Packing for Full-Time Travel
For our third trip around the continental United States, we set out to be even more intentional with the items we packed than on our previous two tours. Each journey has had its own mission and set of necessities, but this trip we’re especially excited about because it’s the most “us.”
Our first tour from 2017-to-2019 was on behalf of [HAS HEART], a nonprofit organization Tyler co-founded in 2010 with U.S. Navy veteran Michael Hyacinthe in an effort to bridge the disconnect between the military veteran and civilian worlds through the mediums of art, design, and fashion. The “50 States: Veterans + Artists United” working tour required us to focus mainly on conducting multi-day collaborative design workshops with a local veteran paired with a professional graphic designer in each state, so the emphasis was more on a traveling creative studio going from city to city than outdoor adventures.
The second tour from 2020-to-2021 was quite different from our first. While in the midst of the pandemic, instead of collaborating with individuals in major cities across the country, our focus was capturing camping and RV lifestyle content in campgrounds, National Parks, and the great outdoors. The majority of this work was in partnership with Campspot, a start-up software and online booking platform utilized by campgrounds throughout North America. On this tour, much of our outdoor gear was an assortment of colors, brands, and styles since we were capturing and staging a variety of different photo and video shoots in different campgrounds in each region of the country.
This third tour, starting in April 2022 is our “freelance” tour. Instead of working alongside a single major partner, one y one is creating content of our own as well as pitching projects to a variety of outdoor, lifestyle, media, and product partners. This means we had the opportunity to pack for ourselves and the work we aimed to pursue.
By sharing both highlights of our stuff on this page, and a full detailed packing list on the Everything We Packed page, we hope it may provide some behind-the-scenes insight into life on the road for those who are dreaming or planning to travel full-time themselves as working digital nomads, sabbatical-practitioners, retirees, or anyone else in between.
Our internal goal in documenting each item we folded, packed, and crammed into our truck and Airstream was part of an effort to understand our relationship to the “stuff” we use, value, and invest in. In a capitalistic world of consumerism, we are constantly bombarded with buying more and upgrading to the latest version of everything. When faced with such limited storage space as a 25ft. Airstream, our decisions needed to be severely focused and based on what we need with little room for what we want.
In each section below, we’ll share a piece of our decision-making process in selecting the items that we’ve learned over the years we do actually need while traveling and working on the road as creative nomads, along with a few that we really wanted to bring.
KENDRA’S CLOSET
KENDRA: If you compared my closet now with mine from 5 years ago when I was a women’s luxury fashion buyer, you could not have guessed that they were the same person. Over the past few years, I’ve sold much of that previous closet on eBay and have migrated to a much smaller and more casual wardrobe that can withstand the washing machines found at most campgrounds and laundromats.
Patagonia Fleeces
I’ve had my grey Patagonia fleece for years. My family treats them like heirlooms that will one day be passed down to the next generation, they’re loved that much. My sister even had hers stolen out of her car, which was the only item taken. She was understandably heartbroken, as was I.
Patagonia Baggies shorts
These are my favorite outdoor shorts, so much so that I bought them in 3 colors: black, blue, and coral.
Vintage Graphic Tees
Some of my favorite t-shirts are vintage eBay finds, especially my Garfield “Panic Button” shirt.
Footwear
Hoka One One hiking boots
Nike ACG Mountain Fly GTX
L.L. Bean slippers
Birkenstock suede sandals - taupe
Birkenstock leather sandals - brown
Hunter x Target rain boots
TYLER’S CLOSET
TYLER: The gentleman that I am, I so generously “offered” Kendra the larger of the two closets when we first hit the road in 2017, so that’s been the unspoken arrangement ever since. And by larger, I mean her’s is 15" wide whereas mine is 11” wide — so neither option provides much space.
To fill my sliver of space, I focused on utility as much as possible. I need as many pockets as possible for lens caps, wipes, keys, and my other everyday carry items while documenting our variety of adventures in cities, on hikes, or around the campsite. Hence, a few different vest varieties to go along with layering options for chilly mornings, warm days, and those beautiful cool evenings around the campfire.
Obviously, color isn’t my strong suit. That’s partially by choice but also by necessity. My go-to black shirts and pants hide a variety of the stains that are mysteriously attracted to me, whereas white tees help keep me cool on those sunnier days. The occasional green, grey, blue, or tan colors vibe well as neutrals and earth tones that layer with everything else.
