Bought this for vacation, but ended up using it year round

I bought this slim metal wallet for days on Cape Cod when I needed a credit card and identification and some folded bills, but didn't want to have a thick wallet in my shorts.

Turns out, you never need a thick wallet.  A chiropractor warned me years ago about the dangers of sitting with a big wallet in your back pocket, and it turns out that chucking the wallet is an easy bit of health advice to follow.

I don't really need to have my library card with me all time, or the 5-6 supermarket loyalty cards I typically carried in the fat leather wallet. And the two business cards I'd been hanging onto just because I liked the design?  Why had I been walking around with those for 18 months?

Of all the minimalist travel tips and hacks I describe in the book, this slim wallet is the one I use the most - at home as well as on the road.







Old School New Body

Here's the low-down on rolling bags

If you've read this blog before, or my e-book on the topic, you know I'm a resolute ex-rolling bag traveler.

From the super-useful site OneBag.com comes this - 10 reasons to avoid wheeled bags.  Read on...

Bags with built-in wheels are:

• much heavier than the alternatives
• considerably less roomy than the alternatives (due to both the bulk and the configuration of the frame)
• poorly shaped (inside surfaces often not flat, nor corners square — again, because of the extra hardware), making packing less efficient
• less collapsible for storing away when not in use
• rigidly constructed (less able to fit in available storage spaces, such as lockers and overhead bins, where half an inch can often make the difference)
• uncomfortable to drag over long distances (poor wrist position)
• less suitable for efficient packing techniques (due to constraints imposed by the frame on bag access and compartmentalization options)
• awkward (listing, tipping, falling, running over toes, navigating turns with minds of their own, and keeping their attendants tethered in place — and often blocking others' passage — on escalators)
• prohibited on buses, trams, and other public transportation in many parts of the world
• less reliable (many more parts to break, snag on things, and otherwise malfunction)

And look at all the space-hogging crap that makes up the wheely mechanism!

There are some great alternatives to the rolling bag.  Read more here.

The Travel Trainer

Must-have travel apps for iOS and Android

If you've followed my posts here, or picked up a copy of my book on the topic of 1-bag traveling for guys, you know I'm a sucker for apps that promise to make some aspect of travel easier or more fun.

And some apps do just that - promise - then fall short in actual practice. But a handful of apps are on my super short list.  Desert island, must-have, don't-leave-home-without-'em.

A recent blog post at Mashable sketched out 14 iOS, Android, and Windows which are contenders. Some of these were new to me, and a few (Gogobot, Roadtripper, and RadarCast) are downloading right now, ready for a trial run.

Share your favorite travel apps with me, I'd love to know what works for other minimalist travelers.

Here's my short-listed absolute favorite travel apps

• TripIt (integrates so sweetly with email and calendar functions)
• Spotify (paid version, so I can have offline access to tunes)
• New York Times and Boston Globe phone apps (the luxury of slowly making my way through every section of a good Sunday paper is a favorite on-flight treat)
• Pocket (for offline reading of longer blog posts)
• Kindle (obviously)
• Umano (offline quick listening to blogs -- yep, I said "listening." Professional readers zip through blog articles which I select and cue up for commuting or other travel)
• Google Maps (duh)
• Airbnb
• KayakPro
• TripAdvisor
• Viator
• Orbitz (hands down the quickest way to secure a car rental - literally from the time the plane touches down until they let you unbuckle, that's how quick I can knock out this last minute travel task)
• Yelp (for hiking trails - yes it's good for businesses but my favorite use of this app is to find local tips for great outdoor adventures)
• CamScanner (turns all my paper receipts on business travel into pdfs, with easy cloud access for later)

Check out other great hacks and tips for 1-bag travel in my  e-book right here.





Venus Factor or Xtreme FatLoss Diet?