50 Things – Achieving Minimalism In Business Travel

50 things - achieving minimalism in business travelI believe in traveling light – honestly I do; it’s just that I’m not terribly good at it. I’ve recently been revisiting the idea that you should own 50 things which means you would always be able to travel light. I still don’t think I’ll be able to do it for personal travel, but I thought I’d check on my most recent business travel packing  list to see how close I am.

Several people have shared their lists, and they have followed a few basic rules:

1. Only personal things count (no shared items)

2. No books (phew! because I have lots of those, though now that I have a Kindle perhaps that wouldn’t be as much as a problem.)

3. You can group items such as underwear and socks.

Here’s my stuff:

  1. Nokia cellphone/charger
  2. Samsung laptop/charger
  3. Camera/charger (could get rid of this if I use the one on my phone, but then I could never take any photos at night )
  4. Wallet with money and credit cards
  5. Glasses and case
  6. Jacket
  7. Shampoo/conditioner
  8. Sneakers
  9. Socks
  10. Underwear
  11. Shoes – 1 pair
  12. Mules – 1 pair
  13. Flip flops – 1 pair
  14. Shorts
  15. Shorts
  16. Track bottoms
  17. T-shirt
  18. T-shirt
  19. T-shirt
  20. T-shirt
  21. Shower gel
  22. Toothbrush , Toothpaste , Dental Floss
  23. Comb and Brush
  24. Hair stuff
  25. Belt
  26. Earrings (stud)
  27. Suit
  28. Trousers – black
  29. Trousers – other
  30. Jeans
  31. Blouse – white
  32. Blouse – black
  33. Handbag
  34. Sports towel
  35. Sweatband
  36. Pens
  37. Notebook
  38. Laptop bag
  39. Carry on suitcase
  40. Suitcase
  41. USB stick
  42. Hand sanitizer
  43. Nail clippers/scissors
  44. Deodorant
  45. Wet wipes
  46. Tissues
  47. Adapter plug
  48. Lipstick/lip balm
  49. Travel documents
  50. Swimsuit

There are also a few more things I should take but don’t always, such as a headset/webcam for Skype chats and a portable hard drive.

I may have forgotten a couple of items but it looks like I might be able to get away with a 50 things rule for business travel. All I’d have to do to improve the travel experience is get the right kind of luggage and packing material so I could carry it all on. And if I substituted some travel wash for a couple of T-shirts and trousers, I could pack even lighter.

How light do you travel for business? Here’s some inspiration from successful minimalists:

(Photo: Jan Michellardi )

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 6:10 am and is filed under business travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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