A handful of my closet and drawer items are duplicates. When I like something, I’ll buy multiples of it and in different colors. Some of my favorites include:
Carhartt Force Cotton Delmont Pocket Shirts
Sweat-wicking; midweight; do well on warm days; chest pocket is functional without pulling down the neckline (Black, White, Grey)
Filson Ranger Solid Pocket Shirts
Lighter weight, softer, and a more premium version of the Carhartt pocket shirt (Black, Charcoal, Natural, Olive)
Thinnest weight materials I’ve ever known, so I have a handful of them because I live for athleisure comfort all day, every day
Most comfortable pair of boxers I’ve ever worn, so I have a week’s worth
Footwear
Nike Pegasus Trail 2 GTX: my go-to everyday sneaker for errands, light hikes, and everything else in-between
Nike Air Moc 3.0: the collapsible heel makes these ideal for quick errands, travel days, and to retrieve items from outside or in the truck
Nike Joyride Run Flyknits: originally purchased to encourage me to run, they’ve since become my “court sneakers” for pickleball
Nike ACG Mountain Fly (High and Low): for more strenuous hikes and/or colder weather, wet adventures
Mahabis Classic Slippers: these natural wool uppers with a collapsible neoprene heel on a low profile rubber outsole are my new slipper standard
Oofos EVA Clogs: more comfortable than Crocs yet with the same level of utility for easy outdoor chores around the Airstream that can be hosed down
Chaco Z-Cloud Sandals: all-purpose sandals for wading through rocky rivers, beach days, and even community camp showers
OUTDOOR GEAR
Although it doesn’t seem like it visually, over the years, we’ve narrowed down the outdoor items we use to enjoy the outdoors — whether that’s to enjoy the cozy vibes of a campfire, make ourselves at home outside of our Airstream, to make sure we’re prepared for hikes and whatever the trails could throw at us, and everything else in between.
Here are a few highlighted items we either couldn’t do without or simply wouldn’t want to:
Filson Outdoor Folding Stools
We bought these at the Filson flagship store in Seattle and might have been lucky because they were the last two floor models that we had to search the store displays for in order to obtain. These work perfect as stools, footrests, or even side tables.
Filson Rugged Twill Log Carrier
Many other log carrying bags are available, but not with the trademark Filson waxed duck canvas and rich leather handle details. This is luxury when it comes to carrying your logs from the pile to the fire.
This is our “Campfire Ready Bag” because everything we need to spark and stoke a campfire is in this bag, including a hatchet and folding knife to carve down the perfect amount of kindling, a collapsible fire bellow to inject pin-pointed bursts of extra oxygen to help the fire catch, cast iron log tongs to add and maneuver the wood as needed once the fire is too hot to handle with our suede fire resistant gloves, and to keep us sharp, efficient, and safe: an axe blade sharpener.
Vintage military canvas collapsible bucket
At the end of the night, Smokey Bear has engrained it into our minds to douse whatever remains of our campfire with water to prevent the spread of wildfires, and we’ve converted this antique store find into our water bucket which we leave hanging up overnight to dry.
SNOW PEAK OUTDOOR SET-UP
In case you’re new to us or haven’t caught on yet, we love Snow Peak. So much so, that we’ve broken down our entire Snow Peak collection for you already. The only item we didn’t have room for was the Stainless Steel Kitchen setup. But, we were still able to build out our dream portable outdoor kitchen with the Iron Grill Table, which we went deep into detail about on our Snow Peak Setup page.
With fire bans becoming the norm, especially in the west, this trip we’ve added the ability to cook with charcoal on our Takibi Fire & Grill set thanks to the Fireplace Coal Bed, expanding our cooking options to include over the campfire, fuel canisters, and now charcoal.
Visit our Snow Peak Setup page for more details and to begin investing in your outdoor lifestyle.
KITCHEN ITEMS
KENDRA: Even though we have the ability to cook outside, the weather and other conditions may not always permit it, so despite the smaller scale, we’re able to travel with what is essentially a full working kitchen. While this section may not be the fun part to go over in detail, there are a few items that we couldn’t live without. For everything else, they’re listed individually on the Everything We Packed (2022) page.
However, these items we made a point to make room for:
From the creator of the Nutribullet came The Beast. Previously, we brought our Vitamix, but that proved a bit too big and cumbersome to bring with us again. So, we opted to give The Beast a seat at the table to make our smoothies.
