The Philosophy of OneBag Travel

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September 02, 2025

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4 min read

You know growing up I never realized just how close I was to doing this already. I never liked the idea of doing a checked bag. Even when I knew it would be fine, there was always some worry in the back of my head that it would get lost.

Now that stories like that are more and more common. Not to mention the price hike on most airlines now for having more than just a personal item, or maybe a carry on for free, there is just too much to pay.

Having only ONE bag saves you all of that hassle. It also makes it so much easier to get in and out of the airport quickly as possible.

Why do people choose to only have ONE bag?

While it may be difficult for some people to go down the amount of items you are bringing with you. Especially for the materialists out there, it certainly is possible.

This also isn't just a male thing, as there are plenty of women who chose to go one bag as well. Despite often having to bring more things along (i.e. under garments or makeup). It is a pretty universally accepted philosophy for minimalists.

Now for me it is a bit difficult, as despite being a minimalist, I am also a techie. I find that being able to bring all the gear I want to bring is hard. However I still want to keep it as simple as possible to travel.

How do you successfully pack all you need in just one?

Going on a trip for 3-7 days is very doable, even in a normal day to day backpack. Let alone in a more travel backpack size. However if you are doing a longer trip, then there are two options: do laundry, or pack more packable clothing.

More than that find ways to mix and match tops/bottoms into different outfits, so that they are multi-use.

Oftentimes you may want to bring a packable bag or sling for day to day stuff where you are staying.

Additionally, decreasing the size of toiletries or technology will also help. Like getting a GaN charger instead of using a full laptop power brick.

What are the pros/cons?

Obviously having less to carry is a pro, and you can keep your hands free (unless your one bag is a suitcase). Overall the freedom and swiftness of your travel increases.

Less baggage (literally) keeps you from being slowed down, especially not having to wait at the luggage carousel.

Caveat: Using slings, especially on flights!

An issue may be that you need to have a carry on, too much for just a personal item, and then you're left with nothing for the actual flight.

I usually bring a secondary bag that is smaller that I can either fit into my carry on at the airport, or just bring it with me. Meaning TECHNICALLY not one bag, but it is a grey area.

Flight slings are great, to keep your tech, passport, chargers, headphones, tablets, snacks, etc with you.

Are you going to do only OneBag next time?

Look it is going to be hard at first, but it becomes this sort of fun challenge to figure out. If you are planning to bring stuff back from a trip, then it may be wise to bring a folded up bag with you one way. Or if able then buy one at the location.

However I do encourage you to just do one bag both ways!

Think of it like Tetris and you gotta figure out how to get it all to fit! Also use compression cubes/bags, as they make a huge difference for a lot of people.

Some other links:

https://www.reddit.com/r/onebag/

This is my personal travel backpack I chose! (Not an aff link)

Screenshot because the amazon link failed to bring up any details

Amazon.com

Tomtoc travel backpack

I would include a bunch a videos like I normally do, but there are just sooo many that it would be hard to choose. Pretty much anything from https://www.packhacker.com/ is gold.