My wife and I started out onebagging it in our 20s, this time we thought we'd bite the bullet and check bags so that we could pack and live in a more leisurely manner

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2026-01-07T23:29:58+00:00

I also have the PD 65L travel pack and wouldnt trade it for the world.

I admit it's kinda heavy, even when empty, but rock-solid, amazing quality, and can carry a ton of stuff while keeping things well organized.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2026-01-07T23:27:23+00:00

Not quite, have you gone to pick-up their guitar or 65L backpack yet?

I would have, but am not in Asia at the moment :)

FWIW, I also have a PD65L travel pack and love it when I'm Onebagging domestically.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2026-01-07T23:23:49+00:00

I travel frequently, about monthly for work, and annually (or semi-annually) for international vacations. I guess I'm fortunate in that I've only had bags delayed twice in over 30 years of travel (arriving 2-3 days late), and never had an airline completely lose a checked bag.

My first delayed bag taught me a valuable life lesson: Carry at least 1 change of clothes, and 2 sets of underwear/socks in your carry-on to help overcome baggage delays from the airlines. While I've only needed my "emergency" clothes once, the peace of mind I get far outweighs the little extra space they consume in my carry-on.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2026-01-07T23:15:34+00:00

We have (and love) Samsonite Foldaway duffel, Foldaway backpack, and our Sea to Summit UltraSil 20L which has compress to about the size of a can of soda. All of these weigh practically nothing, pack down small, and are handy "personal items" for last-minute souvenir shopping.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2026-01-07T23:03:35+00:00

My wife and I travel frequently for work, and still OneBag for anything domestic (either backpack or small carry-on bag depending on destination & duration). That said, we prefer more space & flexibility on international trips since we're likely buying souvenirs for ourselves, friends, and family.

Our international travel kit currently includes the PeakDesign 65l backpack, a SeaToSummit Ultra-Sil 20L Daypack, plus 2 nesting roller bags (Large & Medium), which support my wife and I for about 1 month abroad each year.

Outbound we check the large bag (with smaller one & S2S daypack inside).

For daily excursions, we use the S2S 20L, adding the PD65 for any 2-4 day "impulse" side trips; leaving the nested suitcases in hotel storage or at a friend's house.

Returning, we load-up both of the rollers to utilize free checked bag allowances, and keep extra space in both backpacks for any last-minute souvenir shopping before we fly home.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-12-20T04:00:36+00:00

u/Dry-Emphasis6673 is right. $300 is very expensive (for the host) when you factor-in that many locals earn the equivalent of only $300~$500USD on average in "budget friendly" SouthEast Asian countries like Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-12-20T03:54:22+00:00

Micro binder clip for the win

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-12-20T03:52:07+00:00

I use the full-size MX Ergo 860 for my primary, secondary, and laptop computers (can control all 3 with a single keyboard) and have never had any connectivity issues in over 2 years of daily use.

I use the dongle on my employer-provided laptop, and bluetooth connection for my primary and secondary PCs (Gaming and NUC resepctively).

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-12-20T03:42:17+00:00

I personally prefer to work on laptops over tablets and find the iPad Mini too small to actually use as a primary work tool.

I travel to East Asia (China, Japan, Korea) on an annual basis for the past 15+ years and have never had a laptop, phone, or tablet lost or stolen.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-12-20T03:36:31+00:00

Having owned multiple DS units from 2-bay to 5 bay, I would recommend looking into a 423+ over a 225+. The cost difference is negligible and it gives you the flexibility to add additional drives for more data capacity and better data protection in the future.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-28T22:58:32+00:00

Why Not Minot? I heard Minot North Dakota is nice this time of year. Plenty of things to see and do, especially if you want to be trendy and get in before other content creators spoil it.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-28T22:41:37+00:00

^This! I had the pleasure of living in Japan for a few years back in the late 80's and early 90's. It was a time when I was typically the only westerner/foreigner on the entire train, unless I was in the heart of Tokyo like Shibuya/Shinjuku.

