As they say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
that first crucial step is usually packing a travel bag.
Hey friends, it's Andrew here, hope you're all well! I've been fortunate enough to have traveled
over 35 countries in my 20s and i'm currently traveling asia for both business and leisure
so while i'm here at the moment i thought i'd share what i like to pack into my travel
bags to make traveling that much easier and more enjoyable let's start with a big piece
first which is the ever important luggage bags itself i've recently ditched my almost decade
old luggage bag and upgraded to the carl friedrich check-in it has got to be one of the more
distinctly better luggage bags i've used for one the unique design is super sleek made of course
with lightweight polycarbonate but the handmade italian leather detailing in chocolate brown here
is what has me when paired up with a leather initial tag for personalization i've yet to
see someone else mistake my luggage for their own can't say the exact same for my previous
luggage bags i've used the wheels are made by the highly regarded japanese manufacturer hinomoto
the gold standard when it comes to silent luggage spinner wheels while the dual aluminium locks
essentially give you the choice of a six number tsa lock honestly most decent luggage brands
will get the job done as long as the build quality is there but with the Carl Friedrik check-in i
feel like it gets a sleek design really right especially with the italian leather detailing
so that's my luggage let's move on to my daily travel bag and all the essentials inside it my
go-to travel bag ever since i got it is the bowen bag also made by Carl Friedrik it's
small enough to take around day to day to most places and large enough to house a padded laptop
area several sleeves for other items like my hard drive and daily essentials because i take this bag
around everywhere the most important part of this bag is its build and durability and thankfully
we have that with the Bowen it's made of italian vegetable leather and a heavy duty Ricagni zipper
i've gone through plenty of bags while traveling in the past and i've even had a camera travel bag
break on me at the time i was in hawaii that was pretty tragic an expensive lens fell out
and shattered so i learned from my mistakes invest in a good backpack if you plan to travel with it
next up i have of course the laptop i take on the go which is currently the macbook
14 inch with the m1 pro chip and only 16 gigabytes of memory but it's more than enough as my daily
driver whenever i'm abroad it's housed in the grams 28 114 leather folio sleeve also made of
italian leather and monogrammed with initials it's soft to the touch and quite versatile with
plenty of internal pockets for accessories pens and notepads i like to store my passport in a
holder for convenience it saves me from fumbling around at the airport check-in counters and
that dreaded security check particularly at large airports such as lax so i've been using this one
here for years and it's just from typo speaking of airports and planes one of my must-have
travel items is just a good water bottle the last thing i want to be is dehydrated while traveling
or on the plane and unless i'm flying business class or consistently hassling the cabin crew
there's hardly ever enough water that goes around to keep everyone properly hydrated on the plane
so a small travel hack that i have is bringing an empty water bottle on planes and asking for it to
be filled up before the flight actually takes off my go-to water bottle is this lark filtered bottle
on the surface it's an aesthetic water bottle that appeals to my design geek but it also appeals to
my inner tech geek with its advanced filtration system so the built-in and replaceable filter here
removes foreign materials and water like lead metals chlorine and makes water taste that much
cleaner in my opinion it's able to filter up to 150 liters or 40 gallons of water so you'd be
saving the environment from about 300 single-use plastic bottles with every filter the detachable
carabiner and pop-up straw makes it that much more travel friendly and i've got it paired up with a
pure vis cap which features a very nifty uvc led light underneath to clean up to 99 of bacteria
and not only the water but the entire bottle so between the uv light filtration and physical
filtration from the bottles filter i'm getting really clean water and a good looking water bottle
and it's a game changer when it comes to staying hydrated when on the go so i totally recommend
the lark filter bottle for the travel conscious just in case you're confused about which cap to
use like i initially was whether that's the pureviz or the filter cap they're actually
made to be interchangeable so technically you should be using the purevis cap to sanitize the
water with that uv light which eliminates uh bio contaminants and then use the filter cap
to physically remove pollutants so between the two you're going to get pretty clean water to
drink moving on to the other travel essentials inside my bag is this mark 1 pen by studio knee
everyone needs a pen while traveling for moments like filling out custom forms on the plane
and this one i've been enjoying quite a lot it's a custom machined all metal pen with a ceramic
exterior coating this one here is in the white flask copper colorway and i just find it really
sleek as heck the custom click mechanism is also satisfying as heck i have a couple of their tote
bags thrown into the bag which are nice to draw on whenever i have an idea or thought to scribble out
next is the sonos rome and really this one is more of a nice to have than essential but i personally
can't go without it now because i'm always left wanting more when it comes to speakers in hotel
rooms the rome is a simple portable waterproof smart speaker that sounds far more impressive
than its size might imply it's perfect for hotel sing-alongs or beach side tunes and my friends
and family seem to really enjoy it too while we're traveling together but when it comes to headphones
i still use the good old bose qc35s particularly on planes the noise cancellation on these remains
second to none and it almost completely cuts out the monotone hum of the engine during long-haul
flights whether you're listening to music or watching a movie next up is probably my favorite
purchase in recent times the fuji x100v if you've seen my review video on this bad boy i've caught
it the best travel camera i've ever used a very big clean but it truly is the photos that come
out of this thing without any sort of post editing is absolutely insane it's thanks to the amazing
