A stranger at a co-working space in Chiang Mai told me my packing system was all wrong

I was pretty proud of my backpack setup - I had this whole system where I used six different packing cubes for clothes, cables, toiletries, snacks, medicine, and random stuff. This guy named Sam from Australia just watched me struggle to find my adapter for like five minutes and then told me I was overcomplicating things. He said I should just use two cubes max and keep everything else loose so I can grab stuff fast. I laughed it off at first but then I missed my bus because I couldn't pack up quick enough the next morning. So I tried his way, just two cubes for clothes and one small pouch for electronics, and now I can get out the door in under ten minutes instead of twenty five. Has anyone else had some random person change their whole travel setup with just a few words?

2 comments

2 Comments

perez.christopher1d ago

That six cube system sounds like a nightmare honestly. How many times did you actually need to access the medicine cube versus the snack cube in a single day? I bet you were digging through layers of organization just to find a granola bar. Sam was probably watching you for way longer than five minutes before he finally snapped.

evan_morgan8117h ago

@perez.christopher you're not wrong, I've been there. Best move is to keep snacks and medicine in the same cube if you can, or just put the snacks right on top. Saves you from digging every time you just want a quick bite. Sam probably counted each cube shuffle before he lost it.