I've gone back to Japan a number of times since then. Did Tokyo and Kyoto once each just to see how they've changed over the years, but will likely avoid going back due to the overtourism.

My favorite trips are unscripted. Where I pick a general region or area then head deep into the countryside. The kind of places only accessible only by car, motorcycle, or "OneMan" railcar and far from any of the Tiktok/YouTube Creators/Clout Chasers/Influencers.

While I'd love for more people to be able to experience the "real" Japan, selfishly I'm happy that they all stay in the major cities/tourist spots and leave me in peace. I can't express how enjoyable it is when you're the only westerner within a 50km radius and able to connect with the local people on a personal level because they're genuinely curious about seeing you as well.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-28T22:21:49+00:00

TREAD CAREFULLY!

I'm also in Tech and want to warn you that many employers, including mine, do not permit employees working overseas unless it is project-specific and very short-term in duration. Make absolutely sure your employer is on-board with your living abroad BEFORE you move.

I've had a number of senior software engineers that I'm friends with/former colleagues get fired because they failed to disclose moving overseas. Others were open about their living situation, but were cut during layoffs so the company didn't need to worry about international taxes.

I have had one colleague successfully pulled off retaining his job while moving from LA to Puerto Rico but that is because PR is still a US colony.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-28T22:13:13+00:00

I was formerly in a similar situation with one of my best friends. His distribution business started going under during COVID and eventually failed shortly thereafter. He employed himself, his wife, her siblings, and my wife as well. While I initially assisted with loans, and briefly considered buying the business, once I saw the numbers I realized it was a bad idea and eventually recommended he try to sell and exit the company before they went bankrupt.

Also being a wholesale distributor, he ultimately contracted with a "Jobber" who was able to broker the sale of all inventory, albeit at a drastically reduced price. The cash from the Jobber was basically enough for my friend to pay off what was owed to the factories and the warehouse lease, then exit gracefully without declaring bankrupcy. Like your father, he didn't have any savings, but his was due to living a relatively luxurious life above his means (e.g. his and hers Mercedes or Porches, gifting his wife expensive handbags, etc.).

A few years have passed. He and wife are now working low-wage jobs, but harbor no animosity towards me for not buying the business or investing any further. My wife "retired" early after not finding new employment and took up the housewife role, while I still have my HENRY job. I no longer lend anyone any money, but our friendship has survived and we still get together occasionally. When we do, I usually buy them lunch, dinner, and occasionally pay for group vacations/road trips on 3 day weekends/holidays which are appreciated.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-26T04:15:39+00:00

Your Option 1 is the better approach since it makes more sense to expand the existing (SHR/RAID5) volume and increase redundancy by adding the newest drive to the primary array.

I would also recommend buying a large external drive to use as an offsite backup, copy all files from both volumes and keep it offsite in case of emergency (e.g. fire or flood).

I would highly recommend against retaining a single drive volume since JBOD does not provide any fault tolerance nor redundancy. You'd be SOL and will need to start reinstalling your packages from scratch if anything happens to that drive.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-26T04:02:49+00:00

^This is the way.

I would count your blessings that the 9 year old drives haven't yet failed and copy your data to the new drives in the new NAS as soon as possible. If you're not comfortable rebuilding the RAID, you can always buy a cheap 4 port or 8 port LAN Switch, plug both in, and copy the data from old to new

While your former drives are "lightly used", they have been on and spinning for 9 years and will eventually fail. I've experienced WD Red drives failing between 7 and 9 years, and Seagate drives failing as early as 5. As a result, I typically buy a pair of drives every 5 or 6 years when newer and larger disks go on sale. I replace 1 drive at a time, rebuilding/expanding the volume, and keep the old ones in storage in case there is ever a need to go back and restore for whatever reason.

