Not sure if I'm missing a joke, but the whole point of the analogy being a treadmill is that there's nothing to fall down. Regardless of positive (running forward) or negative (going backward on the treadmill) life changes, your happiness will probably stay relatively consistent because you're on a treadmill and there's nowhere to go.

The live out of a backpack lifestyle is definitely a unique way to experience the modern world and I'm sure it's fulfilling for the author, but you can even tell in their post that life caught up with them somewhat and they needed to start staying in one place a little longer in order to maintain social relationships. Their linked post about walking every block of Manhattan and tracking all of their movement since 2015 feels like the exact opposite of a minimalist lifestyle and it seems to me like they live out of a backpack not out of some anti-materialism lifestyle, but instead just as a practical way to fuel this obsession with traveling and tracking.

I admit, I've seen the author's Instagram story about walking 100k steps in a day in NYC and watched the whole thing because it's interesting, but I also take that and posts like this with a grain of salt. I'll happily take my horde of shit I need to get rid of in the garage over obsessing about how I can optimize tracking my every movement.

For me, in situations like this the frustration comes from having invested so much into something that isn’t delivering what it was supposed to.

For example, when my 20 year old car broke down it was an inconvenience, but I could also shrug it off because I got my money’s worth out of the car long ago.

If an expensive brand new car broke down I would be inconvenienced, but the situation would be much more frustrating because I spent so much on a new car to avoid these issues.

When you are at home, you expect to have running water, on a hike, you expect not to and plan around it.

But there are things you expect while on a hike that are unlike your daily life at home. Things like your day job, traffic, pollution, etc... If you had to share your trail with diesel trucks and get regular calls from your boss, you would probably be upset, even if that's what you have every day at home.

I lived in Mexico for 10 years with just two duffelbags of clothes and essentials. I could carry both on a plane unchecked and be anywhere with nothing left behind, and I loved it.

Now I look around me in my apartment I share with my girlfriend and have things I wouldn't have even conceived of, like a gaming PC with two monitors (for what??) and a closet full of clothes as if I don't wear the same 5 things.

Same. Exactly the same.

I have often reflected that I have never been as happy as when I had the least stuff, either.

I often wonder if it’s a) correlation or causation and b) whether the stuff is caused by dissatisfaction or the dissatisfaction is caused by the stuff, or both.

Either way, I’m currently undergoing an intentional downsizing in my life, toward minimalism. Not the kind where I use it as an excuse to buy (more) expensive minimalist gear either.

I’m shedding hobbies and interests that I have because I believe that they’ve become distractions that I bury myself in. Replacing them is far from my mind, but prising them out of my fingers is a very real challenge. It’s hardly backpack living, but it’s definitely moving in that direction.

we grow with our container

we are all goldfish

I used to own only things that I could move on my own and fit in a normal car, until I had more disposable income and hiring movers became a non-issue.

I still try to maintain non-attachment to material things but I now welcome enjoying material things in a functional way. For example, I own a ton of kitchen gadgets and that allows me to make interesting food, but I'm not married sentimentally to any particular gadget.

Things change, I guess.

Vervaeke's "Meaning Crisis" talks have interesting things to say about this sense of the world between modes of "having" (material) and "being" (existential).

  Fromm's point is we get mixed up. We try to satisfy our being needs within 
  the having mode. We suffer from "Modal Confusion". Think about how much our 
  culture is organized around this because it serves a lot of market interests 
  if I can confuse you, if I can get you to try and pursue your being needs 
  within the having mode. 

My very small, very expensive apartment has had no running water throughout the work day for the past two weeks because of water main construction (which I get woken up to at 7am every day). There's a jerk chicken restaurant next door to my apartment that blasts music all day long outside. Roaches and mice and rats. Long crowded subway commutes. I do hate this life in various ways, but I guess it toughens you up and you get used to it.

Yeah, this lifestyle basically only works as a single young adult. Once you have a significant other, it's very, very hard. Once you have a kid, it's impossible.

