Really good looking bag here. I'd not heard of this brand - Cabin Max - prior to stumbling onto this at Amazon this morning....

Any of you used this one?

Considerations When Buying a Portable Battery Charger

My Galaxy Note 4 has a big enough battery that I don't need a portable charger for most trips - even cross country flights. But I always pack one, just in case. I'm still using the several-year-old Anker model  I mention in my book about 1-bag packing, but I notice that the device drains quickly (3-4 days) even without use.

Stumbled across this post today about portable chargers and learned that "charge retention" is actually a thing. Blockquote:

"Bateries will start to lose their charge over a period of time.  The ...metric you should look for is how much of its charge is still held over a 1-year period....A low retention charge rate means your battery will begin to hold less and less energy over time, eventually reducing the amount of power it can give to your phone"

Check out the full (and short) article here.

Speed record?

Just 1 bag packed in under twenty minutes. Off to North Carolina for a few days of workshops, then hiking and exploring around Asheville.

That may be my fastest packup yet.

Wonder what I forgot? Stay tuned......

No way I could have done this trip with checked luggage

Long story short:  I had a flight to Boise booked out of Logan airport in Boston last Tuesday, the day of a big snowstorm. Nothing was leaving after Monday around 7pm, so I moved my flight up. Chicago by way of Atlanta, overnight in Chicago, then on to Boise the next day.

Missed my connection in  Atlanta, spent the night there, then on to Salt Lake City the next day. And then Boise.  Through all these changes I must have been asked a dozen times "did you check any luggage sir?"

No ma'am, I did not. Do you not read my blog?  Did you not read my e-book?

Seriously there is no way I could have made that many changes with checked luggage.  A couple of flights were puddle jumpers with limited overhead storage.  No prob, with my e-bag Tech 2 I just squished it under the seat in front of me.  I'll say it again:  get it in black so it's not so visibly obvious when it sticks out a bit from under the seat.

Hey, I just got an email from the good folks at CampMor with this coupon link.  They have everything you need (plus all the stuff you didn't know you needed) for camping and minimalist travel.  Here's the link.

Also, after I did workshops in Boise and Salt Lake City and Idaho Falls, I tacked on a couple extra days to my trip and made it out to Grand Teton Park for some snowshoeing.  Check it out: