespeare’s Troilus is rarely performed, so this was can’t-miss theater.
I don’t know if we chose the seating, or if it was just fate, but I was seated next to him. We settled in for a theatrical performance I will never forget.
At the end, a character named Thersites stands center stage to give his final monologue and bring down the curtain. It had already been a truly powerful performance. Russell and I were captivated, I remember. A single spotlight shone down on the actor as he began his speech talking of the diseases that his own passions had wrought.
He was talking of syphilis, though when I teach the play to my own students we talk also of larger things, like the twinned diseases of blind ignorance and blind knowledge. This is the kind of pedagogical move is just one of so many lessons that Russell taught me.
But back there, at Stratford, a beat began to pound from the speakers around the stage.
I recognized the beat, though for a moment I couldn’t place it. The Shakespearean play, meant to take place during the Trojan War, was too disassociated from the music at first. But then, as Thersites intoned his final lines to the shocked audience — “[I] bequeath you my diseases,” he spits — I knew the beat for what it was.
It was a song called “Closer,” by the American rock band Nine Inch Nails. The chorus of the song — lines that rang out loud and unmistakably as the curtain came down — is this:
I wanna f*ck you like an animal
I wanna feel you from the inside
I wanna f*ck you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to God
Russell leaned toward me as those words hung in the air. “That,” he whispered, “has fascinating connections to Chaucer.”
So it does, Russell. So it f*cking does.
I’m smiling and crying at the memory. He was so brilliant. So unexpected. I used to joke that Russell forgot more yesterday than I’ll ever know in my life.
It was never meant as an exaggeration.
He was a legend.
Now that he’s passed, it’s easy to brush that word off as a hint of fantasy: legend as something separate from what’s true, a memory that’s been purged of the warts and spots of the real world.
But I assure you that this isn’t the case here. Russell Peck was every bit the legend in every moment that I was blessed to share with him.
He was insatiably fascinated with knowing things, knowing people, knowing life. He loved to sing. He loved to laugh. On a few occasions — private times when no one else was around but the two of us — I saw him experience rare and fleeting moments of anger. Quite frankly, these confirmations of his humanity only served to make the rest of him more real and all the more saintly in my mind.
He was a legend in the truest meaning of the word.
I cannot think of anyone who didn’t count themselves the better for having known him.
I know I wouldn’t be who I am today — as a teacher, scholar, friend, or human being — without the patient and unflinching guidance he gave me.
But the thing about the Great Ones, I’ve learned, is how they reach far beyond their own reach. Yes, Russell directly changed me and so many others for the better. He knew and understood that, I hope. But what I don’t think he could have understood — though I know it to be true — is the indirect impact he has had. He touched so many of us, but every life that we touch in kind continues to pass his spirit on.
“We teach as we were taught, love as we were loved,” as I told him in that final note, “because you showed us the way.”
I meant it, Russell. Every word.
You made and continue to make the world a better place, my friend.
I thank you for it.
We all do.