OP could also have bought stocks in 2015, and perhaps done even better than buying a house. Since the beginning of that year, the S&P500 has more than tripled, while housing has gone up about 50% (though of course leverage helps). For all we know, OP does hold stocks, which wouldn't cramp his lifestyle at all.

Plus he claims to spend less with this lifestyle, which also helps.

https://www.in2013dollars.com/Housing/price-inflation

Everyone lives in and depends on society. I don't think that means you're being "subsidized"; if anything the footprint of living like this is much smaller than someone who owns a house full of stuff and drives a car every day. (At least if you skip the routine flying part. Trains and boats are great)

I always wondered about the cost effectiveness of these alternate living arrangements. Like the probability of having to rely on huge amounts of savings seems high versus having a stable setup. And having a stable setup is already so expensive. I can't imagine eating out for every meal. I can cook food for a week for the price of 1 or 2 premade meals. And then you can't carry much so what are you constantly rebuying things? Idk seems like a lifestyle for the rich / lucky / people who have a great life safety net.

I asked for advice from an NGO who moves countries often. She said what happens is the NGO members become part of the extended connection, which helps with that situation.

Even when I was a nomad, I wouldn't have been without a suitcase. My big hobby then was dancing - mostly salsa and tango - and I needed several changes of clothes and dance shoes. And, umm, not all black clothes.

To make it worse, indoor smoking was legal, so I would come home with stinky clothes that I wouldn't want to wear again until washing.

I also did some upper undergrad/grad level visiting teaching, and would stay at a staff members home, or in one case the home of the parents of one of the grad students. I brought a dozen or so greeting-style cards with nice pictures of the city I used to live in, so I could leave them as a thank you, with an image of what for them would be an exotic place.

We have a nice airbed (oxymoron?) in our apartment that gets used maybe 3-4 times a year. It takes up more space than the author's backpack, but it's also great whenever a friend or family member would like to visit on short notice (along with a set of sheets, towels, collection of hotel toothbrushes...).

I am trying to build a normal life in one place for the foreseeable future, with a place full of stuff again. :)

A rolling stone gathers no moss, as they say.

- I can't do zero-bag travel, bags are just too convenient. I have at least a little foldable backpack. For example, if I have a jacket, I like the ability to put the jacket inside the bag if the weather calls for it. Or maybe I want to carry a water bottle. Zero-bag means stuffing your pockets, carrying stuff by hand, etc... not very convenient if you ask me.

- I don't really like bags with compartments, I find they get in the way more than they help. Instead, I use a regular bag and put stuff in ziploc bags if I need some organization. It also protects from rain.

- For the USB-C cord, I use 3m, even as an everyday carry. It may seem over the top but sometimes, the power outlet not where you want to plug your phone. For example you may want your phone charging on your nightstand while the socket is on the other side of the bed. 3m lets you cross the bed, 2m doesn't.

- I love synthetic fabrics, dries faster than natural fibers, it is important to me as dry time can be a problem when doing laundry while travelling. Merino wool is great too, but I keep cotton for home.

- Not a fan of jeans during travel, take forever to dry, and they are not that hot for how heavy they are. They make great work clothes (their original purpose), and are relatively fashionable, but during travel when I am not going for style, I use convertible hiking pants.

- I don't travel with a knife, too much of a problem with security. Though I sometimes carry a "swisstech utili-key". It has a blade but it really looks like a key, so it is stealthy. It is unusable as a weapon, but if some overzealous security guy takes it away from you, it is super cheap so it won't be a big loss.

My friends know I take no material things and all I need is a picture on my phone. The occasional tiny gift is only saved until I visit my parents' home and dump it there.

I'd want an ereader as well, but when push comes to shove, I can read on my phone just fine. My Kobo Clara BW is small and light enough to be almost unnoticeable.

I'd go iPad only, it's a versatile device after-all, but the truth of it is: it can't beat a laptop for "real work" (unless, real work is replying to emails and running an extremely cut down version of excel).

Yet, a laptop is significantly more awkward to read with or watch media. When flying I have (nearly) lost a screen to someone reclining in front of me while I was using my laptop; this is not an issue with iPads.

