Perfecting minimalist travel - How I Pack Light

Stop agonising over packing and you'll be this happy. That's a fact.

In both daily life and travel, I pretty much try and keep a capsule wardrobe - I create uniforms for myself so I don't have to agonise over what to wear every day, and it's usually super simple stuff. For travel, everything just fits on a carry-on - then there's no waiting around for luggage, it doesn't get lost on tight connections, and if you're getting out of the airport on a train or metro etc., it's just less of a hassle lugging it around (I have painful childhood memories of lugging bags up/down/around the subway/train in Tokyo).

I didn't think it was anything special - after all, if you like to (or have to) travel, you want to be on your way quickly and efficiently as possible, right? - but I realised I might have nerded out a bit more than usual when even frequent travellers started saying I was an efficient packer.

So, to spread the ultralight gospel further, I thought I'd share some of the travel essentials that help me pack light. (I could go on forever, I love nerding out on this stuff).

Piazza Duomo in Alba is special, especially during White Truffle Season

Montblanc topped with white truffle at Piazza Duomo, Alba

You may have read the previous post about the White Truffle Festival in Alba - if not, follow that link and read it first to see how the visit to the restaurant fit into that day. This meal at Piazza Duomo was a crucial part, and probably one of the best food-related trips I've ever done.

Alba White Truffle Festival - An Essential Road Trip

A stall at the Fiera del Tartufo, the white truffle festival in Alba

If you live to eat like I do, the white truffle festival in Alba is a trip you must add to your bucket list.

The Great American Eclipse - how we found the perfect spot to see the total solar eclipse 2017

Most of the travel I do is in search of food. However - and I may have mentioned this before - my husband is the very opposite of a foodie, so when we travel together, I throw all my expectations of food out the window. It helps that usually we're going somewhere super interesting, and this time it was to see the total eclipse.

The Great American Eclipse, as it was called, was indeed pretty great for the US, because it basically crossed the entire country, west to east, and it's rare for totality to be seen on land (as 70% of the earth is water, a lot of times total eclipses happen over the sea and it's hard to catch them), let alone a country that is so relatively accessible by roads.

Yarra Valley, a Day Trip

Vines in Yarra Valley

A couple of weeks ago I was back in Melbourne for a few days, playing tour guide and driver to my aunt, who was there partially for work. it was her first time there and I was eager to show her all the things I love about the state I called home for so many years (in many ways, it still is). The weather, being Melbourne, was beautiful one minute and shockingly horrid the next, so when I woke up late one morning (we never adjusted to Melbourne time!) to find that the sky was clear, I called Bella Vedere in Yarra Valley for a table straight away, and off we went.

Big Sur, California - Coastal Wondering

Big Sur

Fuelled up on Brenda's grits, we set off on our drive down Big Sur (enroute to Vegas). I'd planned it so we'd stop for lunch at Carmel, snack at Big Sur Bakery, then arrive in time for dinner at Pismo Beach, where our night's accommodation would be.

Taichung - biking (or fooding?!) in Fengyuan

The purpose of the trip was to go biking, so in case you were wondering whether I came close to a pedal at all - I did, and it wasn't when I stood next to one of the many bike racks in town. Actually we went on a proper bike trail in Fengyuan (豐園), a small township about 30 mins out of Taichung city by train.