minimalist packing

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, an 18 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

this publication is a place for me to reflect on productivity, health and tech, and drop unique opportunities in the space right to your inbox daily. if you’re new here, sign up to tune in! 💌 

btw, feel free to reply with topic ideas you want me to write about for future posts.

onto today’s topic: minimalist packing 🎒 

lowkey, this blog is going to turn pretty travel-focused for the next while because that’s my current status. 

one thing i had to learn the hard way over the years was the importance of packing lightly for all sorts of trips. i grew up in a family where if we were even just going for a day picnic somewhere like niagara falls, the car’s trunk would be absolutely full. a one night stay at great wolf lodge? multiple suitcases and two costco duffel bags filled with food. 🥐 

naturally, i was an over-packer as well. if you’re just going on a trip by car, there isn’t any real harm to packing a lot (besides the loading and unloading part), so that case is excusable. however, once i started boarding planes for multiway trips, i quickly realized packing like a maximalist was more detrimental than helpful. 💼 

by packing minimally and only bringing the essentials, you minimize a lot of the burden when dragging your luggage from place to place. you also save yourself most of the stress of getting robbed, because there’s less to keep your eye on. not to mention, you’ll give yourself more chances to get the local experience of wherever you’re traveling. didn’t pack enough snacks? 🍿 this is a stellar opportunity — go to a local grocery store and stock up on those snacks. 

i have gone from bringing a carry-on suitcase and large backpack for my 4-5 day la trip, to now bringing just a travel backpack to month-long trips. 

packing like a minimalist is an underrated tip for travel — it makes your life so much easier, you have smooth airport experiences, and you don’t have to wallow in your misery trying to lift your suitcases up 150+ stairs in bellano (haha.. trauma). 😭

how do you pack?

daily opportunity + resource drops 🔍️