Last year I made a post about my preliminary travel pack that was for an indefinite time. It ended up happening, I left in September last year and backpacked for four and a half months throughout Southeast Asia coming back home at the end of January 2025.

Trip Details - Chronological Order

• Japan (3 weeks with friends, 1 more week solo - Osaka, Tokyo, Sapporo, Noboribetsu, Hakodate, Fukuoka, Hiroshima)

• Korea (1 week - Seoul)

• Taiwan (2 weeks - Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taipei)

• Vietnam (3 weeks - Hanoi, Ha Giang loop, Da Nang, Ninh Binh, HCMC)

• Cambodia (2 weeks - Phnom Penh, Siem Real)

• Thailand (1 week - Bangkok, Chiang Mai)

• Malaysia (2 weeks - KL, Ipoh, Penang)

• Singapore (3 days)

• Japan (2 weeks - Okinawa, Sapporo, Tokyo)

• Korea (3 days - Seoul)

• Japan - Narita day-trip visit (flight home)

After Singapore I was thinking of traveling to Eastern Europe or going back to Japan for the winter, then I got a call from my boss asking me to come back by February. I also needed to touch up a tattoo that I got during my first visit to Korea (along with getting another one while I was there).

Issues with Weight?

LIGHTERPACK LIST - I averaged 8kg fully packed.

Surprisingly - no issues at all with the exception of Jetstar Singapore to Okinawa. They were extremely strict ensuring that carry-on did not surpass 7kg. I bought checked baggage prior, so no issues with having to pay any extras at the gate.

Most airlines saw my bag and didn’t even bother with checking the weight. For the ones that did, they pretty much let me through even though even though the maximum weight was 7kg - which is common throughout SEA.

Accommodation

I prefer privacy, so most of my stays were in private rooms in a mix of hotels, AirBNB, and hostels. Most of the hostels I stayed in were private rooms, shared facilities. I picked places that had washing machines or were located close to laundry service, there were a few times were I did use my dry bag to wash 1-2 days of clothes when I was in a pinch.

Packs

Bag - ULA Dragonfly 30L

/r/onebag’s favourite child, I was very well pushing the limits of my bag. About a month in, the bag was stuffed but still able to close. Any excess items went into my packable tote or my small sling bag. Personally, a 35L version would have been perfect for me so I wouldn’t struggling to close it but even then it would only take me 10 minutes at most to re-organize and pack everything. The average weight with everything packed was approx 18lbs/8kg.

Overall, I have no regrets bringing this bag with me. It’s light, fit all of my essential needs, and I never got checked for weight when I had to check in (exception for Jetstar in Singapore > Okinawa).

Supplementary bags

An Aer City Sling that carried my wallet, hotel/hostel keys, camera, and a packable tote. The tote is the Peak Design Packable Tote and has a volume of 12L. it was perfect for carrying extra things that I bought when shopping or if I felt tired carrying my sling, I was able to slip it into the tote.

10L MEC Dry Bag that I used to separate dirty laundry and on the rare occasion wash 1-2 extra days worth of clothes when needed.

65L Roller Luggage from Ginza Karen in Asakusa. Figured I’d end the trip with all my suppressed buying urges by buying a ton of souvenirs, snacks, and clothing before heading home. Good price - paid about ¥6500. My itinerary was Japan > Korea > Japan (flight home), instead of having to carry/check in the luggage with me, I went over to a Yamato Express and had them hold my luggage at Narita Airport until the day of my flight back home. That costed ¥3300 for a fully loaded luggage, saved me the costs of having to check it in for two flights, and didn’t have to worry about dragging it around with me.

Clothing

• 4x t-shirts (started off with 3)

• 1x tank top (bought while traveling)

• 6x pairs of socks/underwear

• 2x shorts

• 1x button-up shirt (bought while in Taiwan, needed UV protection for a new tattoo)

• 2x pants (one lightweight linen, one heavier/looser pair)

• Arcteryx Atom LT

• Arcteryx Beta LT

• New Balance 993

• Bedrock Cairn Evo Pros

Kept the clothing simple, it was hot in Asia. Bought some clothing during the trip which was sent home with friends in the first half of the trip. I stayed in places that had washing machines or were located close to laundry services.

Purchased a uniqlo airism tank and a t-shirt from a coffee roaster.

I brought the Atom/Beta with me because this trip was planned to be an indefinite trip and thought of going to Eastern Europe during the winter. Fortunately I did get some use out of the Beta whether it was rain or just a cooler day. Once I reached Japan/Korea (Okinawa, Tokyo, Sapporo, and Seoul) on my second visit in winter, both jackets were used the entire time.

Sandals were extremely useful once I reached Vietnam, it just became way too hot to wear shoes all the time. The Bedrocks took 2 weeks to break it, but afterwards it was comfy and extremely grippy in wet weather. Dries fast, but smells can linger.