As it stands, the iPad is practically an essential, it's just so versatile and useful that it's omission would cut comfort more than it's weight. But I need an additional device, likely a laptop. One can't live without headphones either, and at least a smart-phone for payments, SMS and phone-calls.

So, it looks outsized, but a laptop can't substitute an iPad, and an iPad can't substitute a laptop (yet; it's a software failing mostly)

For me a bicycle is crucial for getting out and about, and I have done some long distance trips across continents with big mountain ranges to get over, with stove, tent and sleeping bag. This opens up a whole new level of 'minimalism'. Where possible, every item has to be 'dual use' to some extent, so that fleece hoodie doubles up as a pillow. Furthermore, every stupid travel gadget has to go, so no water purifier, no first aid kit, no 'stuff sacks', no special toiletries bags and no evening-only leisure clothes/shoes.

But this is luxury! The real pros are refugees. Imagine walking from Iraq to France, having to avoid every border guard, with no food in your stomach and just the clothes you wear as belongings.

In all fairness to the author of the article, the abundance of tech can be fully justified if he is a web developer and needs to make sure everything works on all of the devices that matter. That doesn't explain the Kindle, however, books (reading matter) has to be a priority item. From past experience, I would get rid of pretty much everything before getting rid of the reading matter.

I guess it's easier to dispose of eating utensils at every meal. Or have the money to eat restaurant meals for every serving.

Interesting. So the practice of (these schools) of Buddhism requires that there be non-Buddists?

My observation when I'm talked to people about my experiences is that they imagine travel is a lot more expensive than it actually is. The most expensive thing I ever had to pay for was my plane ticket to get out of the US. Once I was abroad, even flights were significantly cheaper.

Granted this was no life of luxury, but I wasn’t exactly holding back on much either.

Of course, if you need to lug more (for special occasions or business), that's another matter, but it still makes my jaw drop when I see people travelling on vacations with massive roller luggage that often sucks on cobblestone streets or lugging up stairs.

Ie I've recently spent 2 weeks in remote islands in Sulawesi, Indonesia and didn't bring enough mosquito spray. Well, on whole island chain I was in, nobody in tiny local shops ever had one. When asked, they told me they suck up malaria if caught and move on, sort of how we deal with flu. Luckily dengue wasn't there. So suck it up I did, luckily it seems I avoided it (knock on the wood).

With spray comes sunscreen. Some basic diving equipment. Non-tiny first aid kid. Some photography stuff. But yeah for that one I could still put it all into 1 medium backpack, just liquids travelled separately. For that Nepal, backpack was bigger. For Aconcagua, there was an extra big duffel bag. If doing full camping and cooking, one backpack but much bigger.

To quote some mountain guides I talked about this - its a great second layer in snowy sports, ie ski touring. Wicking of sweat ain't great compared to synthetics (and thus drying takes also much longer), but when wet it keeps warmth, unlike synthetics or cotton. As top layer it sucks since as mentioned it has little resistance to abrasion comparatively, and everybody wears some sort of backpack out there. I have synthetic shirts that lasted 10 years either frequent gym going or intense mountain sports, not a single hole or tear. None of merinos survived that long.

I talk about cheaper brands like Decathlon but also Ice Breaker, the heavier/thicker ones.

Not talking about hoodies here, those seem much thicker material and never worn those, synthetics served me for such role very well so far.

As other replies have mentioned, merino is definitely fragile (both of mine had holes within a few months). But the caveat being that I literally wear them every 2nd day (I own two day-use tshirts (2 more for night/spare) and rotate them daily, so they probably got 5 years of use in the year that I've owned them.

They are even more amazing for anti-smelling than synthetics with silver woven into them (like Lululemon Silverescent). They can go for weeks without washing (I've tested with other people's noses). Caveat being if you spill something on them or absorb a ton of barbecue smoke, they will need a wash (or at least spot cleaning).

