u/Professional_Toe7506

My Eddie Bauer button up just got destroyed in a washer, so I'm in need of a new one! I'm currently traveling through the UK, so I don't think it'd be easy for me to buy something and have it shipped. I'm having trouble figuring out where to buy something in person, so I was hoping ya'll might have some ideas!

What I liked about it (see pictures here) what that it didn't totally look like a hiking shirt. I looked online at Uniqlo and Decathlon, but it doesn't appear that they have any in stock. It looks like I can get something at Patagonia, but I can't find anything else. I'm not too familiar with UK brands, so I'm hoping someone might have some suggestions! Thanks so much.

Hey all!

I posted a while ago about my trip that I've started, so I wanted to give an update! Thanks again to everyone who gave me advice before!

I started with a cruise from the Caribbean to Europe in March, and have been travellng Europe via train for about a month and a half. I have mostly been staying in hostels. I started in southern Europe, and am now in central Europe.

My previous posts were about clothes and shoes, but I'll go over everything else a little too. I ended up taking slightly different things than I planned on in the post, but hopefully I cover it all enough for it to make sense!

Images, more detail below

1. Clothes
2. All the stuff that goes in the bag
3. The bag, nearly fully packed with sandal for scale

Goals for my one bag - achieved!:

Hands free: Other than occasional giant bags of pastries taken onto trains, success!

Nothing strapped to outside of bag: I hate having stuff strapped on the outside, so this was my huge for me.

Pouches for all things: I wanted everything to have a place/pouch. I don't normally travel this way but I figured I'd lose my mind over months if my stuff was that disorganized. It's been good!

Fits on trains: Has fit in the overhead on every train except for local ones that didn't fit anyone's bag. Not taking any planes, so it doesn't matter if it's carry-on size.

Bag:

Got an old Gregory Jade 60 barely used, because it's my favorite backpacking bag and I knew I'd be happy walking with it for ages around cities. It's been (nearly) perfect!

It's more space than I need, but I usually take it up because I haphazardly shove in packing cubes.

Not relevant for this trip, but also when packed correctly, it can be carryon size. The frame is not very long.

... the waterproof lining did delaminate and I had to clean it all out. I have no regrets, but warning if you buy older bags!

Cubes/Sacks/Stuff in Gregory Jade 60:

- Clothes (3 pants, 2 blouses, 1 sun shirt, 1 sun hoodie, 1 short, 1 short that is also for swim, 2 merino wool tees, 1 long sleeve merino shirt, 1 dress)

- Sleep Cube (eye mask, hug sleep pod, sleep hat)

- Misc Cube (extra glasses, hangers, physical therapy stuff, instant coffee, cap, hostel lock, contacts, money belt)

- Socks/underwear/bras (3 pairs medical socks, 2 pairs socks, 2 merino bras - the REI bralettes, they're awesome, 1 sports bra, crop top, lots of Metarino underwear, bathing suit top)

- Cold weather cube (Puffy jacket, cold weather leggings, hat, rain jacket)

- Tech sack: Hair clippers, Xbox controller for gaming on laptop, cords, charger brick

- Meds (Too many, fml, repackaged as much as possible but still a lot :( )

- Toiletry bag: Night cream, day serum, bar of soap in matador soap bag, nail clippers, tooth brush, tooth paste, medical ointments, travel mascara, eyebrow pencil

- Extra sacks (2) (good for clothes that are not clean but mostly clean but I don't want them with my totally clean clothes)

- Packable tote (good for when I go exploring and throw all my stuff into it, also works as bag for very long train rides). I have the Vimapo underseat carryon off Amazon.

- Sun hat (has a strap - it has been SO WINDY so it has been helpful!)

- Laptop w/ drawing pad

- Pacsafe Vibe 100 Hip Pack (holds wind shirt)

Current shoes:

- Merrel Moabs, not GoreTex (ended up with a cute color after all!)

- Keen Elle Luxe Cross sandals

- Croc Slides

- Shower flip flops (purchased on trip)

Purchased:

- I pretty much immediately regretted not bringing my Patagonia Houdini. (edit: I have now bought another one 🎉) So I bought a wind shirt in France to make up for it, somehow it's already ripped. Sometimes I get chilly when I'm out and about, and unlike a full rain coat it would've fit in my fanny pack.

- I bought a pair of super cheap flip-flops at Decathlon, because I walk around the hostel so much in my Crocs and it's annoying having them wet.

- Trekking pole. Helpful for stairs, hikes, getting off trains, etc.

- Just got a folk art bandana. Functional souvenir!

Left for free at hostels/ditched:

- One of my t-shirts (it was ugly and I wasn't wearing it, I bought it for another trip)

- My sweater (... turns out since I'm from a very cold place I am, in fact, barely ever cold).

- Linen dress (I ripped it anyway, it was super cheap and mainly for the cruise)

Wish I had brought:

- I love my little packable hangers, and pretty much whenever I can hang them I wish I had extras. It's nice to air things out, and I hang up some of my clothes. I brought two, and have wished I had 3 pretty much every time I use them.

- Bring my Patagona Houdini (see above). Want. So. Badly. edit: finally found one today! 🎉

- ... a surprising amount of hostels have not had cutlery. Nice ones! Between that and how much I'm on a train and like yogurt, I should've brought a camping spoon. Maybe I'll grab one at Decathlon....

Things I'd not bring again:

- I'm sure I will eventually be happy to have a rain coat, but I have literally never needed it. I didn't have a plan of where I'd go after Barcelona, so I could've needed it if I had gone north.

- I decanted my face serum into little jars. and unsurprisingly ran out after about a month, so I ended up just buying the glass bottle at Sephora in France. It weighs more, but it's less likely to get contaminated AND won't leak. Decanting it was never worth the effort.

- Similarly, I should've just brought regular sized toothpaste, the travel ones were gone pretty quick.

- I tried alcohol spray to make things smell less and as far as I can tell it did not help (I used watered down isopropyl, but that's about the same). Also my spray bottle started leaking even though it didn't when I tested it. Ditched the bottle.

Things I love:

- I would lose my mind without my Croc slides! After a day of walking, or just in the morning at the hostel, I pretty much live in them when I'm not out. I wear them on long trains. They take up space. I love them. Zero regrets.

- My packable hangers. Seriously awesome.

- The Keen Sandals I got are so cute. So comfy. I could walk all day around a city in them, and I have!

- My Pacsafe waist pack! This thing is awesome! I keep it all clipped up MOSTLY to make sure I don't lose all my shit, but also I'm impossible to steal from.

- Both clothing cubes are clean/dirty cubes, which is super useful.

- I got a hard shell passport case off Amazon, it's probably overkill, but it's wateproof AND I can always feel it in my bag to be sure I haven't lost it.

- Having a train travel bag is great, I slip into my crocs when I'm going to be on a train the entire day.

Ending thoughts

There's definitely some things I'd probably not take again and some things I wish I had... but that hasn't affected my trip in any way. I just wanted to be hands free with nothing outside the bag, and that's always the case.

I thought so much about all this before I Ieft, but now that I'm on the trip I barely think about it at all. I'm too busy enjoying the trip! I was really worried about getting everything just right, and I definitely didn't, but it's been awesome anyway. So I'm definitely going to remember that my bigger goals are more important than the details to me when I onebag!