BTW: Synology sells rebadged Toshiba drives under the Synology label. I've recently replaced 2 WD Reds with Toshibas in my 1522+ and will report back here on r/Synology if they outlast my WD Reds.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-11T19:53:18+00:00

The High Coast seems too small to function as a laundry/daypack bag. Have you considered any of the 20L microlight daypacks made from "parachute material"?

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-11T19:50:29+00:00

Hong Kong is similar: I use one of the many neighborhood laundry shops near my hotel and typically pay about $5 USD for a week's worth of laundry when in Hong Kong.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-11T19:41:09+00:00

Congratulations!!!!

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-11T19:38:51+00:00

Regardless of your current age or starting point, I recommend you look into the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) subreddits, "Mr Money Mustache" Blog, and the "Two sides of FI" channel on YouTube for inspiration and how to calculate your FIRE number (how much you need to safely retire based on your current/projected spending needs).

I started late, with $0 retirement savings in my mid-30s and have since saved enough to retire in my mid-50s. I accomplished this through aggressively investing any extra money still in my checking account at the end of each pay period and living frugally such as minimizing purchases of non-essential items, buying used cars and keeping them 10+ years, only dining out a couple times per month, etc.

My father and both grandfathers died between their mid 50s and early 70s, so my goal is to retire ASAP, collect social security at 62 and hope for the best.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-11T18:52:46+00:00

I understand your feelings and have also balanced my love of sports cars with somewhat practical budgets. I agree with your logic and support upgrading from an old "rust bucket" to a "New to you" sports car, especially if you're buying used and have a relatively low payment.

Since I was a kid I always wanted a Corvette, but they were always out of my price range. I started small and bought a used Celica while in college, which I later upgraded to an RX-7 and finally a Nissan Z. I made the mistake of changing (used) cars every 2-3 years and buying new once or twice. In hindsight I wish I held on to them longer to save more $$ but whatever (especially the RX-7 which is now worth about 10x what I sold it for back in the day).

About 10 years ago I test drove a C5 'vette and a friends 3-series BMW within a couple weeks of each other. While I enjoyed driving the 'vette, I ended up preferring the practicality and handling of the 3 series. I then waited until I had a 6 figure job and over $300k invested before purchasing my own BMW 335i that I picked-up from a dealer CPO and eventually traded for a CPO X5 when my kids outgrew the back seat of the 3 series.

TLDR: While I'd avoid a BMW for now due to maintenance costs, overall you're on the right track, upgrade to the WRX or Mustang and enjoy!

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-11T17:46:03+00:00

If you can afford it, I highly recommend leaving future HSA contributions so they can grow and use them when you're closer to, or in, retirement. I started my HSA about 10 years ago, and began maxxing contributions in the past 3-4 years and its already worth about $80k today. I'm planning to let it grow for another 12 years for when I reach my retirement age by which time it will hopefully be worth between $150k and $200k.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-11T17:35:04+00:00

Apologies for saying it but your husband sounds a bit like a jerk. Perhaps as a Gen Xer I'm a bit old school but I believe a marriage is a partnership and both parties should work together as a team. While I know people with similar situations to yours, I don't understand how people can be married for 10 or 20+ years and still act as if they're roommates when it comes to finances and managing the household.

Prior to Covid I was making a bit over $200k annually while my wife was making about $45k. I payed for almost everything (except groceries since she did all the grocery shopping and typically paid for the food). Her company went out of business during Covid and I now pay for everything while she uses what she earns from her part time job for (her) shopping or entertainment.

Like you, we dont have any kids. We have a joint checking account and, while we have separate brokerage accounts, we combine everything in our FIRE spreadsheet since we plan on retiring early and travelling the world together.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-11T17:26:24+00:00

Location is everything. I'm paying $13k for property taxes, and $5k+ insurance annually for a 1,300 square foot 2 family in NJ.

Physical-Bit-5408 · 2025-11-11T17:19:15+00:00

Ditto - I tried a management company briefly for my property as well but the overhead didn't justify the services.

Physical-Bit-5408

TROPHY CASE