The Law of Travel
Published on Jun聽17, 2014 (updated Feb聽5, 2024), filed under adventure. (Share this post, e.g. on Mastodon or on聽Bluesky.)
The story of my 18 months of travel around the world, including this and other articles, is available as a big but humble e-book: Journey of聽J.
The longer you travel, the lighter you should pack.
Much simpler and more useful than any other laws I wish I had coined, I consider this the most important rule of traveling. And yet I鈥檓 sure it鈥檚 not new, as many savvy travelers before me will have found light luggage to be more convenient, and easily possible.
Then, you get an idea why ten and a half months and twenty-five countries into my travels, I can still resist the urge to settle again. I simply don鈥檛 have that much stuff clamping me on a spot.
Update (October 11, 2017)
Some time this year I wrote a little tool to help with packing: What to Pack for a Trip. To be extended.
About Me
I鈥檓 Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I鈥檓 an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I鈥檝e worked as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you use every day (like Google) and companies you鈥檝e never heard of, I鈥檓 an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O鈥橰eilly and Frontend Dogma.
I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also with respect to politics and philosophy. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my experiences and perspectives. (Please share feedback: Interpret charitably, but do be critical.)