KitchenAid Cordless Hand Blender
Whether we’re cooking inside or outside, having a cordless hand blender is extremely handy for making soups, salsas, dips, and more.
It’s hard to beat a tried and true classic, especially products that are still made the same way in the United States. We have a couple of sizes of the Lodge pans and a two-sided griddle and grill plate that we can use inside or outside.
Soda Stream
To reduce the amount of refrigerator space and eliminate the need constantly recycle LaCroix cans, we made a point to have space custom-designed to fit our Soda Stream. We’re not fussy about flavors, but rather enjoy simple bubbly water over ice to add some spark to our hydration habits or to spritz into a cocktail with dinner.
Soma Water Filter Carafe
Despite having a couple of filters attached to our drinking hose connection, it doesn’t hurt to add another filtering round to fill and refill our water bottles multiple times each day. Traveling across the country has made us even more aware of the water issues many parts of the country are facing, so this is our attempt to further protect our drinking water.
Fresh coffee starts with the freshest beans, and this vacuum-sealing canister keeps our 12oz. of precious coffee beans protected.
Bodum Coffee Bean Grinder
We grind our coffee fresh each morning to ensure the freshest possible flavor, and although this grinder isn’t the top-rated option, it does fit within our narrow coffee cabinet.
BATH & HOMEGOODS
With our indoor and outdoor lifestyle so blended on a daily basis, many items can be used both indoors and out.
We love these field guide books beautifully designed and masterfully written by the dedicated team at Wildsam. Each book is a combination of a localized travel guide, an insightful historical overview of the region, with a variety of profiles about interesting folks in the area doing incredible work or projects. We bought their complete sets, including individual Cities, Road Trips, National Parks, and Pursuits.
We use one of our blankets nightly and always have a second one ready in case the night gets even chillier. We also found a couple of custom-made pillows in a small-town general store in Oregon that we use both inside and out.
Going inside and out on a regular basis and having two cats with us means that our small space can get dirty quickly, but this Dyson handheld does the trick to suck up dust, fur, and debris on a regular basis.
We’ve replaced our original need of having a separate space heater and a fan with the ability to blast warm or cool air with the added benefit of having a built-in air purifier. When we’re hooked up to shore power, the white noise is an added benefit to drown out any unwanted campground noise.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to see a Yeti cooler on the list, but this 24 Roadie size is the perfect size for the two of us that is tall enough for a bottle of wine to chill in that can also accommodate more for when we do entertain guests or pack a day’s worth of food for the beach or a National Park adventure.
Created in Australia by an avid off-grid camping family, the kit includes a water bag with a collapsible plunger that mimics the agitation cycle of a washing machine, enabling us to do small amounts of laundry while out in the sticks.
Marshall Wireless Bluetooth Speaker
Whether it’s plugged into a power outlet inside the Airstream while Kendra is cooking dinner or it gets unplugged to go outside with us, this Bluetooth speaker is great to have around the campsite.
Board/card games
Previously we’ve brought the Sequence board game with us, but this trip we replaced that with the Parks games by Keymaster Games because it requires a good amount of strategy, is beautifully-designed featuring the artwork from the 59 Parks Project, and even supports the National Parks Service. Our go-to card game is Five Crowns, or its non-branded standard deck of card Knock Rummy variation.
Wahl Hair Clippers & Scissors
Yes, we occasionally cut our own hair. It sounds much more wild and rustic than it really is, but really we just hack and wack whenever we feel we need a trim and then cover it most of the time with hats. Simple as that.
WORK GEAR
TYLER: If you’ve made it this far, then you are here for it and deserve a slow clap.
This section is what enables us to live, work, and travel as full-time creative nomads. Without the gear and tech at our disposal, it would be very difficult to live our lifestyle while also making a living. While it should be no surprise that we’re an Apple household, we did make some changes recently in our camera gear by switching from Canon to the Sony family of products for their mirrorless options. Although the recent Canon R5 and R6 bodies are impressive, Sony’s longer track record of mirrorless technology was enough to bait us into making the switch.
