I Travel 10 Days With One Small Backpack - These Are the 20 Things I Always Pack (The Japanese Way)

Ten days. One small backpack. No suitcase, no checked bag, nothing rolling behind me through the airport. I’ve traveled this way to Lisbon, to Kyoto, to Vancouver and to a village in the mountains of Italy where the only way up from the bus stop was two hundred stone steps. In this video, I’ll open my backpack and show you every single thing inside it. Twenty things, and the Japanese reason each one has earned its place. You’ll learn: What to look for in a small travel backpack, and how to load it so it feels half as heavy The three merino tops that replace a week of shirts Why I never pack jeans, and which trousers I wear instead The long cotton cloth that does five jobs (tenugui) The square of cloth that replaces packing cubes, laundry bags and gift wrap (furoshiki) How to wash clothes in any hotel sink, even one without a plug The smallest thing in my bag, and why my father never traveled without it How to pack your medicines like a Japanese medicine box (kusuri bako) The five most common backpack mistakes The card for a stranger that brought my stolen backpack back to me in Rome Airline size rules differ, so always check your exact ticket before you fly. I grew up above my father’s tailor shop in Osaka, spent thirty-one years traveling for a Japanese trading company, and have lived in America for over forty years. Everything I share here, I’ve tested on the road. Which of these twenty things do you already carry, and which one will you add first? Tell me in the comments. I read every one.