fujifilm simulations i've tweaked a custom film sim that seems to work in almost all situations
that along with amazing lens absolutely beautiful camera body and compact size it's been one of my
go-to cameras that i take almost everywhere with me particularly when i'm traveling recently i've
added a fujifilm lens adapter and added onto the threads a cinebloom diffusion filter to take that
film-like aesthetic to the next level so the photos that have come out of this camera paired
with this cinebloom lens and that custom film simulation has been so so good i'll probably get
some of them processed as prints and if you want to check my shots um i have a separate instagram
profile for casual snaps abroad at aez.photos so check that instagram out if you want to see more
shots from this camera i personally like to travel with at least one timepiece on the wrist and
the one i've recently fallen in love with is the cartier santos it's subtle enough to safely travel
with but also iconic enough to be recognized by watch enthusiasts i personally think it's one
of the best proportioned watches aesthetically and its iconic square design and bracelet is
absolutely timeless if you also travel with a timepiece like myself i highly recommend
investing in a good watch roll so you can throw your timepiece into your bag or luggage without
worrying about it getting scuffed up this one here is from a local niche brand banks and sloan
and it's pretty sturdy with a strong outer case made out of cowhide leather and inner soft suede
lining because i don't want to be that guy who wears an apple watch and mechanical watch at the
same time while traveling i usually take my aura ring abroad it's not the same as an apple watch
but at least i get sleep tracking and basic activity tracking while i'm out about during the
day the amazing thing about the aura ring though is if i'm going on a short one-week trip let's say
the oil ring 3 is able to survive the entire trip on a single full charge so it makes for
a great travel companion i prefer carrying cards rather than cash while i'm traveling
so i just purchased this simple go yard card holder while i was in singapore
because there's so little bulk to this it's really easy to travel with pretty straightforward
but it's a nice touch of subtle luxury while i'm traveling let's not forget about the phone i use
i still carry an iphone specifically the 12 pro i typically skip generational upgrades i
just personally don't see the benefit and the yearly hassle of upgrading unless there's a
huge leak forward but yeah this works more than fine for daily use and while traveling because
most shots i take are on the x 100 v anyway next is my orbit key nest here and ssd drive
for a little extra physical and digital storage this portable 500 gigabyte samsung ssd drive here
lets me edit and store videos and photos on the go and i keep it within the nest for quick access
items like the apple magic mouse batteries and things like that the cool thing about the nest
is it doubles up as a 10 watt wireless charging pad when hooked up to a usb port one of the last
pieces of tech that i carry in my travel bag before we move on to things like toiletries
and things like that is this kindle oasis and when it comes to travel and portability it makes
zero sense in my opinion to like around paperback books because they're heavy they tear and they're
not waterproof the kindle solves all those issues it holds literally thousands of books you're able
to take notes on it easily and the oasis version is completely waterproof and super thin in design
so i can throw it into the bottom bag and go though with all this tech naturally there are
a ton of cables and charges i need to take with me so the easy solution here is to keep them neatly
stored in a cable pouch it's usually sitting in my home office i just grab it and go while
i'm traveling so i don't need to think about all the cables that i need to bring when it comes to
travel toiletries the aesop travel kit here takes most of that load off my shoulders i'm usually
never a fan of in hotel toiletries but i do love aesop toiletries and this kit includes nine
different items from skin care to shampoos and toothpaste essentials i usually throw in my hair
wax in there as well the one that i use is the hard muck by mark styling mud which is usually
a really tough hold with a matte low sheen finish i find it great for thick asian hair like myself
and it holds pretty well in hot humid climates like singapore then it comes off really easy with
shampoo at the end of the day the other one that i use as well is mr mark the brutal hole semi-matte
mud if i want a bit of a shinier finish i guess but yeah between these two these are great travel
companions and they work pretty well on my hair at least another thing i have in my toiletries bag is
this phillips sonic care electric toothbrush and this one's a must when traveling after changing to
an electric toothbrush i just can't unsee them and i can't go without it even for just a day
so i pack this with me on my travels it's a little bulkier than a standard toothbrush but totally
worth it and then i have a good pair of sunglasses it's an obvious staple this one here is the
ray-ban clubmasters which are just a classic in a clean silhouette and fits most outfits they're
also polarized which supposedly offers double the protection from uv rays these with a buttoned down
white linen shirt and you're good to go to most tropical destinations i also have this philips
series 7000 shaver just for you know general all-in-one grooming so i look somewhat presentable
when abroad and that goes into the travel pouch as well keeping presentable and clean is sometimes
a challenge when traveling because you know it can be very go go when you're traveling but yeah
small all-in-one items like the philips shaver that comes with different sized hair clippers
really helps so guys that is it for my what's my carry bag essentials video those are the items
that i try and carry around while i travel that enhance my experience i find that being prepared
in advance for travel to be so much more enjoyable when you do pack well and the little extra effort
and time you put into packing essentials into your travel bag goes a long way whether that's you know
staying hydrated or making sure all your items are well protected in sleeves and a good quality bag
if there's any travel essentials that you don't go without and you think i'm missing in my bag please
do drop a comment down below and again thanks to lark for sponsoring this video subscribe for more
tech and business content drop a like on this video and as always thank you for watching