I think merino tshirts (2 pair), lightweight synthetic everything else, powerful phones or ultralight laptops + USB-C has enabled folks like me to travel indefinitely (except in winter) with a 20-25L bag or less ※².

※¹ - https://unboundmerino.com

※² - That is if I didn't have a family incl. toddler, in my case I'll still LARP onebagging for our 1-4 week trips.

Do you have foot health problems? For much of my life I've had a single pair of shoes I wear almost daily and have never had problems with bacteria. The only issue I've found is going sockless. Even then you can put a little foot powder into the shoes once a week and it kills everything in them.

Certainly, if you've a history of ankle injuries or some other podiatric necessity, go for it. But for me, a pair of good walking shoes and a pair of good sandals is all I realistically need.

Though I agree a colourful linen shirt for example (pink, yellow) or a merino pullover wouldn't break your back

Black is timeless, hides stains and sweat, easily layers of you want to buy something to add to it, matches multiple colors of trouser/jean/shoe.

I vow on my next trip to pack fewer jeans (2 pair vs. 4), more socks (4-6 thin pair vs 3), fewer overshirts (1 vs 3, maybe a second that is "classy").

I value having boots along with running shoes.

I'm a 2 bag traveller. Even with my bloated clothing budget, shoes and toiletries volume, I was able to fit it all in a 46L carry-on backpack + a normal backpack, with a satchel rolled up for use on daily walks.

Because of the need for minimalism in travel, my wardrobe does tend to be relatively conservative and muted, but it's not all-black all of the time. You can certainly have some color.

Might be able to impart wisdom without the mess of backpacking days on end; or maybe the lessons have to be hard-earned?

You go from "loose rolls of clothes" to "solid bundles of fabric". Makes it so you can take in/out individual items rather than having everything randomly unrolling every time you try and pull something out.

This way things have their place and you know where to find something specific.

I was the save everything, archive everything guy. I had a box of receipts for daily purchases at one point. I downloaded and burned all the movies I could.

Then I started nomading and now my life fits entirely in one 50lbs bag, which I still find way too much and I wish I could backpack like this guy. I can do monthly trips on a tiny backpack, but at some point some stuff is missing (for example I'd have to throw away nail clippers every time I take a plane during this time)

In my case, that means bringing aquatabs to back up my primary water treatment system and a second way to strike my stove. An extra 2 grams for aquatabs versus 4 weeks of greasy diarrhea? Check. Ten grams for a second mini bic or small fire steel versus cold soaking meals that I designed for cooking? Check.

But I do agree with you that bringing less in general frees you to move faster, go farther, and enjoy the journey even more.

As an aside, you should absolutely wash your clothes after buying them before wearing them. They're covered in chemicals that aren't great for your skin. I usually pack a week's worth of clothes and do laundry once a week while traveling. Doing laundry more often is a drag.

My favorite way of traveling involves a 20l backpack and a small checked bag. There is usually enough space for whatever I need, I don't have to worry about overhead space, and I don't need special travel versions of the things I use. But sometimes I take a larger (~100l) suitcase, or even both for longer trips with multiple activities.

As for trekking in the Himalayas, you should always carry clothes you don't expect to need and gear you hope you won't need. Mountains are objectively dangerous, and bad things do happen occasionally. Such as the unexpected blizzard on the eastern side of Everest last weekend.

Bulky gifts.

Bulky sports equipment.

Lots of kids' clothes. Kids' toys. Kids' books. Kids' medical kit.

Clothes that span multiple seasons or climatic zones: warm, cold, heavy rain, snow. Extra shoes. Especially when you know that your things will get wet and that you will have only occasional opportunities to dry them.

Suit/dress/fancy shoes if going to a wedding or other formal event.

Add that, and 80L is not much volume...

I was under the impression I have to send them in and they are repaired. Nope. Probably my mistake to assume.

That's a sad indictment of the state of our culture. Canping is cool. Being an outdoorsman (or outdoorswoman, etc) is one of the greatest things a human can do.

I own exactly one pair of shoes at the moment. Occasionally I also have slippers.