Here’s a brief breakdown of what we’re working with:
Digital Camera Gear
Sony 7RIV Camera is my go-to for photos that always has the Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM lens on it
Sony 7C Camera is compact and perfect for low-key excursions & used heavily for video either handheld or with DJI RS2 stablizer
Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM lens can be used for astrophotography, capturing interior Airstream photos, or wider video shots
Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM lens is our go-to lens for almost anything that is always attached to the Sony 7RIV
Sony Sonnar T* FE 35mm f/2.8 lens is almost always attached to the Sony 7C because of its compact size
Sony FE 70-200 f/2.8 GM OSS II lens has a great range for shooting details, capturing wildlife, and cropped landscapes
Film Camera and Video Recorder
There’s just something special about film photography that even the best digital cameras and post-production editing cannot quite capture, so for this tour I added a Canon AE-1 film camera. For the equivalent videography character, I raided my parents’ basement storage and borrowed my dad’s old Sony Handycam video camcorder to give us those home family video vibes in a Vimeo and Youtube world. In years past we’ve brought a Polaroid camera with us, but we’ve since changed to the Polaroid Lab Instant Printer that is able to chemically process images in the same way but using our digital images to eliminate the need to carry yet another camera with us.
Drone Photo/Video
Although it was quite the process to become an FAA Certified Commercial Drone Pilot, it was well worth it because otherwise, it would be so difficult and two-dimensional trying to capture some of nature’s beautiful landscapes and scenery just from the ground. The ability to get my DJI Air Mavic 2 drone in the air for some shots has made a world of difference. While I might be due for an upgrade soon, the quality this drone packs in its foldable body and Pelican 1400 case make this an easy piece of equipment to have in the truck at all times.
Constantly moving locations and exploring nature and city landscapes isn’t always easy, so we’ve leaned into the Peak Design product offerings to be as portable, organized, and protected as possible wherever we go. I have the slightly larger
Peak Design 20L Everday Backpack has room for both cameras and all our lenses, plus a sleeve for my 15in. Macbook Pro
Peak Design 15L Everday Backpack Zip is great for lighter hikes when not all my camera gear is required (does not fit my 15in. Macbook Pro)
Peak Design capture clips attach directly to our backpack straps for easy & immediate access while hiking
Peak Design carbon fiber travel tripod and Peak Design travel tripod make capturing on the go quick, simple, and sturdy
LED 3-Unit Lighting Kit
Having some control of our lighting was something we didn’t want to be without, especially for some interview and interior assignments. The GVM 800D-RGB Studio 3-Unit Lighting Kit provided a great travel option that breaks down and stores in its own case that fits in our underneath bed storage space and provides a range of light temperature controls. Plus, it can either be connected to power outlets or be fully mobile with rechargeable battery packs (which I have not needed to purchase yet). However, I did add the Softbox attachments for when a softer light is needed.
LaCie External Hard Drives
After having a variety of different external hard drives over the years, I’ve migrated everything to a handful LaCie 5GB Rugged USB-C hard drives because of their shock-absorbing cases to withstand the constant vibrations of towing our trailer on too many less than perfect roads. If anything happens to these, then we’d be up the creek without our content, so we have a fireproof safe box to store them when not in use and also left some backups in Michigan to minimize risks.
Vintage Label Embosser
Other than a staple gun, is the only other gun we’re packing. So when we say we’re packing heat, this is that fire. Kendra discovered this skinnier size embosser from an estate sale and I use it to label everything. Even our grey and black tanks on the exterior of our Airstream are label embossed. Find yourself one of these.
ITEMS LEFT BEHIND :(
Although we did judge how much we could fit fairly accurately, there were a couple of items that had to be cut and left behind due to lack of space. After a period of time that was needed to accept it, Tyler parted ways with his golf clubs and shoes. Even though we had just sprung for the “Golf Package” from Harvest Hosts that enables you to park overnight at specific golf courses across the country, there just wasn’t enough space in the truck to warrant packing them this time around.
We also didn’t have room for the Snow Peak Stainless Steel Kitchen, which we envisioned to be the base we’d build our Iron Grill Table setup around. Instead, we were able to buy an extra couple sets of 830mm Standing Legs to still have our dream IGT kitchen outside.
The Snow Peak Ground Panel Chairs also weren’t necessary this trip. We had previously used these mostly while eating or working from picnic tables, but since we were bringing more of our own outdoor setup and weren’t planning to stay at as many traditional campgrounds with tables at each site, we left these behind for another day.
And, that’s it. That’s all, folks!
Thanks for taking the time to unpack what we packed. Please, don’t hesitate to Contact Us or message @one.y.one for any questions on any of the products we love or might be interested in.
